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Thursday, August 31, 2006

Eagles release Pinkston, too bad he's still effing hurt...

The Philadelphia Eagles released receiver Todd Pinkston yesterday. When I saw the article headline, my first reaction was, 'cool, he could wind up with the Pats'.

Then I read the article. The guy is hurt. He's recovering from a torn achilles tendon and is still playing with pain.

'F that,' I said to myself, 'Next..'

Too bad. The Pats could use another decent receiver.

Unlike most folks, I have a feeling the Deion Branch holdout situation is going to be a prolonged problem. The Pats will move on without him and I think they will be ok, but at the same time, it is a shame because Branch could really be the key piece for the Pats offense that makes the whole puzzle fit together.

The Pats have depth on the O-line, they look to have a great stable of running backs, the tight-ends look phenomenal so far, and of course, you've got Tom Brady at QB. The receiver situation is the weak spot, but the addition of Branch to the receiver corps could make a world of difference. Unfortunately, you can't count on him showing up, so we move forward without him.

The Pats will play their final preseason game against the NY Giants tonight. The key to the game tonight is very simple: NO INJURIES!!! Thank you. And a special thanks to YOU oh wise, powerful and always merciful Football Gods.

[The Football Gods like to be buttered up a little before the real games start. They appreciate that.]

In Belichick We Trust

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Wednesday, August 30, 2006

A day off...

Hey what's up internets. Today is a day off for me. I'm not a at work. I'm at home. I decided to take a little mini-vacation and roll right into the long, holiday weekend.

I was supposed to take a trip up to New Hampshire today with the family, but one of my kids has some kind of stomach thing.

It was quite blechhy around here last night, so we decided to hold off for one more day and head up north tomorrow instead. We are going to visit the White Mountains and go to a place called 'Storyland'. I hope it will be a lot of fun for everybody.

Today I've been hanging around the house and taking care of a few odds and ends, like fixing a drippy faucet, putting a dimmer switch into one of the bedrooms, scintillating stuff like that. Later I'll be mowing the lawn. Woo!

Try to contain your excitement, please.

My wife says I've become a regular 'Mr. Fix-It'.

Hey, like Red Green says, "if women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

That's your answer?

So last night I asked a question. A rhetorical question, but a question none-the-less. What are you going to show me tonight Red Sox? Are we playoff contenders or pretenders?

And what do they do? They put some guy nobody had ever heard of before out there on the mound, I think maybe they found him on a street corner in Oakland, to pitch against one of the best teams in Major League Baseball. End result: 9-0 A's and The Red Sox are now 7 back in the A.L. East.

The Sox starter Kason Gabbard took the loss. ('Scuse me, who is he again? No offense Kason.)

Look, I realize that like, everybody on the team is hurt, so I don't want to sound like I'm bashing the team. You know I don't bash. I'm just frustrated that's all. I mean, the pitching is patchwork, and we've got backups in for the backups in key positions all over the place. Tek's out, Trot's out, Willy Mo's hurt, Manny's hurt and Big Papi's heading back to Boston because he's having heart problems. What the hell is that all about?? Jezus. It's nuts. (Bottom line: Just be ok David.)

This is like fucking sand in my teeth to say this, but, I think we're done my friends, so stop worrying about the wins and losses and just enjoy the games for what they are, the last moments of the beautiful summer game of baseball at the end of another season. Maybe the Sox aren't playoff bound this year, barring a miracle anyway, (see, I still hold out hope,) but you've still got another month to enjoy the games.

I'll be going to a game next week. Seems people don't want their seats so bad anymore and I was able to score a couple. I'll take the leftovers. Fuck yeah I will.

Even though the playoffs are just about out of reach at this point, I still can't wait to see that game at Fenway next week. Why? Because in the best times and in the bad times, I'm a Sox fan. Through thick and thin my friends. Fuck yeah.

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Happy birthday you stupid waste of time!

Just a quick post to mark the fact that today is my blog's birthday. Happy birthday blog.

2 years. 2 years worth of complete and total nonsense. That's a lot of friggin' nonsense my friends.

Thanks to everybody that stops by here to read this stuff, and a special thanks to those that actually come back!

Now, on with the nonsense. I'm gonna see if I can take the nonsense to even higher levels in year 3! It's going to be tough, but I'm up for it.

Monday, August 28, 2006

Show me watcha got Sox...

During the month of August, The Red Sox have played 8 series of games and have won only two of them. Ouch.

Starting tonight they'll close out the month with a series against A's, a team that, as Jerry Remy reminds us, has the best record in baseball since the All-Star break.

- wince -

So, are The Sox gonna fold like a tent and collectively shut it down for the season? Or, are they gonna give me a reason to believe in them for the month of September...

Show me watcha got Red Sox.

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Trying to 'Keep the Faith'

Anybody that reads this site with any regularity knows that I always try to stay positive when it comes to the sports teams that I follow. Even when things are at their worst, I always like to believe that there is a chance to win a game or have a successful season, but I gotta say, The Red Sox are sure making it hard for me to continue to believe in them right now.

They had the chance to pick up two games against the Yankees this weekend while playing against a struggling team and instead they got swept and fell further down in the standings. The fact that The Red Sox have remained in striking distance in the standings has been like a life-vest for my belief that they could still make a run for a playoff spot, but they continue to slide further and further back with almost every series.

Is this the same team that was closing in on a team record for consecutive wins earlier this season?

Sometimes I'd really like to just throw in the towel on this baseball season and just enjoy the games that are left, regardless of their meaning in the standings. September is almost here and this next series against The A's could be the straw that breaks the camel's back, or it could be the series that rejuvenates my hope that The Sox can still remain in contention for the playoffs.

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Sunday, August 27, 2006

ROLLINS BAND

This post is an account of my night out to go see Rollins Band last Saturday. It is also being cross-posted as a guest post over at Faster Than the World. I just wanted to say thanks to Turtle and Michele for letting me post on their web page while they took a little vaycay. Turtle, Michele, if either one of you read this, I hope you both had a nice vacation!

I have never done a guest appearance on somebody else's site before. I hope people will find this story interesting!

ROLLINS BAND

I drove to The T (more commonly known as 'a subway') station just outside of Boston and made my way up the ramp, past all the dejected Red Sox fans on their way out of the city, fresh from the latest loss to the NY Yankees. I was heading in, they were heading out. I stopped at the change machine to get the $3.00 fare and found that all of the machines were out of order, most likely out of money from the throngs that had passed through earlier in the day on their way to see the Red Sox / Yankees game.

Unsure what to do, I walked over to a bench near the train boarding area, sat down and waited. I had the money for the train, just not the exact change. I figured one way or another, things would work out. Eventually a man in a T uniform walked by. I told him how I had tried to get correct change but the machines were not working, showing him my $5.00 bill for emphasis.

'Don't worry about it, my train is the next one out, I'll let you on'

Nice. Things were working out already.

I had dreaded taking the T into the city simply because of the duration of time it took to get through all the stops, but the traffic was light at this time of day, around 5:30 PM, and most of the people were coming out of the city not going in.

I arrived at the Fenway T stop a little past 6:30 PM and made my way a few blocks down the street towards Lansdowne Street, which happens to be located directly across the street from Fenway Park and is the address of The Avalon, the place where I would be seeing The Riverboat Gamblers, Rollins Band and X later that night. I could see the brick facade and the dimmed lights of Fenway reaching up into the sky ahead.

The main reason for my little solo outing into the City of Boston tonight was to see Rollins Band.

A few months back I had received an e-mail from Rollins' mailing list with the news that Rollins Band was going out on tour. Moments after getting that e-mail, I was checking the dates and buying a ticket for the Boston show. It was not until later that I found out Rollins was actually the middle band in a three band set.

No matter, I was there to see Rollins. That's what I cared about. The rest would be gravy.

I arrived at the Avalon shortly after 6:30 and was surprised to hear the muffled noise of drums and guitars that signaled that The Riverboat Gamblers had already started their set. Usually, the time on the ticket is when the doors are open, not when the show actually starts, dammit.

I was annoyed at myself for getting there late because I was looking forward to to seeing The Riverboat Gamblers. Usually the 1st band out in a three band performance is some up and coming band that most people have never heard of, but since I knew I'd be going to see them, I had downloaded the Riverboat Gamblers album, 'Something to Crow About' a few weeks ago. The album kicked ass and I had kept it on heavy rotation on my iPod ever since, so I was pretty excited to see these guys open for Rollins and X.

I got into the club just as The 'Gamblers were finishing up a song. I was not sure how many I had missed. I was not that late so it could not have been more than one or two songs. As I was walking in, they started up with the song, 'Ice Water'. Cool.

