Thursday, April 27, 2006

Awesome Inc. Messes with Texas!



Another month and another trip. This time I flew to Texas for a weeklong roadie with my friend JH Naners, who flew from Lincoln. We went on a roadie last summer to Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and other college towns, so decided to do it again across Texas. Last summer we had record heat during the trip, so was only fitting that we would be welcomed to San Antonio by 100 degree heat.
Sunday 16th - I got into San Antonio before Naners and took advantage of the sweet motel room. I sat by the pool and got a decent tan working while reading On the Road (a blog on that book will probably come later). It was a solid afternoon. Naners finally got in and we headed for the Riverwalk right away. It was as cool as I remembered from a previous trip years back for the Alamo Bowl. Walked around for a while, grabbed some so-so BBQ at County Line (not recommended FYI) and then saw the Alamo at night. Good start to the trip.

Monday 17th - More riverwalk and Alamo time with a good Mexican meal at Casa Rio (recommended). A timekiller trip to see the USTA campus was pretty uneventful. Next up was the first game of the trip: Spurs vs. Jazz.
The AT&T Center is questionably placed far away from the Riverwalk and is somewhat ugly on the outside with it's metal circular exits and metal accents around the outside. The inside is better, but looks like almost every other new arena. The game itself was pretty fun b/c the Spurs were on top of their game and when a team that good is running on all cylinders it's amazing to watch. It was also a good time when I kicked Naners' ass at the free throw shooting game! Due to a priceline mistake I made, we had to get on the road to College Station after the game. I was worried about having to take what appeared to be small highways to get there, but Texas does it up right! 4 lanes with 65 mph speed limit was fantastic. Still took us until 1 am to get there, but it was a sweet ride indeed.

Tuesday 18th - Next up Houston, a city JH and I both expected to be pretty crappy from everything we read. Turns out it's a pretty sweet downtown and I'm not sure why Bill Simmons "The Sports Guy" among others hates it so much. After failing to get inside Reliant Stadium, which is freaking huge, we headed downtown. After picking up our sweet tickets (thanks Stats!), we headed to the highly recommended Erma's Southwest Grill. While the food was terrific, it was more expensive than we expected due to their lack of menus. The rest of the afternoon we just walked around downtown seeing the Toyota Center, former Enron building, cool parks, and entertainment centers. One crazy thing was when we ended up walking by the courthouse and tons of media people were there. It finally hit me that the Enron trial was going on and Jeff Skilling was testifying that day, so we were right in the middle of a big current event.
The game that night had the Brewers in town to play the Astros and was a great time. Minute Maid Park is really nice even with all the ridiculous quirks and the game itself turned out to be really fun. Saw Roy Oswalt pitch and a lot of home runs (surprise, surprise) with the Brew Crew almost coming all the way back, but falling just short. Some side notes: Rafer Alston of the Rockets ended up sitting a row in front of us, the "Real Men of Genius" guys made a commerical on the field, and the kiss cam was on top of its game with former President Bush laying one on Barbara and then giving the double thumbs up. Great time! Made it back to College Station that night.

Wednesday 19th - Headed to the Texas A&M campus to start the day and man is it boring. Just a lot of drab buildings that don't make it very fun to be on campus. Kyle Field is overrated it appears, although probably is awesome during a game b/c of the atmosphere. One thing that was interesting on campus, but not in a good way, was the fact that you have to remove your hat when you enter the student union. It's posted on every door and is pretty wild. Must really want students to respect the union!
After A&M, we headed to Dallas with a stop for lunch at the infamous Whataburger. For those who don't know, during our spring break trip to South Padre many years ago, we had to sustain ourselves on Whataburger. Not a good situation at all, but this trip actually was pretty good. The burgers actually had taste this time around.
On to Big D to see the Mavs play Naner's fav team, the Clippers. Unfortunately, both teams had already sealed their playoff seeds, so all the big stars sat out the game. It wasn't good, but at least we weren't like the guy behind us who had flown from Germany to see, among other things, Dirk Nowitzki play. Dirk was there, but in a suit. Before the game, we went down courtside to watch shootaround and ended up just a few rows away from the great Bill Walton, who was calling the game. I love Walton, so seeing him was pretty cool. American Airlines Center is pretty awesome I think. Spacious arena with really nice concourses. Hopefully I can get back there sometime soon. The highlight of the generally boring game, was the announcement after the 1st quarter that every fan would receive a free plane ticket on American Airlines. This sounded really awesome, but afterwards we realized it was restricted to 4 cities out of Love Field and had to be booked by the end of April. A nice gesture, but really had little value for most and no value for JH and me, who didn't live in Dallas. One final note about the Mavs: Mark Cuban kicks ass!!

