belated six-pack...
1. Sawx-Tawk - Well, the weekend was a promising start to the Jason Bay era. I was all ready to be excited again, right up until we lost to the Royals tonight. Granted, Mike Lowell was out, but the lineup had the unmistakable tinge of missing one major bat, much like when Ortiz was out earlier. There will be opportunities for teams to pitch around Papi, and it'll take a solid team effort to overcome that. So put me down as inspired, but cautiously pessimistic. (And that assumes Papi didn't re-aggravate his wrist tonight. Knock on wood furiously)
2. Olympics non-talk - I'm way more excited about the PGA Championship this weekend than I am about the Olympics kicking off. I can't imagine suffering through any of the tape-delay prime time coverage. And I haven't decided whether I'm rooting for or against the US Men's basketball squad. I'll have to actually look at the schedule to see if there's anything worth watching in real time. All I'm hoping is for some major protest to make things more politically charged.
3. Pre-season football talk - Yawn to this as well. I did not take in any of the HoF game, and as a non-fantasy player, don't care much about anything non-Patriots related at this point. And really, all we're looking for this week is for nobody to get hurt on Thursday, right? NFL Network has the replay on Saturday afternoon, hopefully someone tivo's it, and we can bomb through it before game 2 next Sunday.
4. Obama VP talk - Anyone else completely uninspired by the names being kicked around? I wasn't expecting to actually see a liberal on the ticket, but I've got to hope there's something up Obama's sleeve better than Evan Bayh. If I'm talking myself into Joe Biden for the next few months I'm going to be pissed. Blah.
5. Wilco talk - No Obama sighting at Lollapalooza as rumored, but quality use of Nudie suits by Mr. Tweedy and the boys. Also happened to catch their performance at Wrigley Field by complete accident, which was amusing.
6. Ted Stevens blathering - If you haven't seen it, check out the Daily Show compilation of great moments in Ted Stevens history. It's a solid way to waste half an hour.
Showing posts with label lazy Friday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lazy Friday. Show all posts
Monday, August 04, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
When the sun passes this line, we can drink again!
Quick Friday Six-Pack...
1) Favre to the Jets? Please. Make this happen. Anything so that this stupid story will die. I couldn't hate the Jets anymore right now anyways.
2) Bonds to the Yankees? See above. Although the site of that juicer in pinstripes might make my eyes bleed.
3) McCain to the retirement home? The next factually accurate thing this chump says will be the first in quite some time. Obama-media lovefest? Certainly. But McCain should be grateful for this, because if he were getting more camera time, people might notice that he's completely senile and out of touch with reality. The debates should be fantastic.
4) WNBA to the front page? While were on the subject of people I hate, let's throw Rick Mahorn and Bill Laimbeer into the mix. These two coach a team that got into a brawl? Shocking. Mahorn should be suspended for life for the crap he pulled. Peacemaker my ass.
5) Manny to the nuthouse? Don't we go through this every year? Why does this surprise anyone/make news anymore? Papi's back; everything's gonna be fine. I'm pushing for JD Drew to slide into the 5-hole, but looks like Lowell might stick it out there, which is ok. Personally, I'd go Pedroia-Youk-Papi-Manny-Drew-Lowell-Lowrie-Tek-(Ellsbury/Crisp).
6) Pats to Training Camp? Let the healing begin.
1) Favre to the Jets? Please. Make this happen. Anything so that this stupid story will die. I couldn't hate the Jets anymore right now anyways.
2) Bonds to the Yankees? See above. Although the site of that juicer in pinstripes might make my eyes bleed.
3) McCain to the retirement home? The next factually accurate thing this chump says will be the first in quite some time. Obama-media lovefest? Certainly. But McCain should be grateful for this, because if he were getting more camera time, people might notice that he's completely senile and out of touch with reality. The debates should be fantastic.
4) WNBA to the front page? While were on the subject of people I hate, let's throw Rick Mahorn and Bill Laimbeer into the mix. These two coach a team that got into a brawl? Shocking. Mahorn should be suspended for life for the crap he pulled. Peacemaker my ass.