The Avalon is your pretty typical rock club. Its all black inside and dimly lit. There is an elevated area two or three steps up from the floor for people who don't want to get up close and personal with the other patrons to hang back and watch the bands and there are bars serving expensive drinks on either side of the stage.

As I walked in, the place was not that full. There was plenty of room to walk around and most people were pretty much just standing around, half paying attention to the band and bobbing their heads to the music.

I made my way over to the right hand side of the stage, right up near the stage barrier and, as I would regret later, I immediately remembered that I had forgotten my ear plugs (I'm old). I was standing pretty much right next to the front of the stage speakers. (My right hand side ear is still ringing a little as I write this two days later.)

The Riverboat Gamblers put on a great show, even though their set was relatively short. They did a couple songs from 'Something to Crow About' which was cool, since that was the record that I was familiar with. The band consisted of bass, drums, vocals, and two guitars. One of the guitarists played a Les Paul, the other was playing a Telecaster. As a guitar player myself, these are the things I tend to notice when I watch a band. I also like to watch the different styles of play as well, just out of technical interest. Is the guitar slung low or up high. Do they play up on the fret board or down near the pickups, that sort of guitar nerdery.

The singer for The Riverboat Gamblers, Mike Wiebe, is a wild-man. He is all over the place on stage, jumping up and down, twirling his mic around like Roger Daltrey and leaping from speakers. At one point he climbed over the barrier to walk around in the crowd while doing a couple songs. That was pretty entertaining. He would walk right up to people and get in their faces, dancing around and singing, while the people he was doing this in front of just kind of stood there grinning, not knowing what to do and looking frightened or embarrassed.

I could not help but think, if someone is going to come up to you like that, why not jump around with him or yell, or.. something! Don't just stand there with a silly grin on your face looking like you are afraid of what somebody might think. Anyway. I was kind of hoping he would come over near me because I would have told him to play the song, 'Cut-Cut-Cut-Cut,' but it didn't happen.

The Gamblers finished up their set with 'Last to Know,' another song off 'Something to Crow About' and then headed off the stage. I was pretty glad I got to see those guys. They had a really good set.

Now it was time to wait for Rollins. I headed over to the bar, ordered a Jack shooter and a Sam Adams. I downed the shot and put a $10 on the bar, figuring that would cover it.

'12 bucks,' said the bartender, who I could not help but notice was a very attractive blonde woman. 'Hmm. Ok,' I thought, reaching for my wallet to pull out another fiver. 'Pricey,' but I am a cheap bastard, so I think everything is pricey.

I walked around and drank my expensive beer waiting for Rollins to come out. I checked out the t-shirts, etc. Eventually I got tired of that and found my way back to my spot near the front of the stage. I stood on the elevated area, just three steps up from the floor, and watched the techs set up the stage.

I had just finished my last swig of beer when Rollins Band drummer Sim Cain casually walked onto the stage and got behind the drums. At first I thought he was just another drum tech, but moments later, out walked Henry Rollins.

I threw down my beer cup and jumped down to the floor.

Yes! Here is the man!

Henry strode out on stage, short cropped hair, no shirt, black shorts, black Vans sneakers, oh and did I mention Rollins is 45 years old and is totally fucking ripped? Well he is. Other than the gray in his hair, and the fact that he happened to be wearing sneaks instead of going barefoot, he looked just like the the pics on the back of the 'End of Silence' album. Impressive.

I should probably mention that I have always wanted to see Rollins Band perform but I have never gotten the chance, so I was pretty primed up for this.

As I got down onto the floor of the club, I was fully expecting a pit to form up so I got into the position: left leg forward, bent at the knee, right leg back a little, slightly flexed and ready to push off, left arm out in front, bent at the elbow, fist clenched. I was ready to absorb a blow, then shove back and we'd be on our way.

Rollins stood in the middle of the stage, which was all black, with no banners, signs, or decoration of any kind. Just a barren black stage, covered with cables and monitors with guitarist Chris Haskett to the right, drummer Sim Cain behind, in the center, and Melvin Gibbs on bass to the left .

Rollins stood for a moment with his back to the crowd, giving a full view of the sun tattoo on his back with the words 'Search and Destroy' tattooed across his shoulders.

Not wasting any time, the band started right in with the song, 'On My Way To The Cage'. I was very close to the stage, only a step back from the barrier and I waited in anticipation for the shoving to start, but it never did. I have to say I was quite surprised by this, but even though the floor was full of people, there was no pit. 'Ok. That's odd,' I thought. I could not believe there was not a pit during this show, and although people were pretty close together, there was none of the usual shoving or trampling that I had come to expect.

I had a great view of Rollins and the entire band from my spot on the floor. As Chris Haskett was knocking out some killer riffs on his red EPS guitar, Rollins was like pure energy in the center of the stage. He stood right on the edge, as close as he could get to the crowd, alternating between a half crouch while leaning over the end of stage towards the crowd, to a fully coiled crouch, bending his back down low while he put everything he had into every word of each song. It's hard to put into words but you could literally feel the intensity emanating from Rollins as he performed. Fucking cool.

I've seen quite a few bands but I've never seen anyone put so much focus and pure, all-out energy into each and every song like Rollins did. After only a few songs, he was sweating profusely and he had wrapped the microphone cable around his fingers several times to help him keep it in a tight grip in his hand. Melvin Gibbs' bass lines laid down an incredible, driving groove as the foundation for each song and Sim Cain's drum work was sharp and presice. The band members played extremely well together. These guys were tight, and the songs took on an energy of their own that is simply not captured on the studio recordings.

In the quick, seconds long breaks that took place between every few songs, Rollins would stride a few steps back to the drum kit stand, where several bottles of water stood, along with a couple of towels. The towels were used to wipe down the microphone, which was saturated with the moisture from Rollins' body. Henry would then take a swig of water and then emit a stream of mist from his mouth as he headed back to the edge of the stage to start in on the next song.

Rollins set included a several songs from the End of Silence, Weight and Come In and Burn albums including, Low Self Opinion, You Didn't Need, and Divine (Object of Hatred). The bantering with the crowd was minimal. The band stopped playing briefly to allow Henry to introduce the musicians and at one point in the show, Rollins also had a short monolouge:

'You know there's a lot of wars going on today. The war on terror, the war on drugs, the war on stubborn belly fat...' That got a laugh.

Rollins got serious for a moment for his introduction to the song, 'Civilized,' saying, 'it's pretty fucked up that an American would shoot another American in a 7-11 for looking at his girlfriend a little bit to long.' That was his introduction to the song 'Civilized'.

Most of the songs had no introduction. As a song ended, Henry would return to a balled-up, crouched position in the middle of the stage as if he was trying to pull together as much of his power and energy as he could before releasing it during the next song. Other songs included, Disconnect, Volume 4, and after a quick introduction that consisted of the simple statement, 'Here is a song:' Liar.

That one was pretty cool to see live, with Rollins grinning and playing up the act, '...and now you're desperate and in need of human contact, and then, you meet me...' The best part of course is the end, as he launches into the climax of the song, yelling, 'SUCKER! SUCKER!'

Rollins played for about an hour and I was wishing he was the headliner of the show so that he could continue a little longer, but he and his band packed a lot of wallop into their short time on stage.

Rollins Band put on an incredibly good show and it was a great experience to finally get to see them live. That's going to be a fond memory some day.

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Recovery...

Hey what's up everybody. Hope you are having a nice weekend.

Today's been a pretty laid-back day, which is somewhat rare for me. I'm usually going somewhere or doing some kind of chore, but this weekend was just fun. No working on anything.

I went to see The Pats game yesterday vs. The Washington Redskins. It was a good game. The Patriots flat-out destroyed Washington. It was quite an impressive show. Of course, it's only pre-season, so it is totally meaningless. Teams can look unstoppable in the pre-season and then go 2-14 on the year. Not that I think the Pats will have a bad year, I think they look to be in good shape for the season.

It's been a cloudy, rainy day around here and I've just been kicking around the house not doing much of anything. I've been feeling pretty tired today because I did not get home from the game till about 2:30 AM this morning. That's way past my bedtime. Thankfully it was a Saturday night game so I had all day today to get back to normal. I even took a nap. I can't remember the last time I took a real nap that involved actually falling asleep.

My Wife and I started moving some stuff out of the living areas of our house and down into our basement today. Our basement is not finished, but it is to the point where we can start using it.

Our house has been a mess for almost a year now as I have been working down there, turning the basement into a room. My Wife is a school teacher and has a friggin ton of... stuff (I wanted to say shit, but it's not really shit, it's all useful stuff for school, it's just that there is a LOT of it.) and it had to go somewhere while I worked, so we've had boxes stacked up all around the house.

