Not So Fruity Picks

* The Flyers have gone up 2 to 1 in their series with the Montreal Canadiens. They play again tonight, we'll see what happens.

*Roger Clemens should really have quit while he was ahead. Mindy McCready? They need to stop referring to her as a star. She had one song, in 1996.

*Are we still talking about the NFL draft? Does anyone, even Mel Kiper care THAT much?

*In my quest for an all Aussie top 5, I realized that American athletes pale in comparison to their Aussie brethren. Don't believe me? Examine the evidence here. Tom Brady vs. Brodie Holland.

Man Holidays

There are a few days a year that I look forward to with complete and total excitement. I like to think of them as "Man Holidays" and there isn't much that can ruin them for me. This past weekend constitutes one of these Manadays, and if you think I'm talkin 'bout watching to see "the big un" at Taladega, then please never read this blog again. Of course, the big event this weekend was the NFL draft, which is really just a throw away event, but one that so many of us enjoy.

If you love NCAA and/or NFL football then this is a great event for you. The college fan gets to see the culmination of 3, 4 or 5 years on campus for a bunch of great young athletes. The pro fan gets to feel some hope about the coming season, like XL getting excited about Shane Falco being the new Ravens QB, or me watching as the Skins load up on targets for Jason Campbell. Plus, it makes for a great excuse for XL and I to sit and talk on the phone for 3 hours about both of those topics.

My other Sports Holidays are:

NCAA Basketball Championship Game/Baseball opening day- We didn't get these two together this year, but we almost always do. It's a great day to call of out of work to go see a day baseball game, and then get home in time for the title game.

The first Thursday of March Madness - I never work on this day, preferring to sit on my couch all day waiting for the first big upset, and watching my bracket fall apart.

Super Bowl Sunday - I think this on is self explanatory, but it's genius is that it is a one and done game, not a series like the NBA, NHL and MLB.

AFL Grand Final - This is a new one on my list, and my tradition with it started at 2 in the morning at XL's house last year watching the Cats kill Port Adelaide.

Masters Sunday - I'm not a huge golf fan, but I almost always end up watching the fourth round at Augusta.

Baseball Hall of Fame Induction - After going to two induction weekends, including the largest ever, I have a special place in my heart for this event. I think I'll end up going back despite the fact that no other O's look poised to get in any time soon.

Almost as important as the events on my list, are the ones which no longer peak my interest. I don't watch all star games any longer, which is a shame because I once loved them.

Stiff of the Year: Steve McNair

This post has obviously been a long time in coming but I've been on the road for the last two weeks. But Steve McNair, Thanks a fucking hell of a lot!! I mean why couldn't you fucking decide to hang it up after you fumbled 4 times on opening night last season or maybe after your "shoulder injury" that sidelined you for the rest of the year opening the door for Kyle Boller and Troy Smith to get some playing time. McNair has pretty much fucked the Ravens over as now everyone knows what they'd like to do with their 8th overall pick. Before all this insanity the Ravens may have taken Ryan but they also could've taken a corner back or O lineman depending on who was available. More than likely in the second round the Ravens would've gone with Joe Flacco if he were available or Chad Henne either way they'd get a quality QB of the future with some time to develop him.

Now we know New England being the giant whores that they are will trade the 7th overall pick to the highest bidder and they likely will take Ryan ahead of the Ravens. After trading a future 1st round pick for bust Kyle Boller the Ravens most definitely won't make that mistake again. So what could now happen is the Ravens trade back into the lower third of the first round to select Flacco or Henne earlier than they likely would've gone. Now this could be a good thing because the Ravens could use another 2nd or 3rd round pick and they could probably get that by moving back. What is frustrating though is I've been looking forward to this pick since the Ravens stunk up the NFL last season. I mean that's the only thing to look forward to after a 4-12 season. So McNair, you had one decent season in Baltimore and then fucked us twice without staying the night thereby making him my early choice for stiff of the year.

Now What the Fuck Was That About?

I'm not one of those "anything that's not American, must suck" people. Hell, I love me some Aussie Rules Football, as one scan through this blog will tell you, but even i have limits. I turned on Setanta sports (the network I subscribe in order to watch said international football) the other day and I saw a crazy game. It's called hurling, and it originates from Ireland. The field looks like an American football field, but it has a soccer like goal at each end, which also has NFL like uprights coming out of it.

