One More Thing...

Brent Musberger kills any enjoyment you get from the LL WS. Really. What a horses ass.

VACATION!

Usually the last to go, but now we go. Vacation at last. Going to Cancun with mi famiglia to enjoy some sun, sand and suds. Boys are bringing the gloves though, gotta keep catching and throwing (priorities!).

ADIOS. See you when I return.

Nutshell

As in this play defines the Mets season in a...

Bottom nine, Mets down 9-7 (already scored one). Lidge on mound. Runners 1st and 2nd, no outs.

Francouer is 2-2 in the count, hit and run is on, he rips a liner up the middle that gets caught by Bruntlett (who muffed two plays previously) who's moving towards second to cover the bag. Steps on 2B and tags out Murphy for an UNASSISTED TRIPLE PLAY!


And apparently Mr. Met is going on the DL too. He may have tried to commit suicide. Details are sketchy.

Eleven

Remember this little gem? No? Then make sure you read it first before we go on. I'll wait.


OK, good to see you back.

Anyhoo, a couple of nights ago I had to hit the ATM for some pocket-dough. About 7:40PM by the glow of the dashboard clock. Compact-size Hyundai in front of me at the drive-up. And it had been there when I pulled past and around.

First I notice that this 'convenience bankee' (a female) had a dog on her lap. Then I notice the car isn't actually running. OK. Swipe one....guess that didn't work. Swipe two, no soap. Swipe three, I notice the hand is curled in that "I will continue swiping this card until it works" position. Swipe four, looks like we have something here. A few buttons being pressed, a receipt is printed and...

Swipe five - I guess we have some more transactions going on. Maybe we're cashing all of our public assistance checks? But that didn't work. Swipe six, no good. Swipe seven and eight are rapid fire, and by now some poor schnook is behind me, so I am trapped. By now it is 7:46. I'm getting angry. I've been yelling out the number every time she swiped since I counted four. The dog is moving around. Some kind of deposit. My turn is next...but no.

SWIPE NINE, SWIPE TEN, SWIPE ELEVEN!!!! Now we are apparently taking out some money, no doubt for something important. And just like that, after eight minutes I'll never get back, the car is started and pulls slowly forward. Maybe the dog was driving. I hope you had a fender-bender on the way home.

Inconsiderate B***h.

Countin' Down

To my vacation. Leave on 8/28 for someplace else. My kids think we are hitting Amish Country (we're not) so they should pleasantly surprised.

Also for the X and Y notation in the standings. Back page of the NY Daily News has the countdown to a winter off for the Mets. Yankees are rocking. Am I bitter? You bet I am. (By the way, my copy of the DN has a slightly different back page.)

And Mr. Plaxico Burress can start countin'down the days until his release. Dumb. He should look good in a jumpsuit.

Out.

Dangerous Curves

Been watching some of the LL Regionals on a couple of different channels. I'm not involved in LL, so let's not accuse me of bashing. A couple of lucid thoughts however:

1. 12 and 13 year olds (that weigh in at 140+ lbs)on 46/60 fields is not my druthers. Better they play on 50/70. These kids go to the big field the next season and can't reach 1B from across the diamond.

2. The announcers are all shills for LL. Last night all I heard was how LL instituted pitch counts to save the kids. BS. LL actually had a study conducted by Dr. James Andrews who made a recommendation - and they didn't follow his advice. For the record - SoulSlam always counts pitches with the boys on my team - common-sense. And if you live under a rock, you may not know that most of these kids are also playing on travel teams, so they may get a day or two of rest from LL, but pitch in a travel game in between. That's why most of them will be playing tennis or golf in HS - there arms will be toast.

3. Why, of why, is anybody allowing 12 and 13 year olds throw curves? And the Regionals I've been watching seem to feature pitchers throwing 80-90% breaking stuff. So spare me the soliliquy about the great coaches doing it for the kids. These guys should be protecting the kids by not letting them throw a curve. But they are just glory-hounds, looking to get on TV.

4. Do I have to see some trailer park mom going crazy every time her kid makes a play?

Cal Ripken will be on MLB network. Watch that and see what a difference it is.

3-2-1

The countdown to sign S. Strasburg by the Nats has begun. Midnight this coming Monday is the deadline, and if the Nationals don't get it done, the righty can go play independent ball or fly the coop to Japan - and then have to go back in the draft again next season. Jayson Stark on espn.com has a good read about this...

Alright - so if I'm an up and coming ballplayer, maybe I don't want to play in DC. Fair enough. And if he skips signing this year, he can block the same team from drafting him next season, so he could invariably go to another terrible team, albeit he's from San Diego so maybe he wants to be a Padre (and wear camouflage unis 1x per season!), but they aren't exactly rolling in the dough that Boras (the slimy) craves. So we wait for the deadline - and the possibility of the big payday.

And Bryce Harper watches...