Thursday 20th - Didn't have much planned for this day and not doing much is what we did. We did go to the TCU campus, which was ok, but nothing amazing. How they did not have a shirt with just the Horned Frog on it is beyond me and cost them a customer at the bookstore! After TCU, we hit up Mellow Mushroom for some pizza. If you read my blog for my roadie in January, you will remember that I ate at a MM in Charlottesville, VA and loved it. So when I found out there was one in Fort Worth, it was on the list of things to do. While not as good as I remembered, it was still very tasty. If there's a Mellow Mushroom near you, get your butt there and enjoy some solid pizza.
After MM, we decided to pass some more time at the Fort Worth Stockyards. Now Naners and I are about as far from being cowboys as anybody could be, so this sidetrip wasn't supposed to be any big deal. Turned out that the area was pretty cool actually. Brick streets, old timey buildings, and we ended up seeing the small cattle drive they do twice a day. We both agreed that it was a fun place even though we both had no interest in the cowboy lifestyle at all. The rest of the night we just watched tv in the hotel b/c it was raining and the minor league game we had thought about attending was rained out.

Friday 21st - Took in the 6th Floor Museum in Dallas, which was again very interesting and somewhat eerie, although not as much as when I went the first time when I was much younger. Walked around the grassy knoll afterwards and it's pretty amazing that very little has changed in that area in the over 40 years since JFK was assasinated. Ate in the West End for lunch (great area to eat and hang out!) and then drove around for much of the afternoon. Went up to Plano to see the huge headquarters on Legacy Dr. including Ross Perot's EDS building. Still can't believe how big that place is and that he raises cattle on the land around it.
We headed to Arlington for the Rangers and Devil Rays game and once again had great seats thanks to STATS. With the pitching matchup being Seth McClung and Kameron Loe, we knew it'd be very high scoring and it turned out to be exactly that.with the final being 13-7. It was pretty funny to watch and also exciting to be so close to so many foul balls due to our great seats. I recommend the footlong chili cheese dog for those going to games at Ameriquest Field!

Saturday 22nd - After staying in Waco, we got up and headed to Austin. After a horocious traffic jam delayed us for about a half an hour, we finally arrived at Disch-Falk field for the final game on our trip: Huskers vs. Longhorns in a great baseball matchup. The game turned out to be great with the Huskers coming from behind to win 7-5, but the 'Horns should be embarrassed by the stadium they play in. A rusting overhang, peeling and faded outfield walls, an ugly entrance to the park, and the fact that they still use astroturf are just some of the things very wrong with Disch-Falk. It's pretty amazing that a team with that kind of success still plays in a dump like that.
After checking out the great campus that we'd both seen before, we decided to go check into our hotel. This turned out to be one of the craziests check-ins ever. The hotel's computers had gone down I guess, so they weren't completely sure which rooms had been cleaned and which were still occupied. The first room we were given had an unmade bed with open suitcases in it and clothes hanging in the closet. Obviously occupied. The next room we knocked first, but did not get a response, so thought it was clear. Wrong! The room was super dark when I opened the door and then a bearded, shirtless fat guy got up from the bed wondering what was going on. Very freaky indeed. The third time was the charm and we finally got an empty room, but it was a wild adventure. That night we hit up Sixth Street for a while, which is always fun.