5) Manny to the nuthouse? Don't we go through this every year? Why does this surprise anyone/make news anymore? Papi's back; everything's gonna be fine. I'm pushing for JD Drew to slide into the 5-hole, but looks like Lowell might stick it out there, which is ok. Personally, I'd go Pedroia-Youk-Papi-Manny-Drew-Lowell-Lowrie-Tek-(Ellsbury/Crisp).
6) Pats to Training Camp? Let the healing begin.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Fireworks exploding in the distance
Quick pick-6 on a pseudo-Friday afternoon, as I desperately wait for an experiment to finish so I can start my weekend binge drinking...
1) Sox-Yankees this weekend. Is this a tradition now? How annoying is that? And if they (MLB) are so desperate to make money off of the series, why is there no national broadcast for tomorrow's game? So many questions. Not that it matters, as apparently Tampa is unbeatable. When Tim Wakefield takes a loss at the Trop, you're in trouble.
1a) Hey Tito, if you're so worried about Tek hitting into a double play, perhaps you should be pinch hitting for him, no?
2) Nothing quite like being a vegetarian on an all-BBQ holiday. By now I've adjusted, but it's still a bit cloying to be invited over for dinner with the assumption that you have to bring your own food. Or to feel like I have to have a food taster with me, in case someone decided that bacon is a key ingredient in salad. Rrrr...
3) Oh, and fat guys? Independence day does not give you the freedom to declare your independence from shirts in public.
4) I imagine I'm intrigued enough to watch the Wimbledon finals (excuse me, All-England Lawn Tennis Championships). But tennis and 6 AM aren't a particularly appealing combination for me. Maybe if it was the All-England Lawn-Darts Championship.
5) Things I'll miss about not being home for the holidays this weekend
a - jazzfest
b - family whiffle ball extravaganza
c - fresh lobstah
6) Things I won't miss
a - the crappy german potato salad no one would ever own up to bringing to the family bbq
b - cape & islands traffic
c - black fly
Enjoy
1) Sox-Yankees this weekend. Is this a tradition now? How annoying is that? And if they (MLB) are so desperate to make money off of the series, why is there no national broadcast for tomorrow's game? So many questions. Not that it matters, as apparently Tampa is unbeatable. When Tim Wakefield takes a loss at the Trop, you're in trouble.
1a) Hey Tito, if you're so worried about Tek hitting into a double play, perhaps you should be pinch hitting for him, no?
2) Nothing quite like being a vegetarian on an all-BBQ holiday. By now I've adjusted, but it's still a bit cloying to be invited over for dinner with the assumption that you have to bring your own food. Or to feel like I have to have a food taster with me, in case someone decided that bacon is a key ingredient in salad. Rrrr...
3) Oh, and fat guys? Independence day does not give you the freedom to declare your independence from shirts in public.
4) I imagine I'm intrigued enough to watch the Wimbledon finals (excuse me, All-England Lawn Tennis Championships). But tennis and 6 AM aren't a particularly appealing combination for me. Maybe if it was the All-England Lawn-Darts Championship.
5) Things I'll miss about not being home for the holidays this weekend
a - jazzfest
b - family whiffle ball extravaganza
c - fresh lobstah
6) Things I won't miss
a - the crappy german potato salad no one would ever own up to bringing to the family bbq
b - cape & islands traffic
c - black fly
Enjoy
Saturday, June 28, 2008
A tradition like no other
Well, not really. But let's set aside Friday for the weekly notes column - this will hopefully lead to a regular posting schedule. I liked the pick-6 last week. So I'll do it again. (And yes, I'm now posting the final version of this on Saturday)
1) At some point in the next year or two, I'm going to have to pack up shop and move to another city. I've always considered Seattle to be a "safe" choice - but I had some eye-opening issues with the city this past weekend.
a) A horribly planned stretch of I-5 leaves 4 lanes converging into 2 just on the edge of downtown. Big Dig Lite? Almost - no reason for there to be crazy traffic heading into a city on a Saturday morning with no major events happening.
b) Jaywalking! $56 a pop, apparently. Walking back from the show (Gov't Mule & Ratdog) to the hotel after midnight on fairly empty streets - got yelled at by a snarrky cop who had snuck up on us (in a dark blue cruiser). Just a warning this time. But you can't actually step onto the street without a walk sign. Frickin' A.
c) Of course, I wouldn't have had to walk around aimessly at that point in the night, except we couldn't find a bar with a kitchen still open past midnight. This may be a chance of knowing where to go in a city, but even the bartenders and bellhops we asked seemed to have no clue. Did find a place eventually called Dragonfish, which is highly recommended for cheap late night Asian appetizers.
