That's A Big Steak

I'm watching the Travel Channel right now and some guys are eating 72oz. steaks! And it's free if you can eat it in an hour at the Big Texan in Amarillo. Gotta get there.

Speaking of Big Texans, what about Josh Hamilton. (well he's big and plays for Texas, so I guess that's close enough). Poor guy had an injury plagued season last year and then this season is about 18 minutes old and he injured a shoulder diving for a ball. He's back to practicing, so I guess we'll see.

Did I mention the new excitement around Topps Baseball Cards? They have a contest (for lack of a better word) called the Million Dollar Giveaway, aka the cards your Mom threw out! SoulSlam and spawn of SoulSlam are hot on the trail. So far we have been rewarded with:

Doug Capilla - 1980 Cubs

Donnie Moore - 1978 Cubs

Jim McAndrew - 1971 Mets

Al Cicotte - 1958 Yankees

Rick Auerbach - 1980 Reds

Horace Clark - 1973 Yankees

Bob Walk - 1993 Pirates

1964 Strikeout Leaders (Veale, Gibson, Drysdale)

Cool.

Convicted

Check out 48 Hours tonight for a story on the West Memphis Three

What is justice? I've read all there is to on this case. Justice was not served, just tricked.

Aching Shovel

That was some storm. Now we got clear skies, and a little melt going on.

Rec Basketball winding down. I'm done with it. Two more weeks. Yowza.

Indoor baseball practice is still in swing (so to speak). Last night I looked at a bat an 11 YO was swinging - 16.5 oz. Light. Essentially his choice but he's gonna find it tough to swing a big barrel next year (or this year in rec). So my point is - boys need to progress each season to a heavier bat so they can adjust gradually when the bats and field get bigger.

Our program is running a can drive today and tomorrow for the local baseball and softball program. Give.

Hello Mr. Webster

Just heard it called a "Snowicane".

Oh boy.

Now This Is A Storm

I've never heard of "hurricane-like snow". But they say it's coming. Yikes.

School's closed today and tomorrow is a gimme. Work, not so much.

Baseball is an indoor sport for at least another couple of weeks. Rough.

Dreamin' of Detroit

Things Johnny Damon can do in the Motor City:

1. Hang out with Kid Rock
2. Stand on an unemployment line
3. Take in a Red Wings game and watch the fans throw Octopi
4. Go bowling
5. Wait for Michael Moore to shoot a sequel

So you can see why Detroit was always the placed he wanted to be.

Right.

Skates and Sticks

H- E - DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS!

SO apparently the pro hockey players from the U.S. beat the pro hockey players from the Great White North last night. I know this because I can't escape it. Even though I wish I could.

Hockey = dumb.

Now everybody of a certain age remembers the Miracle on Ice. When a team of AMATEUR HOCKEY PLAYERS FROM THE U.S. went and did the unimaginable. Inspiring.


And anybody who likes a good movie knows all about Slap Shot, one of the funniest movies you will ever watch.

But other than that, I can't remember any hockey event or happening I care about. And niether should you, eh.

So here's my hockey joke:

Why do Canadians do it doggy-style?
So everybody can watch the hockey game!

Canadian hate mail can be sent care of SoulSlam.

Contact Lenses

Hate 'em. Love 'em. Can't decide which.

Been wearing lenses for many, many years. And as I age (gracefully I would like to add), my eyesight is getting progressively worse.

SO I go to my Eye Dr., who's new and bought the practice from my old Eye Dr. and he doesn't change my prescription, but puts me into a "better lens". Now, I didn't know ther was a "better lens". I figured they were all great. I guess I was wrong.

Anyway, the new lenses are a little clearer, but they tear more easily and cost a lot more. And before you say "SoulSlam, what about LASIK?"; I have one set of peepers and I don't like messing with them. I guess you can color me apprehensive.

Oh well...

Enjoy a video:

Alaska East

Snow again today. Isn't Snow Miser a baseball fan? Cause this much of the white stuff is seriously hindering my team's ability to get outside and get going.

I'm sure we'll have a minor warm spell soon (at least I'm praying) and the melting will begin.

MLB Pitchers and Catchers this week.

And for all you collectors (well you would know so for everybody else): in the world of baseball cards, Topps signed an exclusive agreement with MLB. So that means Upper Deck Cards cannot have MLB logos on them. Interesting look.

