Fairweather Zealot

I can not seem to catch up with my writing (or pretty much anything else) lately. And there has been some good stuff happening. Continue reading

Real Fact*: The average golden retriever can give off 170 cubic feet of hair in a single week.

It was a less productive weekend than it was supposed to be, and I blame the miserable weather. It really rained all of Saturday, and today was a windstorm that prevented me from doing most of the stuff that I wanted to outside. I did, however, spend a good amount of time picking up, sweeping, scooping and vacuuming dog hair out of every corner of our house. I swear that they are dropping a pound of hair every time they move.

On a lighter note, I did get some good stuff done that I had been putting off. Now that we have our finances more organized, I was able to get some computer hardware that I needed – a new Seagate 1TB internal hard drive, and a new scanner to scan images from my grandfather’s collection. I can’t wait to play with them.

Phillies: a month later

I also finally went through my pictures from the Phillies World Series Championship parade. You can check out the whole set here (or click on the image to go to the set). It was fun going back through the pictures, although I’m still a little bummed that a) I was shooting through glass when I had my D200 and b) that my D200 ran out of battery just before the Phillies went by (hence the iPhone shots). Oh well.

* = there is no scientific proof this fact is true.

Weekender Links

• Amazing animal pictures – I wish I was getting shots like these.
• Man creates sculptures that fit inside eye of a needle – amazing stuff.
• New Watchmen trailer – wow, I really want to see this movie.

I’m still reeling from the fact that the Phillies actually won it.  World Champs, baby!!  In what was the longest weekend of sports ever, Philly fans got to see:

• The Flyers beat the Devils TWICE in a home-and-home series
• The Eagles win
• Penn State beat Ohio State at the Horseshoe for the first time in 30 years.
• And (for me) finally saw Dallas win another game.
• And in the coup de grace, the Phillies win Games 3 & 4 of the World Series on the way to their 50-hour Game 5 victory to win the World Series

I can’t wait to head down to the parade today. I’m taking my camera although I’m not entirely sure that I’ll use it in the crowd. But who cares – the Phils won the World Series!!

Well, tonight’s the night – the Phillies begin their quest for the World Series. I’m psyched to watch it – I have beer, I’m going to eat wings, cheer loudly and berate the umps with my Phils hat on. This is a return to where I was in 1980 when they beat the Royals so soundly.

But what to do when you’re wife doesn’t want to watch the entire Game 1? When she wants to watch that episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” on the DVR? Well, you stand up in all of your masculinity, put your foot down and tell her firmly, “Well, then … I’m going to have to go upstairs to watch it.”

That’ll learn ‘er.

I still remember it fairly well- the first time the Phillies were in the World Series, way back in 1980. I was only ten but my parents let me stay up late to watch every game. Unfortunately, my father wasn’t a baseball fan, and besides we didn’t have any money for tickets. But that in no way diminished the memories of one odd the seminal sports memories of my youth. Continue reading

After last night’s game, it’s evident that the Phillies need to do to Kyle Kendrick what they did to Brett Myers – send him to the minors to get his shit together. In his last 6 starts, Kendrick’s line:

21.6IP, 29R/29ER (5HR), 16BB/8SO, a 1-4 record and a mind-boggling 12.08 ERA. Charlie – get this guy out of the rotation before he kills your chances at the playoffs!

I have to say that I think that demotion was one of the best things to happen to Brett Myers. When he left the Phillies for AAA, his line:

17G, 4-9, 101.2 IP, 71 R, 66 ER, 88 K / 44 BB, 5.18 ERA

But since his return, he’s been doing a heck of a lot better. Since his return:

4G, 2-0, 25.2 IP, 6 R, 6 ER, 13K / 7 BB, 2.14 ERA

I’m not a fan of Manuel, but sometimes it really seems like he knows what he is doing. Now if he can just get the bats going again.

Update 8/25: And he keeps getting better. His stats since he came back:

7G, 4-1, 48.2IP, 9R, 9ER, 38K / 13MM, 1.68 ERA.

My boss and I are heading to the Phils game tonight, and I’m hoping we get to see Ken Griffey Jr. make history with his 600th HR (albeit in a 9-1 Phils win, perhaps). This opportunity to see a little history made me think about how – despite all of the games of various sports that I have been to – I have never seen a truly historic event occur at a sports game I attended. I mean, seeing the Monkees after a Temple-Florida A&M game football doesn’t count, right?

I had tickets to Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals in which the Colorado Avalanche won their first Cup (they swept in 4). I would have had tickets to the Super Bowl where the Cowboys would have won their then-record 5th Super Bowl victory (Super Bowl XXXI) … if they hadn’t lost to Carolina in the NFC semi-finals (which they should NOT have done). So, I’ve been close but never right there.

But this might be my chance. A hitter’s park. A pitcher (Kyle Kendrick) who gives up gopher balls, and against whom Griffey is 4-for-5. Granted, I won’t be anywhere near the home run area, but just seeing it and being there might be pretty cool. As long as the Phillies win, that is.

UPDATE: Well, Griffey didn’t even play, let alone get a hit so my streak continues. On the plus side, the Phils won with a volley of home runs.