We flew out the next day and concluded a long, but very enjoyable trek through Texas. I can now check off Minute Maid Park from my ballparks needed to visit list (19 down and 11 to go). The campuses were pretty disappointing, but overall a very fun time. Next year: West Coast??

BBL

Monday, April 24, 2006

Come on Nebraska!


I'm not a political man, I have strong opinions, but I'm not that guy marching around the Federal Building in Lincoln with stuff written on my t-shirt. This most recent development is just bordering on ridiculous though. President Bush's approval ratings just hit another all-time low. There are four states in the union that approve of the job he's doing and Nebraska is one of them. Guess what other bastions of enlightenment are with us on this one....Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming.

-Utah: I don't think they allow dancing yet.
-Idaho: I don't know anything about Idaho, so I'm just going to straight up stereotype them, "Hey Idaho! Stop eating baked potatoes while watching Napoleon Dynamite and Vandals football and read a damn newspaper!
-Wyoming: I really don't think anyone lives in Wyoming. Can anyone prove me wrong? Dick Cheney lived there, but I think he was the last one to move out. Anyone who does live there is probably just hanging out in the wilderness, too busy to stay on top of the news.

The good news is that Nebraska had the smallest margin between 'approve' and 'disapprove' of the four Bush states. Nebraska is 51% approve to 45% disapprove, that leaves 4% who just haven't made up their mind yet. This is what I want to know from the 51%: I know there's a lot of Republicans here, and that's cool with me. I'm all for small government, balancing the budget and staying out of people's business. The thing is, President Bush is not for these things. Have you checked out our national debt lately? I know many Bush supporters are old and (God forbid) might not be around when the time comes to pay the bills, but (God willing) I might be, and just know that I'm going to be pissed of at you. Other things on the Bush agenda:

-Social Security: That went over like a lead balloon.

-Health Care: Maybe we should have listened to Hilary back in the 90s, this is just out of control now.

-Immigration: That's really moving along nicely.

-Iraq War: OH MY GOD THIS IS TERRIBLE

-Osama Bin Laden: Yeah, remember this guy? It seems to me that in a "post-9/11 world" we might want to catch the guy who caused 9/11.

-Iran: We aren't slowing their nuke program any.

-Same minimun wage as about 40 years ago. $5.15 an hour is an absolute joke.

On the other hand he has some notable accomplishments:

-Record profits for oil companies.

-Having a crazy person as Secretary of Defense for record number of years.

-Having Dick Cheney take Senator Palpatine lessons.

-Having delightfully out of control daughters.

-Not doing any crack.

Alright Nebraska, there's my case. I'd like to hear what you think. Give me some positives from this administration. No gay marriage? Is that it? Is that what all this is about? Now I thought you guys were for staying out of Americans' bedrooms. Let's not flip-flop here. If we went to a crazy war, didn't find the terrorists, have terrible health care and have $3.00 gas because you 51% think the world will end if boys kiss, once again I'm going to be pissed off.

JT

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Stay Away From 28th and P!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



As I perused the newspaper today I found an article so shockingly funny, brutal, and terrifying that I had to share it with the rest of the world. Lincoln, Nebraska, is a sleepy little college town, population 250,000. Apparently though, some Lincolnites out there have gotten a little freaky. So without further ado, here's what happened.

"Soft drink lodged in man"

A 38-year-old Lincoln man showed up at BryanLGH Medical Center West on Monday, claiming he had been assaulted last week, police said Tuesday. The man told hospital staff he was in the area of 28th and P streets Thursday when someone punched him in the head from behind and kicked him when he fell.He said he temporarily lost consciousness and came to, only to find his pants down to his ankles. An X-ray at the hospital Monday revealed a 20-ounce soft drink bottle lodged in the man’s lower intestine. He was to have it removed Tuesday.

Here's the link in case you don't believe me: http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2006/04/12/local/doc443d33b397d7a377103384.txt

I have several questions about these occurances:

1. Why in the wide wide world of sports did this guy wait four days to go to the hospital? There's no way he could have had a normal crap in those four days, so that's a red flag right there.