2) My best bet may be to move to Connecticut or Wisconsin, if only to become a constituent of one of my favorite senators - Dodd or Feingold. Thank jeebus someone is standing up against the warrentless wiretapping debacle. I don't know why this issue in particular bothers me as much as it does (maybe I'm reading too much Glenn Greenwald) as opposed to all of the other crap that's happened in the last 8 years. For his part, Ron Wyden, (D-OR) is doing a decent job with opposing it as well.
3) First time in years I haven't watched the bulk of the NBA draft as it happened (I was driving to and from Eugene, and couldn't even get it on the radio). Probably just as well, since I hate ESPN's coverage of such events. Got back just in time to see the C's grab JR Giddens. Would have liked to see CDR, but this guy seems to have some intense athleticism. Hopefully KG and the boys put the fear of God in him, and he gets over whatever issues he has left over from Kansas. Sounds as if he got the wake-up call after the infamous bar fight - I didn't realize Steve Alford was the Lobos' coach, and he had quite positive things to say about Giddens. Love the Bill Walker gamble - very similar to the Leon Powe selection - uber-talented guy with bad knees, don't have to offer him guaranteed money. I would have been shocked if the C's didn't pick a Euroleaguer with the 60th pick, and they didn't disappoint. Ainge has positive things to say, and the 15 second highlight clip ESPN showed has me sold. I'll be looking for Turkish League box scores soon enough. Of course, I'm still waiting on Albert Mirales, so what do I know? At this point, the only D-1 hoops I watch is the tournament (and some of the conference tourney action in the lead up), so I don't have many other Draft08 thoughts. Love what the Blazers are doing, and I'm actually quite intrigued by the Grizzlies. OJ Mayo and Darrell Arthur? Good show, Chris Wallace.
Almost forgot - didn't recognize till yesterday that JR Giddens was this guy. Sweet!
4) My work email is finally back up to speed - though I might be one of the few savvy enough to have done so. OHSU just performed a mass-move to a different set of servers, which was overdue, but handled quite poorly. For some reason, they managed to move all of my spam from the last two years (often in duplicate), which apparently never got deleted, since I block it with my own mail client, not the frivolous spam guards they have in place. But after sorting through upwards of 5000 backlogged emails, I'm good to go. Except for the ominous disclaimer on the web server "All users of this Email system are subject to having their activities audited. This system is to be used only for OHSU business, and access requires explicit written authorization". So, yeah, might want to redirect email back to my yahoo/google accounts.
5) Once again, I would much, much rather be in Montréal for the Jazz Festival right now. Got to plan this ahead for next year. I've still never had a Boréale Blanche. I did by a bottle of Trois Pistoles the other day; that helped a little.
6) I was always a proponent of interleague play, though I still don't understand why it all has to happen at once, instead of sprinkled throughout the season. But man, is the lack of the DH annoying. I'd much rather not have the AL East decided because Chien-Ming Wang injured himself running the bases. And if there's some freak accident on the hill in Minute Maid Park this weekend (knocking on wood till my knuckles bleed slightly) I'm going to have an aneurism.
1) At some point in the next year or two, I'm going to have to pack up shop and move to another city. I've always considered Seattle to be a "safe" choice - but I had some eye-opening issues with the city this past weekend.
a) A horribly planned stretch of I-5 leaves 4 lanes converging into 2 just on the edge of downtown. Big Dig Lite? Almost - no reason for there to be crazy traffic heading into a city on a Saturday morning with no major events happening.
b) Jaywalking! $56 a pop, apparently. Walking back from the show (Gov't Mule & Ratdog) to the hotel after midnight on fairly empty streets - got yelled at by a snarrky cop who had snuck up on us (in a dark blue cruiser). Just a warning this time. But you can't actually step onto the street without a walk sign. Frickin' A.
c) Of course, I wouldn't have had to walk around aimessly at that point in the night, except we couldn't find a bar with a kitchen still open past midnight. This may be a chance of knowing where to go in a city, but even the bartenders and bellhops we asked seemed to have no clue. Did find a place eventually called Dragonfish, which is highly recommended for cheap late night Asian appetizers.