The game is played with a baseball like ball, and feild hockey like bats. The players seem to be able to pass using their hands, but main form of passing and scoring is scooping the ball up with the bat, and then hitting it while it hangs in the air. If it goes in the net, then it is a goal, if it goes above the crossbar and through the uprights then it is a point. The score line is like that of Aussie rules football: 1.10 being one goal, ten points, 3.9 being three goals and nine points.

There is a ton of swinging of the bat near heads, knees and feet which leads me to believe that a bunch of these guys get fucked up. The odd part (as if the rest of this wasn't odd) is, that while all the players on the field wear helmets, the goalie doesn't. What the fuck kind of sense does that make?

Still, I found myself watching this sport, and with the magic of Setanta, I may watch it again. I just can't get enough sport, and that makes me wonder why ESPN stopped showing this kind of stuff.

Fruity (Flaming) Pucks

Well, I guess it is a trade off; to live in a world where Schlack is half right, if it means the Flyers can advance in the playoffs. Since that is what happened, I'll take it. They sure did make it interesting, though. Two overtimes games, a game seven the very next day after a game six loss at home. They wanted me to hate them, again. They wanted to give it all away, again. But, in the end my Joffrey made it happen, like I knew he would. (Okay, so that is a lie. I didn't know, but it sounds good doesn't it.)

Now, we get to take on Montreal. Those crazy Canucks are a little torch happy, so it should make for an interesting series. And, yeah, about that. Seriously, Montreal. You were the one seed, beating the 8 seed in a game seven. Don't break your arms patting yourselves on the back, and how about not burning police cars. Clearly, we are going to have to win the series in Philadelphia, just to protect the Mounties. We owe it to our neighbours to the north to protect them from themselves.

So, play on, player. Make me proud. Or at the very least, try not to piss me off too much. At least make it a series. If Boston can do that, so can we.

Stiff of the Week: Hank Steinbrenner

First things first, I don't have a problem with the owner or Chairmian of a baseball team speaking his mind about his team. God knows as an O's fan, I've dealt with the fall out for years, but if you own the team, you get to call the shots. Just don't be surprised when championships don't follow that management style.

What I do have a problem with, is being unoriginal. I mean, come on Hank, are you really going to try and walk in your father's shoes on this? Have you ever heard the expression "a fat pope must follow a skinny pope" meaning that if your father was retarded and heavy handed in his running of the Yankees, shouldn't you try something new? You oust Joe Torre, you bitch about the pitching staff and you talk about how you are still the universe's favorite team (even though you haven't won shit since '00, and the Sox have won twice.) What's next? Are you going to dig up Billy Martin and make him the next manager?

Get a new act! I dub thee, Douche Hank Steinbrenner, Stiff of the Week.

Yeah Girl!

Amid the O's beating the Yank's for the second night in a row, the Cat's turning a close 3 point game into a 40 point ass kicking over Sydney, the Caps holding on in their series against Philly, and the mind numbing waist of time that is the NBA, there was a sports first last night. Half the world away, Danica Patrick won her first race, to become the first woman to ever win an open wheeled race. Ever. She has been dogged by the Anna Kournikova "pretty but can't win" criticism ever since she put on a fire suit, but no she's put all that to an end.

No one ever questioned if Phil Mickelson could play golf, they just questioned if he could win a major. Danica, however, never even got the decency of people assuming that she knew what she was doing out on the track, despite her multiple top 5 finishes. There will be some who still scoff and say that she is only in the sport (and I use the term loosely) because she is an oddity, and a chance for more exposure for sponsors. They can say that all they want, but they can't take that shiny cup away from her.

If This Surprises You, Than You’re and Idiot.

Miguel Tejada was asked how old he was the other day, and he missed by a year... either way. He said 32, but his baseball age is 31 and his real age is 33. Oops! The thing is, this goes on all the time in baseball. Many of the Latin ballplayers who were playing under their brother's identity, or with altered ages were rounded up during the '02 season, following the passage of the PATRIOT act, but some never got caught.

As it turns out Tejada had the right birth date, the one from 1974, on all his official documents for a work visa in the US, and no one at the INS ever bothered to check that data against his baseball card, lazy bureaucrats!