My Wife and I are both kind of neat and orderly type people. We don't like messes. We like things to be organized and put away where they belong. I guess you could say we are both somewhat obsessive perhaps, not OCD obsessive, but we definitely don't like having the house a big mess. We are both that way so it's never a problem, but having these stacks of boxes all over the place has been a constant irritation to each of us. Today we started moving the boxes back where they belong. It felt so good to get those things out of the way and back in the basement where they belong.. It's like we got part of our house back and actually, if you think about it, we did!

I've only got a couple things left to do down there and the basement will be 100% done. We're going to put in some cabinets and shelves and also a large table for the kids to do arts and crafts and stuff like that on. Once that is done, a little more paint, and that fucker is done.

I've been jamming down there with my guitars a little. It's pretty echoey down there. I need to get some stuff on the walls and on the floors to keep the sound from bouncing around so much.

I'll probably write a little more about the Pats game later on. A good time was had by all, other than ingesting maybe one too many processed meat products. I'm going to download the pics I took at the game from the camera and if there are any interesting ones in there I'll post a few.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend gang!

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Tailgate prep is serious business...

The last few days I've been getting ready for the Pats game, just getting things planned out, who's bringing what, etc, and my Wife has been having a great time making fun of me.

'You don't plan out vacations as well as this tailgate thing. I'm going to have to come see this extravaganza someday,' she says.

Hey, tailgating is serious business! If it's not planned out right, you'll show up to the stadium and there'll be a bunch of guys looking at each other saying, 'I thought you were supposed to bring the beer!'

Can you imagine the horror?

Well, that's where I come in. It's my job to make sure that kind of thing does not happen. The last few days, I've been making sure the sausages, peppers, onions, various meat and meat by-product based foods, as well as other artery-clogging substances, and of course, beer, are all being taken care of.

Don't make fun. Tailgating is serious business my friends...

Ok, maybe the whole planning thing got a little over the top when my Dad started sending out spreadsheets of who's bringing what...

My sister-in-law and her friend will be coming to the game with us. When she saw the list of the suggested items we'd be cooking, she asked if maybe she should bring any fruit or vegetables to kind of even out the 'meat-fest,' as she called it.

'Hmmm,' I said, 'you mean like pineapples and limes stuff? Are you going to make some frozen tropical drinks or something? That would be cool.'

GO PATS

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Friday, August 25, 2006

Friday night jam

Friday night. Me and an old pal, who goes by the name, 'Les,' got together in my nearly completed basement room and kicked out a few faves...

Sometimes I Do - Social Distortion
Don't Take Me For Granted - Social Distortion
The Bars - Black Flag
Prison Bound - Social Distortion
Faithless - Social Distortion
Astro Zombies - The Misfits
Skulls - The Misfits
Death or Glory - The Clash
Touch Too Much - AC/DC
Girls Got Rhythm - AC/DC
If You Want Blood (You've Got It) - AC/DC
This Time Darlin' - Social Distortion
Piece By Piece - Slayer
Wanted Man - Johnny Cash
Every Mother's Son - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Let Me In - R.E.M.
Live Before You Die - Social Distortion
Rock 'n' Roll High School - Ramones
I Just Wanna Have Something To Do - Ramones
The KKK Took My Baby Away - Ramones

[Made a bunch of shit up that I'll never remember]

Story of My Life - Social Distortion

Goodnight.

Oh, almost forgot... GO SOX.

Happy Friday, Pats latest gambit...

Hey what's up inter-dweebs. Did you ever notice I'm usually in a good mood on Friday? Well duh, most people like Friday right?

Hope everybody is having a good one.

I'm pretty psyched because I'm going to see The Pats in pre-season game 3 tomorrow vs The Washington Redskins. Yeah, I know, it's only pre-season, but I'm still excited to go. I'll take any chance to go and see the Pats, pre-season or not. Game 3 is usually the best of the pre-season games.

Hopefully the weather will be ok. Earlier reports called for rain but the weather report has a sun with a cloud on it right now, so hopefully that will hold out. I'm planning on bringing my camera so if I manage to get any pics that are interesting I will post them up, hopefully not to long after the game.

This latest maneuver by the Pats in the Deion Branch hold out, giving him the ability to seek a trade, is very interesting. Personally I like it.

I like Branch as a player, but I think maybe he has an over inflated idea of what he should be paid. Of course, from his perspective, I'm sure he sees how things worked out with Richard Seymour's contract after he held out, and how his former team-mate David Givens got paid down in Tenessee and figures, he's due.

Well, to tell the truth, Branch is due. I'm not saying the Pats should not pay him, but the Pats have their idea of what he's worth, and Branch has his. Some people say, hey, the team has plenty of money, they're millions of dollars under the salary cap, why don't they just pay him what he wants? They will, but they will pay him what the team thinks he is worth, not the other way around.

Personally, I like that. I like that The Pats do not cave in to players. That is just me. I root for the laundry baby, not the name on the back of the jersey. I have faith that Belichick and Pioli know what they're doing. Call it blind faith if you want to. Three Superbowl titles have earned them that faith, at least from this fan anyway.

This latest move puts the ball squarely in Branch's court. Feel free to go out and test the market Deion and find out what you can really get out there. Find out what you're really worth and get back to us.

I mean, why not? Branch is sure as hell not contributing anything to the team right now, despite his contractual obligations to do so, so if The Pats can trade Deion for a player or players that are actually going to be on the field and producing, why not? Maybe one Deion Branch can get the Pats a couple decent players that will actually get on the field. How about a receiver or maybe a linebacker and a 2nd round draft pick?

During the Belichick Era, The Pats have always been about the team, not the player, and the bottom line is, one way or another, things will work out. The Pats, the team will be ready to go in September, wether Branch is still a Patriot or not.

In Belichick We Trust

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Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Pats release Gramatica, go with rookie kicker...

To the surprise of, well, nobody, The Pats released kicker Martin Gramatica, deciding to go with the younger, stronger leg of rookie Stephen Gostkowski to take over the Pats' kicking duties.

I think The Pats made the right move in going with the rookie. It's pretty much a no-brainer really.

It would have been one thing if Gostkowski was missing his kicks, but he showed accuracy on field-goals and the ability to put the ball into the end-zone on kickoffs. You've got to go with the younger, stronger leg of the rookie kicker over the, hate to say it because I am one, older guy.

It's not that Gramatica did a bad job in camp, in fact, he did quite well I thought. Even though he was cut by the team, I think The Pats actually did right by Gramatica. They brought him in, gave him a chance to show what he could still do and that he was healthy, and they let him go with plenty of time to maybe hook on with another team. Based on his performance, I would not be surprised at all if Gramatica draws some interest around the league from teams looking for a kicker.

The bottom line is that Gostkowski has nothing but upside, whereas Gramatica, while he showed that he can still perform, is on the downside of his career. Had The Pats gone with Gramatica, they would have been in the same spot as they are now in a year or two. In going with Gostkowski, The Patriots kicking position will hopefully be in good hands for the next several years.

In Belichick We Trust

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It's not as bad as it seems. Really.

Ok so The Red Sox lost AGAIN last night, which is annoying, and somewhat depressing, I mean 6 in a row, what the FUCK! But anyway, the good news is that The MFY, The Other Sox and The Twinkies all lost as well, so no change in the standings. The Sox remain 6.5 back in the East (Ug!) and 4 back in the Wildcard and we will have another crack at all 3 of those teams in September.

By the way people are talking right now, you'd think the Sox were completely eliminated from contention, but that is not the case. I know this horrid string of losses is enough to make somebody go batshit, but look at the standings before you head for the nearest bridge.

Despite this ridiculous losing streak, The Red Sox are still in the race, for now at least. This West coast trip is going to make or break the season.

Can we please win tonight?!

Positive Vibes people!!

(Oh and GO Padres!! Mikey, you keeping up your end of the bargain? I'm counting on you man!)

GO SOX

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Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Digging in for the long haul

Earlier this morning we got all the, 'So you moving on to The Patriots after this weekend' banter out of the way with the local office MFY fans.

My response, 'Like my shirt?' as I pointed to my blindingly red colored Red Sox 2004 ALCS Champions t-shirt.

'That didn't really happen,' was the MFY fan's response.

'Oh yes it did pal, and I got the shirt on right here to remind you of it.'

It serves as a reminder to myself as well. Despite the fact that The Sox have only won a single series during entire the month of August so far, we are still in playoff contention and I'm not about to throw in the towel on the season yet.

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? HELL NO!

The Red Sox just like to get their backs up against the wall before they come out swinging.

