These thoughts (typically disconnected) actually have
nothing to do with Friday the 13th, but are just my random thoughts
on various sports topics of the past few weeks.
I would normally have posted a blog at the beginning of baseball
season extolling the virtues of baseball as a whole, and my teams in
particular. However, this baseball season began with my baseball brain in
limbo. That was due entirely to the whole situation with the MLB Extra Innings
package. I have been a subscriber to Extra Innings (thanks to my wife and my
birthday falling in early April) for the past 2 years. I’ve REALLY enjoyed
watching the Giants (and occasionally someone else) on Extra Innings. With the
season beginning and Extra Innings available only on DirecTV (my motto is, “no
way in hell”), I was in a real quandary. Do I wait it out and hope for the
best, or do I take the plunge and get MLB.TV via the internet? I was hoping for
a settlement for a couple of reasons. One is, I already spend way too much time
in the computer room, and I tend to get distracted by Full Tilt and PokerStars.
Two, my recliner is in the living room! While investigating, I discovered that
MLB.TV was having a free five day trial. Thank goodness…I was able to find out
that, at least on my 3 year old computer, that MLB.TV is ####. The first day,
the mosaic feature wouldn’t work at all. The slower feed I had to use had a
hiccup literally once a second. Sound quality was also poor. By day 2, the
mosaic feature was working, and the hiccups were less frequent, but bigger (2
or 3 seconds) when they happened. So, the product had improved from #### poor
to mediocre. Thankfully the whole issue was resolved before the trial period
ran out, and I could settle back into my recliner and enjoy Kuip and Kruk.
Which brings me to my next musing. If you had told me that
by Friday the 13th that one of my teams would be a game above .500
(we’ll ignore the 3-2 part for now) and hal####ame out of first, and the other
would be 2-7 and 4.5 games back, I wouldn’t have been surprised. Had you told
me it’s the Mariners at 3-2 and the Giants would be 2-7, I wouldn’t have bought
it.
What the hell happened??? I vehemently poo-pooed (can you
vehemently poo-poo something? Ah, well…) all those who talked about the Giants
being awful this year. They’re still too old, everyone said. Nah, they picked
up some great players, made some significant upgrades. I know it’s early, and
trying to stay away from the panic button, but so far Zito hasn’t come through
(although I really think that’s temporary) and the bats…holy cow, the bats have
been nearly non-existent. I wouldn’t have anticipated that from a veteran (i.e.
ancient?) team. I would think that any hitting slumps would happen late in the
season. Winn and Feliz in particular haven’t been coming close to producing,
and I fear their jobs are in jeopardy. There are a few bright spots…Cain has
been terrific, Morris has done well, Molina and Aurilia are hitting, Durham
is playing some great defense. But the Giants need to turn some things around
in a hurry before they dig themselves too deep a hole.
And how ‘bout those M’s? I know it’s too early to really
tell (5 games in two weeks…who saw that coming?), but there are some signs that
they may be a better club than I anticipated. At the very least, we ARE going
to be able to look forward to and exciting game every five days. Felix
Hernandez has been nothing short of amazing. Has anyone else gotten off to the
start he has? I’ll echo what sleepless has been saying…Santana has some real
competition for the Cy Young this year, and it comes from a fireballer who is
just 21.
Other thoughts…is anyone who has ever listened to more that
5 minutes of Don Imus even a bit surprised that he would say something so
stupid? I’ve never understood the appeal of that man…personally, I think he
should have been off the air years ago. I think it’s a real reflection on how
our culture seems to embrace the stupid and the offensive. I do think the
statement made by the Rutgers coach was well thought out
and eloquent. (I also have to admit to you…I had to ask my wife what
“nappy-headed” meant. The “####” part I figured out…)
Someday I will write a post about an overlooked comic
genius. Yes, I’m talking about the incomparable Norman Chad. No, I’m not kidding.
Yes, I can hear some of you groaning…those who only know Norm from World Series
of Poker coverage. I invite you to read his column. Here’s a link to his most
recent effort:
When you read Norm long enough, you start to understand his
sel####eprecating humor, and his WSOP commentary becomes much more enjoyable.
Julio Franco is still playing…woo hoo! Having just hit the
big 5-0 (and not handling it quite as well as I’d like), I’m pulling for Julio
to keep playing at least until the end of next season. You go, big guy!
One final note…the injury was not as bad as feared. It
wasn’t a torn ACL after all, just bad knees, and the knee has been repaired.
The Dr. said about 8 weeks on the DL and then things will be back to normal.
I’m talking about Lola, our basset hound. It’s still a mystery as to how she
injured it…I don’t recall her setting any picks or getting taken out while
turning a double play. But she’s back, and we’re thankful. The vet did hit the
nail on the head when he called her a drama queen, however.
Obviously you're not a triskadecaphobic either. Good thing, that. Of course, it is the bottom of the sixth and I'm sitting here growling at the TV, between Millwood hitting Joh and the ump calling Yuni out (which he obviously WASN'T ); and the fact that the one week vacation that they recently had has really messed them up pretty bad. I think they need to start ST over again.
The Giants could come back (and so could the M's for that matter).
If I could, I would go down there and put them all under some mass confidence boosting hypnosis, with some good post-hyponotic suggestions about what they need to do when on the baseball field.
You're right about MLB.TV--it ####, and hardly worth the price. If it ain't on Fox or CW11, I listen to the radio or don't listen at all.
Last edited by sleeplessinseattle on April 14th at 2:19 AM.
You'd think with all the money teams are making, baseball would be free on every channel. I know, that's crazy, but a fun idea. Fun read as we don't see you to often anymore. Those kids must be keeping you busy. If you ever get a chance, video a song by your band and Youtube it. You could call it Ode to Fox.
sleepless, I agree...the layoff did the M's no good whatsoever. They just don't look to be in synch yet, unless Felix is on the mound.
steelerfan...thanks for the comments. I DID have time during spring break, but I was honestly so thrown by not knowing what would happen to Extra Innings that I couldn't write about baseball yet.
Dave...sorry, I DID mention Imus!
lisa...I feel the same way about football season ending...
Well, Shooter, they certainly looked better yesterday. And to be polite, I'll just leave it at that...
Yeah, Norman Chad is just funny as hell. I always look forward to his column.
Lola is, as the vet so aptly pointed out, a "drama queen". She's going to milk this recovery period for as much sympathy as she possibly can! In fact, she's wimpering for attention right now...gotta run...
Hello...I am an educator and musician living in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Baseball and poker are my interests here...beyond that, about all I follow is Gonzaga Basketball and whatever tidbits I can pick up to avoid getting totally crushed in my football pool.