2. That had to hurt like a bastard. I've drank my fair share of 20 ouncers, so I know the general size and contours of a bottle, and let me tell you, there's a little girth there. Let's say that this guy is telling the truth and he didn't know when, ahem, insertion occured, well how did he not notice when he woke up?

3. Do you think the bottle was unopened? or empty?

4. What kind of pop was it? This is important because of the different bottle types. Was it that pyramid like Dr. Pepper bottle, or the curvacious Coca-Cola shape?

5. Does this guy seriously expect anyone to buy this story? I mean, come on, you can't be serious right? I just want to know what the nurses on duty were saying when they saw that X-ray.

Saturday, April 01, 2006

BBL's all-knowing MLB predictions


Well I'm sure all of you are dying to know who I think will win it all in baseball this year, especially after my stellar bracket predicting and betting in Vegas. JH Naners and JT have both given their takes, so I'll chime in with mine right now.

AL East
New York Yankees - The pitching isn't that great, but the offense is and they still have Rivera. I'm guessing they'll pick up another arm at the deadline even with hardly anything to offer from their farm system.

Boston Red Sox - Naners has shown me the light on the BoSox and I think they could be very solid this year unlike what many experts are saying. If Schilling and Foulke stay healthy, then the Sox and my fantasy team, will both have successful seasons.

Toronto Blue Jays - Solid offseason should result into a very competitive team, but still not enough offense to overcome the regulars. Glaus is my favorite acquisition of theirs.

Tampa Bay Rays - The perennial doormat rises a notch this year on the strength of their offense, which is absolutely loaded. If they ever find any arms to put behind Kazmir, they could challenge for third in a year or two.

Baltimore Orioles - Even with Mazzone, I don't think the pitching will be improved enough to make up for an average offense. Tejada will be traded at midseason.

AL Central
Chicago White Sox - Won it all AND picked up Jim Thome and Javier Vasquez, so look great on paper again. Problem is that Bobby Jenks showed up to Spring Training fatter than he already was and hasn't lost any weight still and Dustin Hermanson's career might be over, so the bullpen appears shaky.

Cleveland Indians - Sizemore, Martinez, Hafner, Peralta, and Michaels should make up a very solid lineup now that Michaels is getting full-time action. The staff and bullpen should be very good as well, but not good enough to catch the Sox.

Minnesota Twins - After Johan Santana, they have just enough offense and pitching to not completely tank, but not enough to truly contend for the division title. Francisco Liriano is a pitcher to watch though as he could be a special talent assuming he stops drinking and driving.

Detroit Tigers - Jim Leyland is a great manager, but not great enough to get the Tigers over the hump. The staff has potential, but the offense and bullpen aren't good enough to finish any higher than 3rd.

Kansas City Royals - They might have signed a few veterans, but they still will suck hard with that starting rotation. The Alex Gordon watch is on.

AL West
Oakland Athletics - Everyone seems to think this team will be awesome and are talking World Series, but I'm not quite that high on them. The rotation should be superb assuming Harden can stay healthy and the bullpen is great, but can Chavez and co. put up enough runs to reward that pitching? Enough to win the West and that's it.

LA Angels - Will the young prospects finally step up? If they do, they could win the division, but I don't see that happening and they'll need Vlady to carry them to second place.

Texas Rangers - The record seems to be broken in Arlington: all offense and no pitching keeps occuring every year. It's possible that the hitters can carry them to the title, like they almost did two years ago, but I'm not counting on it.

Seattle Mariners - The offense should be ok, the starters should be ok (Felix Hernandez being the exception), and the bullpen should be ok. That makes for an ok season in a fairly difficult division.

AL MVP - ARod, Yankees
AL Cy Young - Rich Harden, A's
AL ROY - Ian Kinsler, Rangers
AL Manager - Ken Macha

NL East
New York Mets - Offense is loaded, rotation is solid, and the bullpen is good enough. All of that, combined with a pretty weak National League, make the Mets a legit NL pennant contender.