I'm going to continue to believe that The Sox are going to pull this season out of the dumpster, put the last month behind them and start kicking ass. I hate throwing in the towel. Fuck throwing in the towel. Did Rocky let Mickey throw in the towel? No he didn't. He made Mickey cut his eye open then he got back in the ring and punched Apollo Creed in the ribs till he was spitting blood.

That's what the Red Sox need to do now.

'Cut me Mick..'

How about this for an analogy: right now the grass in my lawn is brown, dry and crunchy. It looks dead, but it's not. It's just waiting. Waiting to pounce. And come September it's going to be lush and green again, pissing off the neighbors and making them all jealous with it's lush green-ness. All it needs is a little bit of rain and some cool temps and it will be right back. That's what the Red Sox need. Lots of water and some cool weather.

Ok. Time to stop with the analogies. You get the idea.

This post is unraveling quickly so in closing, don't ask me to save your seat on this bandwagon. Either strap in or get off now.

I just hope The Sox don't go on a run and then wind up missing the playoffs by 1 game. They did that a few seasons ago, I don't remember which one, 2002 maybe? Or was it earlier than that. That might have been the infamous 'more days in first place' season. I'm not sure. I think my sub-conscious has blocked it out. I just remember we missed the playoffs by 1 game. 1 friggin game! That sucked. So let's not do that again Red Sox. Thank you.

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Defiance

I am wearing my bright red, 2004 ALCS Champions t-shirt to work today as a show of defiance to all the MFY fans in my office.

Yeah, after The Sox were completely embarrassed by the Yankees this past weekend, their fans have earned the right to give me a hard time if they want to, but they're going to have to look at my Red Sox, 2004 ALCS Champions t-shirt while they do it.

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Monday, August 21, 2006

Weekend wrap up

Hey whats up everybody! Hope you had a nice weekend, outside of Red Sox baseball related matters anyway.

I did not get to see the Pats / Cardinals game on Saturday because I was out that night, but I caught the end of the game on the radio as I drove home. I was somewhat surprised at the outcome to be honest. I was expecting a little bit more of a challenge from the Cardinals, but I'm sure not going to complain about a game that was totally dominated by The Patriots, who won 30-3.

I'll be going in person to the next Pats game, vs. The Redskins, this upcoming weekend. That should be a lot of fun. The 3rd pre-season game is usually the final 'tune up' game for the regular season and it generally features the longest amount of playing time from the starters, so I am looking forward to that.

I went to see Rollins Band play in Boston Saturday night and had a super-fantastic time.

This was my first time seeing Rollins live and he did not disappoint. It was an incredibly good show. I'm not going to say too much about it right now as I will be posting more on that later. I was working on an incredibly over-long post all about the show last night, so look for something on that a little later in the week.

I did not see any of the Red Sox game last night since I was busy doing other things, and you know what, that is just fine. I was irritated when I got up and saw the score this morning, but, I would have been even more irritated if I had actually sat and watched that debacle.

I am not throwing in the towel on The Sox playoff hopes, but if they don't get things turned around soon, they'll be playing for pride in September.

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Saturday, August 19, 2006

3 1/2 back. (Make that 4 1/2) No problem...

Hey so what if the Red Sox lost both of their double-header games to the Yankees yesterday.

No problem!

All the Sox have to do is win these next 3 games vs. the Yankees and they'll only be half a game back in the standings by next week.

No problem!

Update:
Hey so what if the Red Sox lost to the Yankees again today.

No problem!

All the Sox have to do is win these next 2 games vs the Yankees and they'll only be 2 1/2 games back in the standings.

No problem!

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Wearing number 55...

Linebacker Junior Seau un-retired himself and signed with The Patriots yesterday.

Hmmm. Interesting.

That's all I've got to say about this right now. I don't think it's a bad thing, but I'm not going to jump up and down with excitement over it either.

ESPN's Len Pasquarelli calls it, 'desperate'. Well, yeah dude. Have you seen who's playing at inside linebacker for the Patriots right now? Chad Brown and Monty Beisel just ain't getting it done at the position and Bruschi is hurt, though he hopefully will be ready for the start of the season. That leaves the Pats pretty thin at inside linebacker, so yeah, The Pats are trying to do something to help improve the team. Wether it's a 'desperate' move or not, it's better than doing nothing.

I don't know if Seau is going to provide the answer that the Pats are looking for, but, if he doesn't, they're no worse than they were before.

At least they are trying to fix the problem, though the real answer is to inject some young blood into the team at the inside LB position. Unfortunately nobody is stepping up, at least not yet...

In Belichick We Trust

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Friday, August 18, 2006

What the hell happened?

Ok so I'm at work, meaning the only way for me to monitor the Sox / Yanks game is through one of those little computer scoreboard update thingys.

I went in the lab to cable up some cables and the score was 4-3 Yankees.

A short while later, I came out of the lab, went to my desk, checked the score, and now it's 8-3 Yankees.

What the hell happened?? Never mind. I don't want to know.

Ug.

It's not easy figuring out the best way to have fun

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

I've been having a small inner battle with myself for the last couple days, trying to decide what my best plan of action will be for Saturday, when I will be going to see The Riverboat Gamblers, Rollins Band and X at the Avalon in Boston.

I live about 50 miles west of Boston and normally I would just drive in, find somewhere to park, get a beer at a local bar and then head into the show, but here's the thing: The Avalon is located right across the street from Fenway Park and the Red Sox just happen to be playing an afternoon game vs The Yankees Saturday. That means that area of the city is going to be absolutely packed with people tomorrow.

So, do I drive in early, maybe even try to get a ticket to the Sox game, hang out and then go to the show?

That would be fun, but, if I go in early and can't get a ticket to the game, then what do I do, hang out around Yawkey Way, The Cask n' Flagon and The Baseball Tavern for 7 hours? That plan has trouble written all over it.

Plus, if I go in early for the Red Sox / Yankees game, whether I get into the game or not, will I be wiped out for the show afterwords? I would not want to be all tired and worn out before the RG/Rollins/X show even got started. What would I do after the game ended, take a nap in my car?

Or...

Do I just wait till later in the day to drive in to Boston, hope the area around Fenway has cleared out a little and pray to find a parking place?

Maybe it would be better to take the train in?

What to do, what to do, WHAT TO DO?

It all boils down to a basic decision that needs to be made, go in early or go in later.

Right now I'm leaning towards going into the city after the baseball game is over. I mean, what are my chances of getting into the Sox game anyway? Unless I want to pay a minimum of $200 for a ticket, which I don't, getting into the game is highly unlikely. I could try to get a game day ticket, but that means standing in line for 5 hours. No thanks.

The good news: no matter what, it will be a fun day.

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Thursday, August 17, 2006

Pre-Season Game 2: Not the old Arizona Cardinals anymore...

The next Patriots pre-season game, vs. The Arizona Cardinals, should prove to be pretty interesting. In previous years, seeing the Cards on the schedule was usually a yawn inducing event, but no more.

The Cards are looking to compete with the rest of the NFL this year with Curt Warner at QB and Edgerrin James running the ball, not to mention Dennis Green coaching the team. This is not the old, pushover Cardinals team that the rest of NFL has become accustomed to.

I'm not saying I expect the Cardinals to go undefeated this season, but they should have a good, competitive team this year. This should be a good test for the Patriots in pre-season game two.

From a team perspective, I was actually disappointed to hear that The Cardinals rookie QB Matt Leinart will probably play in this game. I'd much rather see the Pats face an experienced QB like Curt Warner in pre-season than a rookie who is just getting his feet wet in training camp.

Forget about the novelty of seeing Leinart in his first NFL, albeit pre-season, game. Pre-season is about preparation, and which QB is going to give the Pats a better challenge to help them get ready for the season, Warner or Leinart? Exactly...

Or, the Cards could always put in our old friend, former Patriots backup QB Rohan Davey, who is now a backup QB for Arizona. Don't be surprised to see him out there along with former Michigan QB John Navarre as well. Usually in pre-season game 2, everybody plays, then the team goes out for pizza afterwards.

On a side note, I used to work with a guy who actually wanted to see the Pats play Rohan over Tom Brady. Phhht. I still can't believe that one. I used to rag on this guy to no end, but wanting to see Rohan Davey in a game over Tom Brady? He deserved everything he got.

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Wednesday, August 16, 2006

On the hunt...

The Sox got the much needed win tonight vs. Detroit, 6-4 while the O's managed to beat the Yankees 3-2. That keeps the Red Sox in the hunt for the A.L. East with 5 games against the Yankees coming up this weekend.

I don't need to tell you how important this next series with the Yankees is, but I will do it anyway. This next series vs The Yankees is critically important.

The Sox will head into the weekend 2 games behind the MFY in the A.L. East.