2) My best bet may be to move to Connecticut or Wisconsin, if only to become a constituent of one of my favorite senators - Dodd or Feingold. Thank jeebus someone is standing up against the warrentless wiretapping debacle. I don't know why this issue in particular bothers me as much as it does (maybe I'm reading too much Glenn Greenwald) as opposed to all of the other crap that's happened in the last 8 years. For his part, Ron Wyden, (D-OR) is doing a decent job with opposing it as well.
3) First time in years I haven't watched the bulk of the NBA draft as it happened (I was driving to and from Eugene, and couldn't even get it on the radio). Probably just as well, since I hate ESPN's coverage of such events. Got back just in time to see the C's grab JR Giddens. Would have liked to see CDR, but this guy seems to have some intense athleticism. Hopefully KG and the boys put the fear of God in him, and he gets over whatever issues he has left over from Kansas. Sounds as if he got the wake-up call after the infamous bar fight - I didn't realize Steve Alford was the Lobos' coach, and he had quite positive things to say about Giddens. Love the Bill Walker gamble - very similar to the Leon Powe selection - uber-talented guy with bad knees, don't have to offer him guaranteed money. I would have been shocked if the C's didn't pick a Euroleaguer with the 60th pick, and they didn't disappoint. Ainge has positive things to say, and the 15 second highlight clip ESPN showed has me sold. I'll be looking for Turkish League box scores soon enough. Of course, I'm still waiting on Albert Mirales, so what do I know? At this point, the only D-1 hoops I watch is the tournament (and some of the conference tourney action in the lead up), so I don't have many other Draft08 thoughts. Love what the Blazers are doing, and I'm actually quite intrigued by the Grizzlies. OJ Mayo and Darrell Arthur? Good show, Chris Wallace.
Almost forgot - didn't recognize till yesterday that JR Giddens was this guy. Sweet!
4) My work email is finally back up to speed - though I might be one of the few savvy enough to have done so. OHSU just performed a mass-move to a different set of servers, which was overdue, but handled quite poorly. For some reason, they managed to move all of my spam from the last two years (often in duplicate), which apparently never got deleted, since I block it with my own mail client, not the frivolous spam guards they have in place. But after sorting through upwards of 5000 backlogged emails, I'm good to go. Except for the ominous disclaimer on the web server "All users of this Email system are subject to having their activities audited. This system is to be used only for OHSU business, and access requires explicit written authorization". So, yeah, might want to redirect email back to my yahoo/google accounts.
5) Once again, I would much, much rather be in Montréal for the Jazz Festival right now. Got to plan this ahead for next year. I've still never had a Boréale Blanche. I did by a bottle of Trois Pistoles the other day; that helped a little.
6) I was always a proponent of interleague play, though I still don't understand why it all has to happen at once, instead of sprinkled throughout the season. But man, is the lack of the DH annoying. I'd much rather not have the AL East decided because Chien-Ming Wang injured himself running the bases. And if there's some freak accident on the hill in Minute Maid Park this weekend (knocking on wood till my knuckles bleed slightly) I'm going to have an aneurism.
Friday, June 06, 2008
Upon further review
Perusing the interwebs, looks like every possible angle about Game 1 has been covered. And then some. Good Lord. Which means I don't have anything particularly interesting to add. Here's a few thoughts anyways...
•When Pierce went down, I almost swallowed my tongue. I've been looking forward to this since the KG trade, and it was nearly stolen in the 3rd quarter. I somehow regained focus and started pulling for them to steal a win without him. Then he came back, and, well, you know the rest.
•I've been bitching about the Thursday-Sunday thing, but it sure seems sweet now.
•As I said, I've been assuming they would split the first two games - if they can pull game 2 off, that's gravy, as far as I'm concerned. Hopefully Pierce and Perk are OK to go, but if holding them out till Tuesday will make either one much more effective, I think that's fine.