Atlanta Braves - The bullpen will be their downfall and could sink them even further if they stick with Rietsma too long at closer.

Philadelphia Phillies - Very solid offense, but not enough pitching across the board to really contend in the East.

Florida Marlins - Surprise pick here, but I'm thinking all the youngsters come together a lot sooner than some think and like JT said, they will be winning the Series in 2008.

Washington Nationals - Jim Bowden sucks as a GM and being owned by MLB isn't helping things either. An average team that will get worse when Soriano is traded in July and Livan's arm finally falls off after so many innings.

NL Central
St. Louis Cardinals - I'm a Cards fan and I've been very pleased by the past few years, but I'm much less confident in this team. They will still win the Central and maybe even the pennant, but that's only because the NL is so weak.

Houston Astros - Teams 2 thru 4 are all about the same in my mind, but I think the Astros have just a bit more in all the phases of the game to finish here. They won't make it to the postseason again though.

Milwaukee Brewers - Tons of great young offensive talent that should finally break through completely this year. The bullpen is a concern though and should keep them from making any legit run at the playoffs.

Chicago Cubs - If Prior and Wood are healthy... When Mark and Kerry finally come back...blah blah blah. A better offense will not make up for their lack of a rotation right now.

Pittsburgh Pirates - Brewers Jr. with lots of young talent (mostly on the pitching side though) and will be fun to watch a couple years from now, but won't be all that good this year.

Cincinnati Reds - More homers and more losses as is the case with this team every year since they've moved into the GAB.

NL West
San Francisco Giants - It won't be pretty, but they have enough pitching to win a weak division. The bullpen might be their downfall though.

San Diego Padres - Good enough offense and Jake Peavy will get them into 2nd place, but a suspect remaining rotation and bullpen will keep them from repeating as division champs.

Los Angeles Dodgers - They could possibly be really good, but they'll need all their pitchers and JD Drew to stay healthy, which is a big problem for them.

Arizona Diamondbacks - A mix of old and young will keep them around the race for a while until they realize it's best to trade Gonzalez and Green to get better next year.

Colorado Rockies - Tons of hitters that will be let down by yet another crappy year from their pitchers. If they find a few more Jeff Francis', then maybe they could finally win something.

NL MVP - Albert Pujols, Cardinals
NL Cy Young - Chris Carpenter, Cardinals
NL ROY - Joey Devine, Braves
NL Manager - Tony LaRussa, Cardinals

MLB Playoffs

Yankees over A's
Red Sox over White Sox

Red Sox over Yankees

Cardinals over Braves
Mets over Giants

Cardinals over Mets

World Series - Cards over Red Sox in 7 (I'm assuming Walt Jocketty makes a big move to enhance the offense.)

BBL

Jamie's MLB Predictions



Quicker than JH Nan's, but more info for you fans to noodle. I start with the NL because they play real baseball.

NL EAST

1. Atlanta Braves: Staff is good, Roger McDowell looks like a great pitching coach. If Andruw Jones can produce anything like last year they'll be there. You know last year's rooks are just going to get better.

2. New York Mets: We'll see on these guys. The key is Billy Wagner, if he's healthy he anchors a bullpen that is not deep. Beltran must bounce back, he has the protection now.

3. Philadelphia Phillies: Well, they have the Phanatic. They also have a darn good lineup. I don't trust their staff at all though. Abreu MVP?

4. Washington Nationals: If Bud "I'm a huge piece of crap car dealer masquerading as the leader of MLB and I hate the Expos/Nats organization" Selig would ever get this team and owner and let them move on they could improve in a hurry. As it is the rotation and bullpen are horrifically thin. The loss of Luis Ayala was an absolute killer (Thanks World Baseball Classic, what a great idea). The offense will be better however.

5. Marlins: Terrible this year, better next year, World Series 2008.

NL CENTRAL:

1. St. Louis Cardinals: They're still good, I don't understand why people think they're on the decline. If Rolen is even mediocre they'll be better.

2. Pittsburgh Pirates: I love Jim Tracy as the new manager. The key will be the rebound of Oliver Perez. Keep his foot away from hard objects!