David Wells is starting to grow on me. Winning games will do that. The Red Sox are in desperate need of some reliable pitching right now, from somebody besides Curt Shilling that is, and Wells has been solid since his return from the D.L.

I'm actually considering trying to go to the Sox / Yanks game on Saturday. I will be going into Boston anyway for the Rollins concert later that night at Avalon, which is right across the street from Fenway, and with the Yankees playing that day, I know that whole area is going to be jam packed.

I'm thinking it might actually be easier to go in for the game and make a day of it, than to try to drive in afterwards and try to find somewhere to park and all that stuff n' nonsense.. I'm sure I can get a single ticket for the game in the bleachers or maybe better. We'll see...

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Confession time...

Confession:
I ate a bowl of mint ice-cream last night... for dinner.

Rationalization:

- I had a bad day at work and needed something to cheer me up

- I had an upset stomach and mint helps fix stomach-aches.

- Mint ice-cream is not as fattening as say, chocolate ice-cream*, so it's not as bad to eat.

* I totally made that fact up to help myself feel better about eating ice-cream for dinner

Ok, so I ate ice-cream for dinner, but other than that minor transgression, I have been doing pretty good with the eating and exercise and what-not, so the diet damage from the ice-cream is minimal I think... Roll on.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Sound familiar?

It's that time of the year again, the time of the year when the Red Sox make me turn into a basket case. It happens every year and now I have historical proof.

From an unpublished blog I was writing in 2003:

8/14/2003

Title: Sox win in Oakland

Abstract: They just keep stringing us along, like a fish on a hook...

Body: The Sox split 4 games in Oakland, leaving 1 game ahead in the wild card. They were 3 back of the fucking yankees. We'll have to wait to see what happens there.

They do this to us every year. Arggg! I wish they would make the playoffs at least! They will probably finish 1 or 2 games out, just like always.

Thank god the Pats are starting up soon!

I will not mention the Bruins. They are almost as bad as the Sox. Celts are on the rise and will be contenders again this year.

Sounds familiar huh? Hey, at least I'm consistent.

How about this one?

7/28/04

Title: Sox Lose, Pats start camp (finally!)

Abstract: Sox lost. The Pats started training camp today. Thank goodness.

Body: The Sox lost to Baltimore, even with Shilling pitching. Dang it. I did not bother to check to see if the Evil Empire won or not. At this point, focus on the Wild Card.

Thank goodness today The World Champions start training camp. The team looks real good this year. I can't wait for the first game to start. GO PATS

You get the idea.

Might as well continue the trend of becoming a bat-shit Sox fan during the month of August.

Another painful loss for the Red Sox again tonight, going down 3-2 to Detroit. I hate it when Shilling gets beat, but when he gets beat because there's no run support, those losses hurt extra. It looked like we had a chance at making a comeback in the late innings but it was not to be. Dammit.

Last night's loss for Beckett was just plain ugly. Honestly, I kind of expected the Sox to get beaten last night after Detroit had dropped 5 games in a row. I had a feeling during the day that The Tigers were going to come into Fenway looking to open a can of whoop-ass, but it would have been nice to have seen Beckett put up a fight, or something. Anything.

People keep saying that Beckett is the 'Ace of the Future' for the Red Sox. How about being the 'Ace of Right Now', Beckett. What the fuck? This guy is not a prospect. He's supposed to be a fucking 'big game' pitcher. Isn't that why we got him? What's with this 'he's young, give him time' shit I'm always hearing?

Fuck that.

Beckett needs to pull his shit together now if this Red Sox team is going to go anywhere this season. The Playoffs are most definitely not a lock right now. That is for sure.

Lets hope Wells can get it done for the Sox tomorrow night.

Monday, August 14, 2006

Red Sox / Tigers: Must win for Sox

Tonight's Red Sox game vs. The Detroit Tigers is a must win game, not just because of the pennant race and it's possible effect on the standings, but because my Wife and her Sister-In-Law, as well as her Mom and Dad, are at the game tonight.

My Sister-In-Law actually got to throw out the first pitch in tonight's game! How friggin' chock full of awesomeness is that?!

Of course, as her guest, my Wife got to go on the field with her Sister. Yup. My wife, the lady that gives me a smooch and tells me, 'don't stay up late' as she heads off to sleep when the Sox games go too late at night, got to go on the field at Fenway tonight.

But I'm not jealous.

Ha! What are you nuts? Dude, of course I am jealous, but, I am very, very happy for my Wife and Sister-In-Law too, because that is a once in a lifetime thing that they got to share together tonight, something that I'm sure both of them will never forget.

The whole experience must have been just incredibly cool.

Throwing out the first pitch at Fenway. Wow. Just wow!

So, as you can see, this is a must, must win game for The Red Sox. They can't lose a game where my Wife got to go on the field at Fenway and my Sister-In-Law threw out the first pitch. A loss in this situation just can't be allowed by the Baseball Gods to happen.

Unfortunately, someone forgot to let Josh Beckett know about all this excitement in my family, and he was terrible tonight, but I'm not going to start with that. (That will probably be tomorrow's post for your fans of the f-word.)

Right now, it's all about sending out some of those ultra-positive vibes to Fenway, where the score is 5-3 7-3 (!!&*$# Seanez) Detroit in the top of the 8th.

Positive Vibes. Positive Vibes. Positive Vibes.

GO SOX

Update:
The score is 7-4 Detroit in the top of the 9th. If you don't have your rally cap backwards and inside-out yet, well? What're you waiting for?

Final update:
The Sox lost, 7-4. Blah.

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Sunday, August 13, 2006

To do list

Things to do this week:

- Eat less
- Exercise more
- Read more
- Spend less time on inter-wang
- Practice guitar
- Figure out how to fix lawnmower transmission
- Go see Riverboat Gamblers, Rollins Band and X

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Pats / Falcons thoughts...

Just a few quick thoughts on the Pats / Falcons game, which the Pats lost in the closing seconds, 26-23. Yeah so the Pats lost. No biggie. The scores in these games mean nothing and do we really want to see the first pre-season game go into over-time? Ah, no. I think not. The most important outcome of this game: no injuries. Thank you.

Pre-Game:
I was so excited to get out of work yesterday afternoon and listen to some pre-game talk on the radio as I drove home. That is, until the pre-game hosts were introduced. Unfortunately Ron Borges is still a part of the Pats pre-game radio show and he did his best to take the fun out of the whole fucking thing.

I can't stand Borges and his hatred of Bill Belichick and the Patriots organization was on full display. His distain for the men that brought 3 Superbowls to New England practically dripped from every one of his statements during the show. I honestly don't know what they're thinking by having him as part of the Pats pre-game show.

As for the game itself, I missed a lot of the 1st quarter of the game. My kids were putting up a little bedtime battle, so I could not sit and watch the start of the game, but here are some totally worthless thoughts on what stuck out at me with the game overall.

Running Backs:
The running game looked sharp, with Dillion, Maroney and Faulk all showing signs of what will hopefully be a very effective ground game. Cobb, (or was it Cobbs? There were so many guys named Cobb(s) in this game I lost track) looked good in the 2nd half. I thought he looked better than Heath Evans. The screens were effective and the blocking looked good to me, (and let me just state once again that when I say, 'looked good to me', I realize that means absolutely nothing.)

Passing game:
Not much to say about the passing game. It was pretty much all about Matt Cassell getting lots of reps. I thought he looked ok. No issues, couple bad throws but, eh, it's pre-season and he's the backup..

Linebackers:
I was a little disappointed about the play of the linebackers. Poor tackling. Lots of missed tackles. Poor coverage in the passing game as well. Linebacker is a position that is a bit of a worry right now, but that's what these games are for, to expose weaknesses early so they can be fixed.

Kicking:
It was kind of hard to get a gauge on the kicking game. The rookie Gostkowski's kickoffs looked good. He's obviously got a big leg. It's still up in the air as far as who has the edge here, Gostkowski or Martin Gramatica.

It was nice to see some Patriots football again and to hear Gil Santos and Gino Cappilletti calling the game. I missed all those guys. I missed football.

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Friday, August 11, 2006

Standings Salve...

Here's what's helping me maintain my cool regarding the Red Sox right now: despite losing the last 3 series to bottom feeding teams like K.C, Tampa Bay and Cleveland, The Sox are only 3 games out of the AL East and 2 out of the Wildcard. It is certainly not an insurmountable task at this point to climb back up in the standings.

The team has faced similar, if not worse, situations before. Heck, just go through this site's (I hate the word 'blog') archives and look in August. You'll see me writing the same kind of junk as I am right now. Same shit. Different season.