In the end the only impact this has, is on what Tejada will be paid for the 2010 season and beyond, since he is under contract to the Astros till then. Plus, he's bashing the ball like the Ceranno of old, so Houston isn't too worried. He has far more to be concerned about, when it comes to B-12 shots vs the Cream and the Clear then he does about 1976 vs 1974.

And as I said, this kind of thing has been going on in baseball for year. In 1999, when Inky, XL and I all worked in the minors, we saw it first hand. There were guys who went by different names in person from the names they used on the field. This was because they used the birth certificate of their younger brother when they were scouted to appear to be a better/younger prospect. Pedro became Juan, and so on.

The best way I can illustrate how rampant this practice was, is to tell this story. Howie Clark was the team leader of the AA Baysox, since he was a bit of a grizzled veteran by then. 1999 was his third year of spending time at AA, and he went up and down between Bowie and Rochester a few times. One day, when he and a pitcher were preparing to leave for another trip to the Red Wings, they were saying goodbye to the Baysox, who were on their way out of town. Maximo Heredia, who was one of the pitchers, was showing his newborn son around to the assembled crowd who were all busy boarding the bus. Upon seeing the baby, Clark shouted across the parking lot: "Hey Max, cute kid. How old is he, negative 4?"

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

When I woke up this morning the O's were still holding their head above .500, but I think we all know that won't last. Their already quiet bats will have to deal with Maryland's own Gavin Floyd tonight, and then the Yankers come to town, so the euphoria felt during that 6-1 start may be beginning to wane already. Don't get me wrong, I still like where this team is going. I get excited when I Nick Markakis, Luke Scott and LaMarquis de Centerfield in the outfield. I think there is a lot of upside to the bullpen, and I am excited to think that MacPhail may actually know what he's doing, and most importantly, may be allowed by Angelos to do it.

What really excites me, however, is the notion that the O's may finally have drafted a "can't miss" college player who could be doing damage in the majors by this time next year. When the Birds took Georgia Tech Catcher Matt Weiters with the 5th pick overall most people thought it was pure folly, and that he was yet another top pick that would go unsigned by the O's. But, they got a deal done, and Weiters hit two homers in his first professional game for the Fredrick Keys last week. So far this season Weiters has collected 27 at bat's in 11 games. Over that span, he has hit .444 with a 2B, 3 HRs and 8 RBI. The Carolina League obviously already has a ton of respect for him, as he's drawn 10 walks so far this season. If he keeps this up he'll be in Bowie by May, and he should get a September call up to the big team too.

Georgia Tech is famous for turning out great players, like another tall switch hitter: Mark Teixeira. Tex played just 86 games in the minor leagues in 2002, before breaking through with the Rangers on opening day of '03. It is not at all unthinkable that Weiters could very well do the same if he stays on this pace. With him in place (and perhaps Teixeira too if he wants to join his fellow alum and return home to Maryland) the team could put together a two to three year run like Cleveland, Detroit or Colorado.

A boy can dream can't he?

Pick-a-Licious

*Barry Hall, the big scary man from the video below, got a 7 game suspension for punching that poor West Coast Eagles player. He also broke his wrist running into the boards at the oval, and will be in a cast for six weeks. Karma, anyone?

*The Flyers are up 2 games to 1 on Washington. Is Alex Ovechkin stoppable? Time will tell.

*I'm sure there is other stuff happening, I'm just not sure what it is.

*Oh, yeah. The NFL schedule is out. Already?

*The NHL changed its rules to accommodate this yutz. Gotta love it.

They Don't Call Him Big Bad Barry For Nothin'

I get three or four Aussie Rules games from Setanta a week, and I try to watch them all. This requires prioritizing, and so this weekend I watched Geelong take St. Kilda’s best shot, and then go on to win 42. That was Saturday Morning right after I woke up. Then Inky and I watched Carlton down Collingwood at the G last night, which left me just one game to watch: The ’05 and ’06 Grand Final rematch of Sydney v West Coast, which I planned on watching tonight.