Next Caller

If you are like SoulSlam, you probably listen to a lot of sports radio. In the NYC area (of which North Jersey is the capital) - that station is WFAN. The first full-time sports talk station in history. (Well, except for the one they had on the lost continent of Atlantis but they were pretty advanced.)

So for those working below the Antarctic circle, the premise of these stations is this:

A bloviating (or not) host pontificates on the sports news of the day. Heavy on baseball and football, light on most anything else unless it's March Madness or something. They read the daily rags and wag tongue on a variety of topics. Then they go to the phones.

It is here that the magic actually happens. The callers drive the situation. They also intrigue me. Here's some of the basic caller types:

The Blatherer - this is the person who calls and just meanders about, makes little sense and generally brings things to a screeching halt

The "Stole my Thunder" Caller- always starts with the phrase intact as in "the last caller stole my thunder". Like they have anything even remotely original to say. This type of caller has an over-inflated sense of worth.

The Yes Man - Always agrees that the host is generally correct in all of their observations and analyses. Problem is the host is generally a dolt.

The Professional Call-in, Go To Caller - This caller probably speaks into his cereal spoon, perfecting his radio voice every day. These callers like to use BIG words with lots of syllables so they sound intelligent. A clue from SoulSlam - you don't.




So what to make of these peeps? They all contribute in some way, either positive or negative, to the great microphone universe we all know and love. Can't say if that's bad or good. Just is.

Snow

School's closed, borough is closed, but SoulSlam's job is open. So I sit here awaiting the early dismissal that I expect within the hour.

We're getting slammed (in the proverbial sense) with the white stuff. Could be one of those two-day things. I guess my baseball teams will be getting on the fields outside later than sooner.

I just joined getgreat.com. Lots of cool instructional videos and stuff from Cal Ripken and others. I'll review in a few days.

Working with Murph

Since Francesa is absolutely killing this kid today on WFAN. Here's a pic of the great Keith Hernandez working with Murph before Spring Training.



And for the record, Mike once predicted that Pedroia would be nothing. Great call.

SPRING TRAINING!

Days away. Super Bowl is over, all the fanboys are tweaking on sports talk radio (AKA The FAN) for the day, maybe a couple of calls tomorrow and then it begins. Oh, there's also something called the Winter Olympics, but besides Bobsled and Skeleton I'm none too interested.

Nirvana.

The Glass Half Full

Now, Omar M. saying he likes our team and thinks were ready for the 2010 season is kind of like that.

But to be honest, this little tidbit really defines the above expression. I guess the Nats are serious (cue the sarcasm). The star of this deal? Shawn Estes's agent. Great job.

So back to the Mets - have you ever found a puzzle in a closet, spend all the time to put it together, and find out some major pieces are missing? Pieces like:

A Starting Catcher
A #2 Pitcher
Another Lefty Reliever
A First Baseman other than D. Murphy

Now Murph may turn out to be OK. I guess we will see. But the fact that we have a choice between Santos, Thole, Blanco or Coste to be our receiver is troubling. Who knew we'd be pining away for Brian Schneider this soon!

Colts today - then the breakdown on WFAN tomorrow, then it's all baseball, all the time. Good times.

SoulSlam Likes Punk Rock

I didn't have anything else to call this post, which is a few days since the last one. Maybe I've become lazy, maybe it's the dead of winter a-calling. Whatever. During the month of February I will post at least a cool 10, maybe 12 tidbits of wisdom, wit and general jocularity. Count on it.

Since this post is really about nothing, like the Seinfeld of blogs, I thought I'd type random notes. Here goes:

I liked Lost last night. Missed the 1st ten minutes, but I can catch that somewhere in the www.

A new "mini Mart" opened in my town today. It is the 4th such establishment in a 2 mile radius. Who knew coffee and smokes carried that much profit!

My barber is going on vacation in 2, count 'em, 2 days. I got a haircut so I don't get too shabby.

I read an article that Jose Reyes is "ready". Great.

Pitchers and catchers. Less than 2 weeks. Yowza!

The color purple is one of those colors that you buy some clothes, then look at those clothes and say "what the hell was I thinking?"

I think most public libraries are pretty optimistic that VHS is coming back.

Lebron is really something, isn't he?

That rascally groundhog said what?

I like the name Bulldogs for a Baseball Team.

I've run out of trivial things to type.

Manana.