The thing that has me worried is, the next two and a half weeks are going to be critical, season defining weeks, against good teams, with winning records. If The Sox can get swept by a last place team like K.C. what's going to happen when we play 1st place teams like Detroit and NY next week?

Hopefully the Red Sox can remember how to win a game or two against Baltimore this weekend. Positive vibes. Positive vibes.

Link: Major League Baseball : Wild Card Standings.

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As promised, a few pics from Pats training camp...

Ok, I know I'm really late in putting these up since they are from the first day of Patriots Training Camp and here we are with the 1st pre-season game tonight.

It's not my fault. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts. IT WASN'T MY FAULT, I SWEAR TO GOD...

Ok. Here's the pics. There are only a few of them because most of the ones I took all look the same, long distance shots of the field, but I thought these were pretty interesting because you could actually see some stuff going on.

Fridge_1

First, here is a shot of the front of my fridge. Thought you might find it interesting.

Yes, today I feel... like a champion!


Feilds

Here's a shot of the practice fields. You can see there are 2 fields, defense on the left, offense on the right. There were some kicking drills going on on the left hand field as well. The stands are to the right and all across the front. Behind the stands are concessions and other fun things.


Passing

Brady airs it out to Reche Caldwell. (This pic came out good I think.)


Bruschivrabel

Tedy and Mike take a little break between drills.


Blocking

This one is a little hard to tell what's going on but this is a blocking drill.


Well there's the pics from camp. I'm not a pro photog, with a telephoto lens, but I still think they're pretty cool. Hope you like them and it made your Friday a little more fun.

In Belichick We Trust

GO PATS

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Thursday, August 10, 2006

Unbelieveable... Sox about to be swept by K.C.?? Believe it.

I can't believe I'm sitting here sweating the Kansas City Royals. I fucking can't believe it.

Bottom of the 8th and it's 4-3 Sox. Shilling's got that look of determination on his face. I love the guy but he just gave up 2 doubles and now has walked a man on to make it 2 on with one out.

I think maybe he's cooked, but, he does have that pissed off look... A visit from the pitching coach and Shilling's still on the mound. I don't like this. I think Timlin should come in here.

Come on Curt.

Dammit he just gave up the tying run and now there's men on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. FUCK.

Terry's standing on the dugout steps as Shil gives up yet another hit to give K.C. the lead in the game, 5-4... and NOW Francona comes out to fetch Shilling. What the fuck dude?

Here's Timlin in the game, a couple runners too late. Doy.

I am disgusted right now.

To the top of the 9th we go.

The Sox go quickly in the 9th. 3 up, 3 down.

Final score, 5-4 K.C.

Patriots pre-season starts tomorrow.

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Repeat after me: We are still in the playoff hunt...

As disconcerting as the last two weeks have been for Red Sox Nation, watching The Sox lose series after series to Cleveland, Tampa Bay and now, I still can't believe I'm saying this, Kansas City, the fact is, the Red Sox are still in the playoff picture.

With the MFY playing Anaheim, (I'm boycotting the whole, 'Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim' nonsense,) the Sox will have one more chance to make up some ground with this weekend's series against Baltimore before the road becomes much more difficult in the second half of August.

Curt Shilling will get the win tonight vs K.C. End of story. Not up for discussion. Double-stamped it.

That means we'll make up some ground, either in the AL East or in the Wildcard, before Baltimore comes in to Fenway this weekend.

I know I've probably sounded a bit irrational at times regarding the Sox lately, but that is just me. When it comes to The Red Sox I am bi-polar and I can't help it. After a game like last night, I usually need about half a day and a cup of coffee to calm down, let things settle in and get some perspective on where The Sox are at. I have resisted the urge to go into panic mode, even though at times I've felt it creeping up on me.

As the saying goes, 'It's only August' and The Sox are still in this thick of the playoff hunt.

Side note: Didn't I just say that same thing at the start of this post and also a few days ago? See, it's like a soothing mantra. Just keep repeating it over and over and you'll feel better...

I have a feeling the Red Sox playoff picture is going to come into sharp focus over the next few weeks. By the end of August, we will know where we stand. Hopefully I will still be repeating the same mantra and we'll still be in contention for a playoff spot, but if we're not, well, Patriots season kicks off on September 10th.

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At a loss...

I can't believe the Red Sox dropped another game to the Kansas City Royals last night. I'm simply dumbfounded by what's happening to this team lately.

I saw the first portion of the game last night, but I found it to be so frustrating to watch, my Wife and I decided to put in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm instead. (We have been watching season 5 on DVD.)

The Sox still had the lead when I went to sleep, (way too late once again by the way).

I woke up this morning and checked the score. 5-4 Kansas City. WHAT??

Disgusted, I threw on some clothes and went out for my walk. When I got to the end, I grabbed the newspaper as I came back in. I flipped to the sports section and was even more surprised to find that Papelbon had given up the winning run.

I am at a loss. All I can say is Shilling goes tonight. Hopefully he can put an end to this skid.

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Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Looking for that silver lining...

The Sox lost to the K.C. Royals, a.k.a the worst team in baseball, last night.

Rather than delve into how sucky that is, let's focus on the somewhat good news that the Yankees happen to be playing the Chicago White Sox at the same time that the Red Sox are playing K.C.

That means that the Red Sox should be able to make up some ground, either in the AL East or in the Wildcard standings, assuming they can actually win some of these effing games that is...

Yes, I know I'm probably being a little hard on the team right now, and things with The Sox are not 'that bad'. We are in the thick of the playoff chase and that is a good thing. I'm now stepping back and taking a deep breath.

Beckett goes tonight for The Red Sox. Opportunity is knocking.

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Starting to Feel the Chill of an Early Fall

Last night after work we had dinner in the back yard. It was really nice outside, but a bit cool, which took me by surprise. My daughter actually put on a sweatshirt because she was a little cold. It felt more like mid September, not early August. I'm not ready for Summer to end yet. The weather needs to stay hot for a few more weeks please.

I finally managed to drag my ass out of bed this morning and get out for some exercise. It was cold out! I was wearing just shorts and a light jacket and I was kind of chilly. Damn.

I warmed up once I started walking.

Something about August always makes me feel somewhat melancholy. It's like once August hits, I can feel the Summer slipping away and Winter looming ahead. I try not to think about it, but I can sense the cold and dark weather coming. It's like you can feel it in the air.

In the meantime, we just gotta enjoy this summertime weather while it lasts!

I was very sleepy again this morning. My baby daughter slept better last night, but she still woke up a few times because her teeth were bothering her. When the alarm went off I have to admit I got back into bed, but then my daughter started crying a little so I got up to help her. After she was settled I figured I was up so I may as well get my ass in gear.

My not being able to wake up in the mornings is more my own fault for not going to bed early enough than my daughter's for waking me up. I've gotten into a bad habit of staying up way too late, sometimes past 11 PM the last few nights. I need to get back to getting to sleep earlier so that I don't have such a hard time waking up.

I know if I can get into a routine, I'll be all set. It's overcoming that initial inertia and starting the routine that is the hard part. Well, I got it done today.

Try and keep it going again tomorrow.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Sox / Royals - If you can't beat these guys, we have a serious problem RSN...

Ok, as I write this, the Red Sox / Royals game is in progress and the Sox are losing the game, 2-0 K.C.

It's only the bottom of the 2nd so there's still plenty of time left in the game to get the scoreboard fixed.

I don't need to remind you that the Royals win / loss record currently stands at 38-73. Without trying to be too disrespectful, I mean K.C. is a professional baseball team, but come on Red Sox, if we can't beat these guys, we have a problem, a serious problem. This is a team we need beat. End of story. Statement of the mutha-fuckin obvious.

As ms. brightside so aptly put it:

"I swear, if the Red Sox drop a single game against the Royals, I will personally chop off my left leg and mail it to them with the following message: "See what you're doing to your fans?"

That pretty much sums it up, I think.

Update:
We are in trouble. 6-4 K.C. The Red Sox can't get a win against the worst team in baseball. The hell??

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Try, try again...

For the past two days I've set my alarm with every intention of waking up and exercising before work. Unfortunately however, my baby daughter has been having a terrible time sleeping the last few days, which means that I have had a terrible time sleeping as well.

My daughter has a tooth coming in and it is really bothering her, so when she wakes up at night, my Wife and I take turns getting up to try and help her feel better.

So this morning, when my iPod, which also doubles as my alarm clock, started playing Turbonegro's 'Remain Untamed' at 5:30 AM, the only thing that remained was my ass in bed.

I'll just have to try again tomorrow.

