The Mother Of All SuperBowl Predictions

SUPERBOWL LIII! Just a few days away.

Prediction: Game will blow as it usually does. Patriots will get W. Hopefully, Tom Brady will decide it's ok to go out on a win and retire soon after.

Then we can start talking BASEBALL!!!

PATRIOTS - 35
RAMS - 21

So Far, So Good

Winter in North J has been a wet one. But not a snowy one. We had a bit (4+") before Thanksgiving (which would typically make it autumn), some white stuff last Saturday night that changed to rain and turned to about 1.5" of slush. Lots of rain yesterday. But the snow has pretty much stayed away. Which is all good if you ask me.

Now, when you're a kid (or a Nordic skier), you really like the prospect of snow. School gets closed, day off, yeah! But in adult world, snow basically means you have to dig out, then get ready and go to work. Unless you're one of the myriad of guys that work for me and "can't make it in". Sure.

Forecast for the next ten days show some storm coming in a week or so, but that's a far ways away to take serious at this time. We'll see.

And before you leave this story feeling good about the less snow we are having, keep in mind...we have all of February and March yet, which have been chock full of snow over the last few years.

Sorry, No

Baseball Hall of Fame inductees were announced yesterday evening. And the winners are:

Mariano Rivera

Edgar Martinez

Mike Mussina

Roy Halladay

So here's the easy part. Rivera and Halladay (RIP) absolute HOFers! But the other 2...

Mike Mussina was a really good pitcher for both the Orioles and Yankees. Played 18 seasons. Won 270 games. Really was the model of consistency. And a fan could argue he's a no doubt HOFer. But when he was playing, did you ever think to yourself "this guy is a surefire HOFer!". I'd say no. So while he's not exactly a compiler, he's on the road to rock. He played on decent teams (make no mistake, the Orioles in the 90's was a pretty good team) and benefits from that as well. He doesn't make my ballot, sorry.

Edgar M. the big DH for the Seattle Mariners also played 18 years. All for the M's, which is an anomaly in today's game. Career BA of .312 which is big time. But he had 309 HRs, 2246 hits, and 1261 RBIs. All short of the automatic magical numbers you hear. So what's the deal? He waited a long while to be voted in...a lot of that due to his basically being a DH. The Designated Hitter has been a legitimate "position" since 1973, so the BBWAA need to get over that idiosyncrasy that some seem to have. Yes, EM was a good hitter, probably more in the vein of Tony Gwynn than what is thought of as a conventional DH. But for me, he's not a HOFer. Now, with the election of Harold Baines, I guess you could make an argument with me. That signals the Baseball HOF is like the Football HOF, where seemingly all players get in.

On the flip-side we have one Larry Walker. Played for Montreal Expos, Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Cards. In his 9th year of eligibility, he amassed 54.6% of vote, which was a big jump from previous two years. Here's his simple line:

.313 Career BA

383 Career HR

2160 Career Hits

1311 Career RBI

So how does Edgar Martinez get in, but Larry Walker only places on a little more than half of ballots? In a career that spanned one less season, he has higher numbers in 3 out of 4 categories. He played fulltime in the OF. And he played on some spectacularly bad teams. So the case can be made that he played in Colorado and benefited from the climate. If you throw in OBP and SLG, Edgar wins on base (.418 vs .400!) but LW wins slugging (.565 vs .515). These two players head to head show you exactly what is wrong with Hall of Fame Voting.

The Storm That Wasn't

Winter Storm Harper came and went like a fart in the wind. At least here in North J.

Leading up to this non-event, the forecasts ranged from ominous to downright apocalyptic..."massive amounts of snow, with icy rain and then a polar vortx dive to create flash freezing that could take down power lines and...". SoulSlam is paraphrasing here but I'm not inaccurate.

So after gym time on Saturday AM, I went about getting all my snow gear in order. Check salt for icy walks, get shovels out, make sure I have gas for snow throwing beast. All good. I pulled out my B&S Generator just in case. Gotta clean the carb I think but that's another day. Finished up my outside chores by 2PM or so. Went inside to shower and change and wait. And wait. And wait.

Kept checking Weather Channel and News12. "Storm may have pushed North but it's still on it's way! Your area will be getting 3-6"!"

Started snowing after 7PM or so I guess. By that time I was prone on the couch. Watching TV. Around 10PM I took doggies out for some late business. Had about 2+" on deck, so I had to clear that. Made a path so we can finish said business. OK, this could be something. Went to bed around 11:30 or so.