•Even trimming Pierce's minutes back a little might be fine for a game or two - Ray Allen looks solid with the ball in his hands, and can step up a little more with fewer people to share with. But he's got to quit doing the whole "Drive baseline-leave your feet-throw the ball into the lane" thing. Box score gives him four turnovers, but it could have been more.
•Probably got the swing on both of the two backcourt violations. But with that stupid trophy at mid-court, who can really tell? More than a couple players slipped on other freshly painted areas of the court as well.
•Keeping Kobe off the line and out of the paint? Good call. He'll make more jumpers than he did last night, but there was always a hand in his face when he shot - he prefers to go straight up than to fade away, though if he gets in a rhythm, that's moot. My guess is that he tries to assert himself on O earlier in the game (though he did take 7 shots in the 1st last night) - getting him into hero mode isn't the end of the world.
•Liked the pace of the game - offense took some time to get into rhythm, but the 90's are a good place to be for Boston.
•Rebounding - keep it up boys.
•LA was 3-14 from downtown. I like that, too (see the preview)
•Perk's ankle sprain isn't going to make him any more mobile - Gasol was getting lots of good looks from 18 feet - and he's good at that. Not too sure what the adjustment is there (like I said, Z and McDyess were getting those looks as well). If Thibodeau is worried about it, I'm sure they'll think of something.
•More KG on the block early - he can definitely rack up fouls against these guys.
•I don't really want to talk about Sam Cassell - but I did like it when he posted up some of the Laker guards. I would like to know what Ray Allen was saying to him during that time out.
•Leon Powe - saved a couple possessions with heads up boarding. Learn your defensive rotations, dude. We'd like to see you in there more.
•Story of the night is Truth, obviously. I'll wax poetic about him at some point, and I really hope he's good to go. For those of you who haven't been following his career very closely, now you know why I have.
•When Pierce went down, I almost swallowed my tongue. I've been looking forward to this since the KG trade, and it was nearly stolen in the 3rd quarter. I somehow regained focus and started pulling for them to steal a win without him. Then he came back, and, well, you know the rest.
•I've been bitching about the Thursday-Sunday thing, but it sure seems sweet now.
•As I said, I've been assuming they would split the first two games - if they can pull game 2 off, that's gravy, as far as I'm concerned. Hopefully Pierce and Perk are OK to go, but if holding them out till Tuesday will make either one much more effective, I think that's fine.
•Even trimming Pierce's minutes back a little might be fine for a game or two - Ray Allen looks solid with the ball in his hands, and can step up a little more with fewer people to share with. But he's got to quit doing the whole "Drive baseline-leave your feet-throw the ball into the lane" thing. Box score gives him four turnovers, but it could have been more.
•Probably got the swing on both of the two backcourt violations. But with that stupid trophy at mid-court, who can really tell? More than a couple players slipped on other freshly painted areas of the court as well.
•Keeping Kobe off the line and out of the paint? Good call. He'll make more jumpers than he did last night, but there was always a hand in his face when he shot - he prefers to go straight up than to fade away, though if he gets in a rhythm, that's moot. My guess is that he tries to assert himself on O earlier in the game (though he did take 7 shots in the 1st last night) - getting him into hero mode isn't the end of the world.
•Liked the pace of the game - offense took some time to get into rhythm, but the 90's are a good place to be for Boston.
•Rebounding - keep it up boys.
•LA was 3-14 from downtown. I like that, too (see the preview)
•Perk's ankle sprain isn't going to make him any more mobile - Gasol was getting lots of good looks from 18 feet - and he's good at that. Not too sure what the adjustment is there (like I said, Z and McDyess were getting those looks as well). If Thibodeau is worried about it, I'm sure they'll think of something.
•More KG on the block early - he can definitely rack up fouls against these guys.
•I don't really want to talk about Sam Cassell - but I did like it when he posted up some of the Laker guards. I would like to know what Ray Allen was saying to him during that time out.
•Leon Powe - saved a couple possessions with heads up boarding. Learn your defensive rotations, dude. We'd like to see you in there more.
•Story of the night is Truth, obviously. I'll wax poetic about him at some point, and I really hope he's good to go. For those of you who haven't been following his career very closely, now you know why I have.
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