I guess I should have watched this one first. Barry Hall was frustrated by all of the pushing and hanging on, to which he was subject to at the hands of Brent Staker, and he let the moment get the best of him. After Staker accidentally hit Hall in the throat, Barry elbowed his throat, and then he turned around and punched him full in the face, dropping him like a sack of potatoes. I love the point after the punch, when Barry throws his arms up in the air, in the international “What did I do?” motion. Then Brett Jones comes in to take umbrage with the situation, and Bazza drops him like third period French. All good things come in threes, so as the kerfuffle continued; Barry gave Beau Waters a shot for good measure.

All this adds up to a month or so off work for Big Bad Barry, and one less weapon for the Swans to use when they travel to Skilled Stadium to take on the Cats next weekend. It will be interesting to see what happens if Barry every brings that big leg, and bigger temper to the US to punt in the NFL.

Studs of the Week: The Announcers

I spent some good quality time watching sports today with Inky and XL. I started my day off with some Aussie Rules, moved on to NHL playoff action, took a bit of a break for some of the Masters and finished it up with more Footy. While all the action on the feild/pitch/ice/links, was great, I got the most enjoyment out of the mouths of the announcers.

To start off with, during the second intermission of the Flyers-Caps game, Mike Millbury dropped this on us while talking about what the Caps needed to do to get back into the game:

"We've gotta sink it deep, good dumps, get some pressure and use the D on the wrap around."

Later during the Blues big win over the Magpies, Dennis Cometti remarked on a player's reticence to take a big mark:

"He's feeling a bit like Brittney Spears' Attorney. A bit uncertain."

The Nationals Food Experience on $40 a Day

As Greazy has stated below he and I went out for a day of baseball in our nations capital yesterday. The weather was amazing and as you can see from his post the views were amazing as was the ambiance. I'll mention now before I forget that the Nats lost this game 3-0 to Tim Hudson and the Braves. We didn't really go for the game but for the experience of the stadium and to see what types of food they had to offer.

After perusing around once we noted that one of our favorite chains, Five Guys had a stand out in center field. The Nats also have incorporate in another local staple of the are in Red Hot & Blue which specializes in barbecue among other things. Not being a resident of D.C. I also understand that Dave's Famous Chili Bowl is a staple of residents in the area. The Nats also have their own stands with clever names such as "Slice Down the Line Pizza" and my personal favorite "Senators Sausages" which Greazy and I got a kick out of. I mean who would want Trent Lott's sausage? The other interesting thing about the food/beverage selection in this stadium is they have actual bars throughout where the non beer drinker can get a gin and tonic or crown and coke.

Greazy and I decided to go to the Hard Times Cafe for dinner where I got wings and a dog while Greazy got a hot dog and nachos. We were both pleasantly surprised with the quality of the food although I have to say this is one of the most expensive ball parks I've ever been to. A sandwich at Red Hot & Blue would run you $10.50 without any baked beans ($3.50) or non alcoholic beverage ($4.50). The wings and nachos were $9 each but were both very filling. An all beef dog is also $4.50 which I guess is the most comparable to anything else I've seen at other parks. The prices at 5 Guys were also kind of surprising. A hamburger was $7 while a cheeseburger was $8 and a bacon cheeseburger was $9, the best value on their menu are the $5 fries. Their fries are very similar to board walk fries and are delicious with some vinegar and salt. If you're a beer drinker and want to get drunk at this ball park it will run you $7.50 a beer draft or bottle.

All in all the experience was great, I "caught" a ball in batting practice, the weather was phenomenal and the game was close. There are many good views and it's hard to imagine a bad seat in the house although there are a few sections that would have some blind spots. I think next time though I'll try to eat a little more before I go and definitely see if I can sneak in my own bottle(s) of water being as they also run $4 a pop.

Nationals Park: A Greazy and XL Adventure

After a short stop in Hanover Pennsylvania from some lunch at Famous Hot Wiener, XL headed down to DC for a baseball game. Before meeting up with XL's brother, GSR, we wandered around the stadium to take in all the angles. From the outside the park is very pleasing to the eye, and once the surrounding neighborhood is built up to accommodate after game festivities it should be even nicer. I was impressed with the style of the Park, which blazes it's own trails rather than following in the Camden Yards-Jacobs Field-Coors-Ballpark at Arrlington chain. There's no red brick to be found at Nationals Park, and it all together eschews the throw back feel for a futuristic approach. As soon as you get off the Metro, you get a view down Half St. into the outfield of the park. When the time comes to buy your ticket, you can do so at handy little kiosk's, like the baseball version of fandango.