Monday, August 07, 2006

"He's 33 years old. He'll never play again"

"...That's all the motivation I need." ~ Rodney Harrison

Told you he'd be back. I never doubted it. Not for a second. But I will admit, Harrison surprised even me when I saw the news that he had been taken off of the Pats physically unable to perform (PUP) list today. I knew he'd be back but I did not think it would be this soon. All I can say is, 'Awesome'.

As I have said before, Harrison is the balls. He is one of my favorite players and it's great to see him back on the field. Nice job Rodney. Nice job.

In other good Patriots news, Randall Gay, Dan Koppen, Richard Seymour and Johnathan Sullivan were also removed from the PUP list today. Gay, Koppen and Seymour's return will provide a nice emotional boost to the team this week as we head into the 1st preseason game of the year vs Atlanta this Friday.

Hell, it's even good to see Sullivan out there and starting to get his reps in. Sullivan, who since he was acquired via trade from The Saints, has done nothing but make Pats fans wonder if he's going to do something besides be a fuck-up, is a former 1st round pick and could provide some nice depth at DL if he can just get his act together. Now that Sully's finally on the field, maybe Coach Belichick and his staff, along with veterans like Seymour, can polish some shine back onto that former 1st round draft pick status.

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Stupid questions, stupid answers...

One of my jobs at work is to manage our bug database. This is the place where we write up and track all of the various problems that are found with the software release that we are working on. Since I am a nit-picky little bastard and write lots of bugs, they put me in charge of the database.

Anyway, today I made a modification to one of the fields in the database and then sent out an e-mail to let everyone know about the change, along with the usual, 'let me know if you have any questions,' line at the end.

So of course, and I totally expected something like this, one of my wise-ass co-workers writes back with a long list of silly questions.

Here they are for your entertainment, along with my off-the-cuff answers.

Q: What is the airspeed velocity of a swallow?
A - African or European?

Q: If ghosts go through walls, why don’t they fall through the floor?
A - They can go through both floors and walls

Q:Why isn’t evaporated milk a gas?
A - Evaporated milk is a powder

Q: Why was it that in all different cultures the men always used to come first and never the women?
A - Because Men are always The Boss

Q: When you feel down, why do people ask what’s up?
A - Because people suck

Q: In horse racing, why do they award the rider and not the horse?
A- The horse's reward is staying out of the glue factory for another day

Q: If insects are so obsessed with bright lights, why don’t they fly off to the sun?
A - Because the bugs that like lights, like moths for example come out at night. The sun is not out at night dumass

Q: What happens if you die in your dream?
A - Let me know if you find out.

Q: Why do people more commonly skip breakfast than any other meal, considering that this is the time when the stomach is emptiest?
A - Because they don't want to get fired for being late to work. If they did they'd have a hard time buying dinner.

Q: If same-sex couples could marry, what would happen to their surnames?
A - They would be hyphenated

Q: How are children supposed to take medicine if it’s meant to be kept out of their reach?
A - This is where adults come in

Q: Why do people talk about ‘girlie’ things but never ‘boyie’ things?
A - Because 'boyie' sounds stupid

Q: If you sneezed on a computer, would it get a virus?
A - Depends if it's running Windows or not. If it's running Windows, chances are it already has a virus.

Q: Can you dream of having a dream?
A - Yes

Q: Why do we close doors and windows to reduce noise, considering that sound travels better through solids?
A - I didn't get that one. Your giant solid head is blocking the sound

Q: If Pinocchio said, “My nose is about to grow”, what would happen?
A - Disney would come out with another sequel

Q: What did the designer of the drawing board go back to when his/her original design was a failure?
A - The kitchen table

Q: What sort of a vehicle did those huge 800lb tires that are used in the World’s Strongest Man contests come off?
A - Monster trucks

Q: Why do we hang our clothes on a washing line and not a drying line?
A - We always just called it 'the line'. Actually it's a rope.

Q: Why do ‘a fat chance’ and ‘a slim chance’ mean the same thing?
A - They don't mean the same thing. It's complicated.

Q: Why does your nose run and your feet smell?
A - Because you might have a cold and have poor hygene

Q: Why is ‘abbreviation’ such a long word?
A- Because it is spelled using lots of letters

Q: Why are there seeds in seeded grapes, but no bones in a boned fillet?
A - That question makes no sense

Q: When people go mental, why do they get physically violent?
A - Because they're out of their fucking minds

Q: Why do we never hear of people coming from ‘left west’ or ‘right east’?
A - Because those things don't exist.

Q: What is an occasional table the rest of the time?
A - A regular table

Q: If you get a beer belly by drinking beer, do you get a pot belly by smoking pot?
A - No. You get high

Q: Why is Friday 13th considered unlucky, considering that the Last Supper was on Thursday?
A - Superstitious reasons

Q: If you can enjoy yourself, why can’t you enjoy anyone else?
A - Who says you can't enjoy anyone else?

Q: What would a burger of ham be called?
A - Minced

Q: If dawn breaks, does dusk come together?
A - No. Dusk fades

Q: Why does ‘dyslexia’ have to be so hard to spell?
A - Just to make things more difficult. Life sucks sometimes.

Q: If you think you’re a hypochondriac, then are you one or not?
A - Defietely.

Q: If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?
A - You are a successfull failure. Congratulations.

Friday, August 04, 2006

Pats '06 schedule for iCal, Fixation on AL East standings worsens...

Let me get this out of the way first:

If you're looking for a good place to grab The Pats '06-07 schedule for Apple iCal, check out the ones that are in Google Calendar. Just do a search for 'Patriots' and a bunch of them will come up. There are several good ones in there that you can subscribe to right from iCal. Go Pats!

Next: My fixation on the AL East Standings:

My fixation has now officially switched over to the AL Wildcard Standings. Yes, I know the Sox are only 1 game back in the East, and they could easily return to the top spot, especially considering some of the teams we'll be facing over the next few weeks, but then again, if they can't take 2 out of 3 from Cleveland...

I don't want to sound like I am pushing the panic button, even though it looks like I am. Ok. Fuck it. I am. Sort of... Maybe I'm pushing the 'really nervous' button...

Hey, I'm allowed to be irrational sometimes. I am a Red Sox fan after all.

I'm not giving up on winning the Division but the bottom line is, all I really care about is making the playoffs [Insert Jim Mora rant: PLAYOFFS??] and the Wildcard represents the minimum that the Sox have to achieve in order to get in. Am I lowering my expectations? Well fuck. I guess I am. But so what, as long as we're in the playoffs at the end, who cares?

The Sox are looking at a golden chance to make some hay over the next few weeks with games against Tampa Bay, Kansas City and Baltimore coming up. Unfortunately, the team is pretty banged up at the moment so none of these series are necessarily locks for The Red Sox to win, but hopefully The Sox can still take advantage of some, so-called, 'weaker' teams before the 2nd half of August rolls around and the schedule becomes a lot more difficult.

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New NFL rules, referees got style

Have you seen the new uniforms for NFL referees? So stylish. Phht. Sometimes the NFL is a little ridiculous with this stuff. Whatev.

Speaking of changes I don't like, what's with this new rule change regarding instant replay? Instant replay can now be used to determine if a player is down by contact. Coach Belichick talked about it earlier this week:

“You can’t really play to the whistle any more. You have to play to the ball, because the whistle really might not be the end of the play. I think in this particular rule, we’re kind of going into an area that we haven’t gone into. The old adage of play to the whistle might not be good enough any more..."

That does not sound good to me, but every team will have to deal with it this season. That's the NFL, always tinkering.

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Thursday, August 03, 2006

I suck at losing weight

Way back in March I broke through the 160 pound barrier and finally made it into the 150's. Since that time, I have made virtually no progress on my weight loss.

March to August. That's five months. A person should be able to lose a couple pounds in 5 months, but here I am 5 months later, and I'm still in the high 150's to 160 pound range.

In case you don't know, I am fixated on the number 155. That is what the scale told me I weighed on my wedding day, 11 years ago, and that is my weight loss goal.

My Wife tells me I look fine, so what's the difference between 160 and 155? But it makes a difference to me, even if it makes no sense.

In July I made a concerted effort to dig down and try and get to 155 pounds. I exercised every day and skipped dinner almost every night for a month. I only at dinners on the weekend and during the week I ate no dinner, or if I did have something for dinner, it was a very small portion. I lost 3 pounds. 3 fucking pounds. 157 was the lowest I got.

It was very frustrating, so after my wedding anniversary in July, I decided to take a break from the regimen. After a month of being super-strict, food-wise, I stopped worrying about food and exercise for a few weeks. Now it is time to get back in the saddle and keep at it.

They just recently made a small gym out of one of the conference rooms at work, so I am going to try and get in there 3 days a week and do a little weight lifting. I hope that, plus the daily walk and of course, various starvation techniques, will make a difference.