Early around 5AM I wake up and I can hear cars/trucks on road in front of Rose Manor (aka the actual House of SoulSlam). HMMM. Get up around 6:15AM to take doggies out for early business (see a pattern?). Take a look on back deck and see a lot of slush. Apparently the rain came.

After getting my socks soggy (I was wearing slides) I hung in the man-cave in my big chair with doggies for a couple. Watched some news. Weather duds come on and say "it's not over! The flash freeze could be bad!" Oh, well. Got out my special ed shovel and pushed slush off the giant driveway and cleaned up pretty well. Started raining really hard around 10AM, but that's ok. Sun came out around noon and dried up everything. So if everything is dry, there's really nothing to flash freeze, is there? Yes, it's cold. But it's been cold before.

Harper wasn't much of anything. Sorry.

Nocturnal Headaches

Ever have a headache while you're sleeping. Head on the pillow, all good but you can feel your noodle under pressure. SoulSlam had that last night. Didn't feel 100% all day, then that. I'm positively trying to stave off any type of illness today.

Storm's A-Brewin'

The weather-clowns (JK) have semi-forecast that our area (meaning that of North J) is in line for a small winter storm on Thursday evening (1-3"likely), then a major event starting Saturday into Sunday. Depending on temperature line, we'll either get a lot of rain or a lot of snow. That narrows things down nicely. Since we are mid-way through January and haven't had much snow (one burst before Thanksgiving) I guess that's a positive. But, if memory serves, most of our big storms over the last few years have been in February and March. So we still have about two more months to go, but SoulSlam, for one could do without the white stuff this year.

Mookie!

Don't think I mentioned it but the House of SoulSlam added a new member about 3 weeks ago...his name (now) is Mookie and he's a 5YO Yorkie that came from a rescue.

Long story short, Mookie had an attentive owner for the first 3 years of his life, but that person passed away, and the person who took them (a business partner we're told) decided to take Mookie and his two sisters and...keep them crated all the time. They were even fed in their crate. After a couple of years, this cretin decided he didn't want them anymore and surrendered them to a local shelter. The BWSS found a post on FB, contacted them and said we were interested in becoming his full-time family. We passed the initial meet and greet and Mookie came to live with us a few days before Christmas!

Shy at first, he's become one of the guys with his new doggy pals, namely Max and Maggie. The fact that we could give this awesome little guy a happy home life after a couple years of living in a cage was a nice holiday present for all! He's 5.5 lbs of cool!

Special thanks to the Friends of Wayne Animal Rescue (FOWA) for the special work they do.

That Guy

Whenever you feel down or you feel hopeless, think about this guy:

The fact that it was tipped is cold, cold comfort I am sure.

Good Samaritan But That's Only The Start

Yesterday was New Year's Day and the Beautiful Wife of SoulSlam wanted to take a trip into NYC, see the tree, walk around a bit. She was under the weather (but didn't tell me) so we went in for 3 hours or so. Took the NY Waterway ferry over (best way!). You drive to the ferry terminal in Port Imperial Weehawken, park and float!

Anyway, with the massive development around, they have a parking garage that costs money. Oh well. Time was, it cost $5 to park for whole day. Pretty sure I paid 7-10x that yesterday. Upon return, I walked up to cashier with my parking ticket for payment; at this point I noticed a lady talking on her cell in the vicinity.

So all of a sudden this conversation starts:
Her: "Hi, you wouldn't happen to have jumper cables?"
Me: "Umm, think I do"
Her: "Would you be able to give us a jump?"
Me: "Sure, just let me finish paying and I'll be right over"

So after my credit card was approved and my exit ticket provided (good for 15 minutes!), I walked up the rampway a short distance. There they were (Maryland plates), a couple spots from my beautiful Lincoln MKX. And they had backed into the parking spot so we've got good vibrations already. I pull over, pop the hood, get the cables and we both connect to the batteries. Give my car a little gas to rev and the guy from MD turns his key. VROOOOMMMM!!!! Yes, mission accomplished.

At this point I get out and get my stuff squared away, not 100% paying attention to what's happening. In short, MD man, in his utter joy, closed his door with windows up and doors locked. With key in ignition and car running! And the absolute look of dumb on his face.

Can't help that. Sorry. Wished them luck, told them that there was PA cops in area and maybe they could help.