Once inside, I was a bit let down by some of the sight lines in the outfield. Like Philly's new park, there are many seats in the outfield where you can't see either corner, which makes no sense to me. That is made up for by some of the specialty seating located on the second level of the center field area. There are seats on two levels adjoining the "Red Porch" restaurant in center. Here you can get a sit down meal before or during the game, and many people were crowded around it's bar and TV's all through the game.

Even the seats with the best view's have one problem in Nationals Park: the price. They have seats that they are asking more than $300 each for: per game! Needless to say, many of the people in them came dressed in their best invisible man outfits, and most of the seats behind the plates were vacant. We sat between home and third in the 400 level, and all things considered we had a great view. The nazi who was working the section made things a bit uncomfortable, but we survived none the less, and didn't have to promise our first born for the pleasure.

XL will touch on the food at the ballpark, which has increasingly become an important part of the experience. I enjoyed the overall day at the ballpark, helped by views of the Capitol, Washington Monument and the river. We were also the lucky recipients of a perfect early spring day, where the weather was one notch away form ideal. If you were a person of unlimited means I would tell you to run down to DC the next time one of these days comes along and get a seat between the dugouts.

For the rest of us, I would recommend getting the cheapest ticket you can find and walk around the Park at the game is going on, stopping to take in the view from a few different spots. First, there is the railing under the giant scoreboard (see the view from the picture at the top of this post), where you get a full view of every part of the park, save said scoreboard. There is also the spot between right field and the river, next to the skybox entrance that makes for some damn nice viewing.

All in all I have to give Nationals Park a 4 star rating. This park can never attain a 5 star rating as long as so many of the seats in it are totally out of the reach of the public at large. That said, I'll be back.

Hockey Monkey

Since Greazy and XL are busy being gay today (and by that I mean watching a Nats game in Washington) it is left to me, Queen Inky, to put a post up. SO, while the twin dongs are cheering the provocative architecture at the new Washington stadium, I am gearing up for the first game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Captials.

The Flyers had an up and down season, and had just enough in the tank to make the playoffs. They were in 9th place with four games left, and managed to finish 6th. But, those crafty Capitals won their last game and won the Southeast (or Southleast) division, to move into 3rd place. Even though the Flyers have a better record, the Caps have home ice. And, oh yeah, some guy named Ovechkin. Ending the season with 65 goals and 112 total points, he is flat out amazing. I'm not sure who else Washington has, and that may be the Flyers only saving grace. So, as the games begin this evening, I will keep my fingers crossed that the Flyers can pull it off, even if that means Schlack is partly right. It is a sick world to live in, but there it is.

Queen Inky

Memphis and Kansas can do what they like in tonight's title game, the Inky and the Sports Guys Bracket Challenge is all over, but for the crying. Inky, XL and I all had UNC winning, with the events of the last 3 rounds, we've been pretty sure that Inky was going to prevail, and now the points are added up, and the crown goes to the girl.

Typical.

She's not just any girl mind you. She could take just about any chick out there on a wide array of sports, and pays enough attention to be very knowledgeable. That knowledge prevailed with a final point total of 88 based on picking 41 of the 62 games correct. I came in second with 76 points, on unique finals team away from winning (Fucking Pittsburgh!) after picking 39 of the 62 games right. XL posted a 65 point score, based on his 36 out of 62 final. George Washington had wooden teeth and didn't know dick about college hoops, as he ended with 31 points and getting just 24 out of 62 right.

Something Magic Happened??

As Greazy has noted in his post below the O's are off to an amazing 4-1 start. This may be the only week of the season that we can write that the Orioles are over .500 so we might as well take advantage of it. Now you may wonder why the Orioles who are expected to finish in the basement of the AL East are doing so well? Some may say they have a solid bullpen for the first time in 10 years while others will say we've had a lot of clutch hits early on in the season. After all, all four wins have been in come from behind fashion. According to the players though the reason they are winning is because the team has finally convinced the PA guy to stop playing that God awful Orioles Magic song from the early 80's. Anyone who has ever seen an O's game in the last 25 years will know what I'm talking about. This jingle was written when the O's were still half decent and in contention and refrenced things like 33rd street and Earl Weaver. It is out of date and campy at best. I know Greazy and I have been tired of this for years and welcome any change. After all, when it says "something magic happens every time you go" we always changed the "magic" to "tragic". So good riddens Orioles magic and good luck 2008 Birds!!! I'd love to believe you could continue to play above your heads!