Yah. I'm going to try and achieve maximum pumpitude. Hear me now and believe me later, I'm going to get down to 155 if it kills me.

It's 5 pounds for crissakes. Why is this so damn hard? Maybe I'll just go on an all gin diet. Yeah thats it. Gin during the week and beer on the weekends. Ok. Maybe not. Stupid body. I suck at losing weight.

I love this site: Barstool Sports

A few weeks ago I stumbled across this website, Barstool Sports.

I am not sure where I found this site, but it has quickly become one of my favorite places to go on the internets.

It's funny and sarcastic and it's all about Boston Sports, with occasional pics of scantily clad women thrown in. Bonus!

MSM Patriots coverage: You guys need to relax

There is a report in the Boston Herald that Tedy Bruschi may or may not have broken his wrist. It could be a break, it could be a sprain. Why wait to find out when you can just jump to conclusions right?

I'm waiting for somebody in the press to ask Coach Belichick, 'Is it possible to break your wrist and then not have it be broken?'

The Herald actually has a poll on their site asking, 'How will the team's playoff chances be affected if Bruschi is lost to injury?' Don't you think that's a little ridiculous? Especially at this point in time, since The Pats have not even played a pre-season game yet?

I know this might sound crazy, but if Bruschi is hurt, how about waiting to find out what is actually wrong with him before you try and predict how it will affect the Patriots playoff chances 6 months from now. Come on. Get a grip you guys.

The Boston press needs to relax a little in regards to the day to day events going on at Patriots Training Camp. There has been an over-the-top reaction to pretty much every single little thing that has happened during The Pats training camp so far, from who's on or off the practice field from one session to the next, to Deion Branch's hold out, to Tom Brady's recent comments about said holdout in Sports Illustrated.

In fairness, I should point out that not everything coming out of the press these days regarding The Patriots is a total over-reaction. I am not a big fan of The Boston Globe, but recently I started reading Mike Reiss' Patriots Blog, Reiss's Pieces, and it has been a great way to get 'just the facts' on the day to day activities at Patriots Training Camp.

In Belichick We Trust

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Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Irritating 'Tek talk...

With Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek about to undergo knee surgery, I've heard several comments lately about 'Tek that go something like this, 'Now that he's hurt, you have to wonder if he'll ever be anything other than a .250 hitter who calls a good game.'

Comments like this get under my skin so I'm just going to say this and get it out of my system: A catcher's primary job on the team is not to hit home runs at every at bat. A catchers primary job, is to 'call a good game'.

That Varitek's ability to handle the pitching staff and manage the game is somehow considered by many to be secondary to his batting average is befuddling to me.

'Calling a good game' is the most important job on the team and Varitek is very good at it. Stop focusing on his batting average and look at the big picture. Thank you.

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Looking forward to this: Rollins Band in August...

Later this month, I'll be going to see Rollins Band along with The Riverboat Gamblers and X at the Avalon club in Boston. It should be a great show and after reading this post from Henry himself, I'm looking forward to it even more.

I also read a very positive review of the show here which has me pretty excited too see this one.

The main reason I'm going to this show is to see Rollins Band but I am looking forward to seeing The Riverboat Gamblers and X as well, even though I admit, I know nothing about those two bands, other than their reputation.

I will have to download some of their tunes before the show so that I will know a few of them. I have heard some good things about the Riverboat Gamblers and, even though X is not a band I am familiar with, they have a legendary status, so I am expecting to see a really great show.

My favorite band, Social D, is coming back around to Boston in October and the tickets for that show have already arrived here at my house. And I found out today that The Supersuckers will be the opening band for this one. Yup, Social Distortion and The Supersuckers. Dude, that is such a phenomenal line up. That show going to be fucking awesome. I am really excited for that one.

I go to all these shows by myself now. In some ways it's cool. If a band comes around that I want to see, I just check with the Wife to make sure she does not have me booked for something, then I order the tickets. No chasing people around asking, 'hey you want to go see a band with me?' and getting either no response or, the excruciatingly lame, 'I'm too old'. Plus, there's no wondering where somebody has dissapeared to either before, during or after the show is over. When it's all done, there's nobody to worry about but myself. Maybe grab a beer to wind down or just jump in the car and take off for home.

At the same time though, I have to admit, sometimes it is kind of sad in a way that I go to shows by myself these days. Oh well. That is the way it is and I always have a good time so it's not really a big deal. It was weird going to shows by myself at first, but I am used to it now and actually have grown to like it, so there you go.

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Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Patriots Training Camp is cool

So what's up gang? I took this past Friday and Monday off from work and had a nice long weekend. I needed a break from the day to day grind and I wanted to get some July-time in before it disappeared 'till next year.

Maybe you noticed I took a break from the site as well. Like I said, I wanted to get some time baking in the summer weather before it's gone for the year. It will be cold and dark around here soon enough and there will be plenty of time to sit in front of a computer screen then.

In the meantime, last Friday was Day One of The New England Patriots training camp and I was in attendance, along with the rest of the family. I packed the Wife and Kids into the mini-van and trucked them down to Foxboro MA to take in some real, live, Pats Practice.

Now I can say that I saw the Pats play football this year. It was not in a game and it didn't count for anything, but I got to see live Patriots football.

The Patriots Training Camp is a lot of fun. If you are a Pats fan and have some time off while Camp is in session, I would say that you should definitely head to Foxboro and check it out. Unlike some teams (The Redskins,) The Patriots don't charge a dime for you to come and watch them practice. Parking is free and Camp attendance is free too. There are bleachers setup around the fields to watch the practices and there is plenty to see and do. There are full concessions set up behind the bleachers as well. I gotta say, it's pretty cool.

I had two, 4 year old kids with me and they were not bored, so that right there should tell you something. Unfortunately, we did not get there in time for the Punt, Kick and Pass games that were set up for kids, but my kids still had a good time anyway.

We sat on the grassy hill on the back-side of the practice fields. There are two fields set up parallel to each other, one for the offense, one for the defense. We were near the field where the offense was practicing. The running backs were on the back-side of the field and the QB's and receivers were on the front-side, practicing the passing game right in front of us.

That was a great show. We got to see plenty of Tom Brady and Matt Cassel passes to various receivers such as Troy Brown and Kevin Faulk.

Later in the practice there were some one on one passing drills with the CB's and Safeties coming over to provide a little coverage on the receivers and there were some defensive line vs. offensive line drills as well. It was very cool to watch.

I wish I had some really definitive descriptions of the day to pass on but really I just sat on the grass, enjoyed the sun and tried to take it all in. I spent some time watching some defense and punt drills that were taking place on the other fields, but for the most part, I paid most of my attention to the passing drill action taking place on the field in front of me.

It was really cool to hear Brady barking out plays in the huddle as well as seeing Coach Belichick addressing the team. I could not make out what he was saying, but his mono-tone voice was very recognizable. Tedy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel were hanging out between plays for a short time near our part of the field and that was cool to see too.

During the practice the players are all business. For the most part they ignore the presence of the fans and are focused on their jobs. The only exception might be an occasional smile from a receiver if they get a round of applause on a good catch, but that's about it.

I did not hang around to the very end for autographs. Once practice broke up, the players were just kind of milling around on the field and getting together in small groups. People were lined up at the ropes along the field for autographs but the players did not seem to be in any rush to come over. We waited a short time but when it became obvious the players would not be sauntering over to the ropes any time soon, we decided it was time to head out.

I am not a huge autograph collector so I was not really disappointed. I would have rather have gotten a few close-up pics of some players but it was not a big deal. We had kept the kids out in the hot sun for quite a long time and we decided it was time to head home.

We made a quick stop in the Pats Pro-Shop where there was a leather bound Patriots recliner, with cup holders. Ohhh....

I told my Wife about it, but she just rolled her eyes. 'Forget it,' she said.

I took quite a few pics while I was at camp and I will try and put a few up tomorrow. Most of them are not that great, they are just long distance views of the practice fields and stuff, but I will put a few up anyway so you can get some idea what the day was like. Look for that tomorrow or the next day at the latest.

It's hard to believe, but the Pats 1st pre-season game is only a week and a half away.

In Belichick We Trust

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Go Bird!

You know it's been a slow Red Sox baseball game when the primary focus of the game for the last few innings has been a small black bird that has been hopping around on the base-paths.

People in the stands are actually chanting, 'Bird! Bird! Bird!' and Remy and Orsillo are talking about Bird's base-running skills.

I can't believe I'm actually writing about it, but it's 6-1 Cleveland going into the top of the 9th. What else am I going to talk about, Tek's impending knee surgery? No thanks.

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