3. Milwaukee Brewers: They will win the Wild Card in 2007. Ben Sheets should sleep in a hyperbolic chamber or something, get healthy Sheets!!!! Plus, Kolb is back.

4. Chicago Cubs: Dusty Baker has destroyed a potential multiple World Series team but letting Kerry Wood and Mark Prior throw 130 pitches a game, they aren't named Livan, Dusty!!! Jim Hendry should take some blame too for having such a crappy bullpen (Joe Borowski???) that Dusty had to stick with the starters, but what else would you expect from someone associated with Creighton University.

5. Houston Astros: How the hell did they get to the World Series? Roy Oswalt is awesome, but man they are boring besides that.

6. Cincinnati Reds: What is this team trying to do? Do they have a direction? BORING.

NL WEST

1. SF Giants: Matt Morris is consistant and moving to Candlestick/SBC/Pacbell will help. Plus Barry Bonds will probably hit 80 HR's just to piss people off.

2. SD Padres: The next three teams are pretty even. But Peavy and Giles will carry the Pads. Bruce Bochy is the man.

3. Arizona D'Backs: Getting better, improved 26 wins last year.

4. Dodgers: Too many injury risks in the rotation, although I like the Seo pickup. Also smart to get Baez. I just have the feeling that this team won't score runs.

5. Colorado Rockies: I bet they score a lot of runs and have a 6.00 ERA. Call me Nostratallman.

AL EAST

1. Yankees: So many runs, a rotation that's healthier than last year and a solid bullpen add up to the Yanks back in the playoffs.

2. Red Sox: It will be a duel to the death between the Jays and the Sox. I love Josh Beckett if he stays away from blisters. The lineup is fine and the defense is better. Coco is better than the overrated Damon.

3. Blue Jays: Their most important moves were in the lineup. Adding Glaus and Overbay takes some pressure off the kids.

4. D'Rays: Alright D'Rays, get some pitching for goodness sakes. I love the lineup, could use one more power bat, or have Aubrey Huff hit some more bombs.

5. Orioles: Screw the Orioles.

NL CENTRAL

1. White Sox: They are good, damn good. The vulnerablility is the bullpen, gotta sure that thing up, they could be in the market for someone like Baez or Mesa around the deadline.

2. Twins: Best starters in the league get better with the addition of Liriano. The lineup is improved, Morneau and Mauer will just get better.

3. Indians: I really really don't like their rotation. People don't realize how good Millwood was last year. Jason Johnson is not good. Their offense is scary though, could be as good as the Yankees if Victor Marinez steps up his game.

4. Detroit Tigers: Leyland will help, he knows his stuff. If Mags hits they will be right there for second place.

5. Royals: How does Allaird Baird still have a job? Does David Glass look at the direction of the Royals and say, "Wow, that looks super." Baird has had lots of time and he's built a rotation where the best starter is Joe Mays. They are my second favorite team, but man do they piss me off.

AL WEST

1. Angels: Time for McPherson and Kotchman to step up. Erstad must remain healthy in CF. The bullpen is rock solid, but the rotation is cause for worries. This team will be in the market for a starter come trading time.

2. A's: Not sure why they gave all that cash to Estaban Loiza, but he'll probably be awesome for them. Another well constructed team from Beane, Will they trade Zito??
Milton Bradley will not be a distraction in this tight clubhouse.

3. Texas Rangers: The offense is really good, the pitching is really bad. Can't the Rangers figure out that you have to have a good starting staff to accomplish anything?

4. Seattle Mariners: They won't be in last again in the next ten years. Felix Hernanadez is freaking unbelievable.

PLAYOFFS

NLDS
Giants v. Braves
Mets v. Cards
NLCS
Cards v. Giants
ALDS
Angels v. White Sox
A's v. Yankees
ALCS
White Sox v. Yankees
World Series
Cards v. Yankees
Champs: In a rematch of the 1926 World Series the Cardinal again beat the Yankees 4-3.

jt