Baseball Bitches!!!

Well, the national pastime is back. Even thought I've been fully engrossed with Footy for the last three weeks, baseball refuses to be ignored. The O's have started 4-1 after taking down the M's today, leading me to believe they maybe capable of avoiding 110 losses. Not only have they won a few games, but the players they traded Erik Bedard and Mikey Tejada for are playing well.

In my hood, opening day is still 22 days away, but there was some baseball excitement here too, as the York Revolution unveiled the Brooks Robinson Statue yesterday. The Rev's eschewed the normal "game action" statue, for one modeled on the famous Normal Rockwell painting 'Gee, Thanks Brooks" which Robinson loved so much he purchased.

With all this positive O's related news I may actually watch a game at some point. Till then, I'll just wait till next week when XL and I go to Washington to see another new stadium.

A Rod Attacked by Hawk

Now from this title you probably think holy shit, how did I miss something like A Rod being attacked by a hawk? Well it happened during a tour of Fenway Park in Boston, 13 year old Alexa Rodriguez was on a tour with her class when a resident red tailed hawk drew blood from her scalp. Evidently the hawk flew right for her head with it's talons out and caused the injury. It evidently had a nest near the press box with an egg inside. State wild life officials later decided it was a good idea to have the nest moved.

I guess it's a good idea that the class took the tour when they did otherwise when the Sox returned home who knows who could've gotten hurt. I could only hope that the hawk would try to nest in Kevin Youkalis' goatee. Or possibly in that rats nest that Manny calls hair. Oh well, it looks like A Rod got his just rewards again!!

Separated at Birth 9

The fellow on the left is Chris Owen, but you know him as Chuck Sherman aka The Shermanator from the American Pie movies. The Guy on the right is Cameron Ling, who is a midfielder for the Geelong Cats of the AFL. As fate would have it, these two guys could very easily be brothers. Owen was born 9/25/80 and Ling was born 2/27/81 but with the time difference between the US and Oz they were actually born on the same day. Huh, who knew.

I'm seriously considering Stiff of the Week honors (or maybe honours would be more accurate) for Setanta this week since they are not showing the Cats game against Melbourne. Sure it's going to be a blood bath, but when it's your team on the right side of a blood bath don't you want to watch? I do.

Sufficed to say Cam "The Shermanator" Ling may end up with 40 possessions by the time that game is over, not to mention what Jimmy and Gary will do to the D's.

Holy Shit!! The Caps are Decent

This post albeit brief will likely be the first one I've ever done on hockey. I don't even know all the rules to hockey (what the fuck is icing? I like it on cake) but I'll acknowledge when a team local to me is doing well. Evidently the Caps were the worst team in the NHL in November and now have somehow fought their way into playoff contention. From what I understand damn near every team (except the Flyers) make the playoffs anyway. However the Caps are getting national respect and have some foreign guy that I've never heard of locking up some key awards and possibly an MVP award. So I'll dust off my old black caps jersey and maybe I'll wear it around this weekend although where I'm from most people will have no fucking clue who I'm supporting or what sport they play....I might as well be wearing a footy jersey.

Picking Up What I'm Putting Down

I got tired of calling it fruity picks, but the idea is still the same. Just some stuff that's bugging me this week.

*Get over yourselves, Chicago Cubs. Quit blaming a fan for your misfortunes. Or a goat, or whatever your sad story is. You are losers, plain and simple. There is no one to blame there, but yourselves. Real men aren't going to blame an asshole in headphones on the 3rd base side. Here's to another 100 years.

*Well, that didn't take long, now did. Pedro is hurt. What a shame.

*Greazy hasn't posted about the tournament lately, gee, I wonder why?

*I'm in love with Australian Rules Football, there I've said it.

*Can the Flyers blow it, and miss the play offs? You bet they can. They are only one point up on Washington and 63 goal maniac, Alex Ovechkin. Great.

*Baseball's back. Whoopie. Call me in the summer, see if I care then.