Lets Play Ball...Just Not on TV

The Toronto Blue Jays have won 8 games in a row, the first time they've done so since the 1999 season. Three of those wins came against one of the two teams ahead of them in the wildcard race in the Minnesota Twins. Three more of them came against the division leading Tampa Bay Rays. And the remaining two wins came against the New York Yankees, who the Jays have now surpassed in the overall standings.

Winning late in the season isn't unusual around the Jays franchise, and neither is being all but mathematically out of the playoff race at this point in the season for every one since 1993. With 20 games remaining, and despite the hot streak, the Jays remain 8 games out of the playoff race. Now, whether you want to call out the MLB for having the smallest playoffs of any major pro sport, with 8 of 30 teams getting extra play; or are willing to accept life in the perennial best division in baseball, Jays management has stepped afoul of fans somehow in not having the final game of the season scheduled for TV broadcast according to the Yahoo! schedule.

Going into the season, the Jays were being sold as a true competitor for a playoff spot. And while that clearly didn't pan out with a lacklustre offensive output until things seemingly turned around with the firing of John Gibbons and hiring of throwback Cito Gaston, the Jays still find themselves playing quasi-meaningful games at the end of the season. At present, the Boston Red Sox sit 8 games ahead of the Jays, with 7 of their remaining 20 games scheduled opposing one another.

Despite all this, the final game of the season has apparently not been picked up by any of the big three Canadian sports networks for TV. This, combined with the ridiculous blackout restrictions on MLB.TV in Canada such that no Blue Jays games are available on the online package, means that a game that may infact have playoff implications will go unseen in Canada. At the end of September, not even the beloved Maple Leafs are back in season, so the reasoning behind this scheduling blunder seems unclear. Jays fans can only hope that the issue is resolved come the end of season, hopefully whether still in contention or not.

Hardly the Bambino

I just came across this on Yahoo Sports. A construction worker on the new Yankee stadium managed to bury a Red Sox jersey beneath some concrete in the new project.

A construction worker’s bid to curse the Yankees by planting a Red Sox jersey in their new stadium was foiled Sunday when the team removed the offending shirt from its burial spot in the ballpark.

After locating the shirt in a service corridor behind what will be a restaurant in the new Yankee Stadium, construction workers jackhammered through the remaining concrete Sunday and pulled it out.

...

On Saturday, construction workers who remembered the employee—Gino Castignoli—phoned in tips about the shirt’s location.

“We had anonymous people come tell us where it was and we were able to find it,” said Frank Gramarossa, a project executive with Turner Construction, the general contractor on the site.

It took about five hours of drilling Saturday to locate the shirt under 2 feet of concrete, he said.

...

[Yankees COO, Lonn] Trost said the Yankees had discussed possible criminal charges against Castignoli with the district attorney’s office. “We will take appropriate action since fortunately we do know the name of the individual,” he said.

Seriously, if there are Yankees fans dumb enough to believe in curses, especially one so arbitrary as burying the jersey of a player who likely won't even make the Hall of Fame, then they should foot the bill for a couple hours of labour to remove the offending article that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. What the hell are you going to charge the guy with?

Sure the construction company he works/worked for has grounds for dismissal cause he obviously wasn't working as hard as he could be, but criminal charges? Yankees organization, this is why people hate you. You blow a harmless prank out of proportion for no good reason. You need to get over yourselves and stop signing egocentric old men, then maybe your team wouldn't be losing out to Boston so often.

Allan H. Selig

I got to my first Jays game of the year yesterday, and it didn't disappoint. Hilarious Boston fans who made the trip, combined with a Jays blowout, and finally catching a ball at a game after going to so many, along with quasi-t-shirt weather, made it a great trip. Hopefully I'll make it down again for at least one of the $2 games in the first few months of the season.

I learned that Bud Selig's real name is infact Allan Huber Selig by way of his signature on the ball. Who knew? What kind of name is Huber?

Walter Gretzky was also at the game for 'Brantford Day' and lived up to his reputation of being great with signing autographs for kids and other fans. He actually sat in the section next to us instead of rubbing shoulders with all the execs up in the boxes.

And on the hockey note, the standings are finally almost clear, and the pick sheet for the pool just needs a few more players slotted in. Within a couple hours (since tonight's game doesn't have any implications) I should have the sheet uploaded for everyone. Get em in ASAP!

The Resurrection

Warm weather appears to be on its way back from the dead. The 14 day trend is still almost entirely below the historical average for this time of year, but I have to find satisfaction with above zero for now. Lowered expectations.

The baseball season officially gets under way tomorrow in Japan. My buddy Como and I have tickets for the Saturday game of the Jays opening weekend that I'm told are on the wall in left field similar to the ones I fluked into a couple years back. All this Super Premium, Premium, Value game pricing adjustment bullshit needs to go though. What started with the occasional mid to late summer series against the Red Sox or Yankees being rated a premium game with slightly higher ticket prices has morphed into an increasing number of pricing levels and games for which the pricing isn't just some 'regular' amount. Paying 39.00 for a ticket that cost me 21.00 for opening weekend just a couple years ago is handicapped. I prefer to be called retarded.

And the injuries are already starting to add up for the Jays. Combined with manager J.P. Ricciardi's asinine move to pick-up Shannon Stewart and drop spark plug gamer Reed Johnson, all the talk about the Jays resurrection from the middle of the AL East look like another fictional anecdote to get hopes up leading to the perennial 3rd spot in the East. More lowered expectations.

But the hockey pool is coming together well enough, despite all the Leaf fans who still think they have a chance to go anywhere. Make sure you pass on the word to anyone else that might be interested.

Spring Training

I wish I could get invited to take part in a spring training camp. Not with the hopes of making the team, or even for the chance to toss a ball with the pros, but simply to get the hell out of this cold weather.

Cleaning the car off at 3 in the morning when taking Carolyn home has lost all of its novelty. As have the snow covered streets that seem to have been neglected by plows for at least the last 3 snowfalls, and one rainfall that served to polish the layers into a hard, rutted, suspension destroying mess. Save a couple dollars in taxes by not having the plow go down the street, cost hundreds later in having to prematurely replace shocks and struts. But at least we have RIM Park to show for our tax dollars.

I suppose there are sillier ways to restructure taxes.

And at least no-one around here is paying elected officials to analyze performance enhancement in baseball in as long and drawn out a public sham as possible. I would be shocked to see anything more than stern warnings and a tap on the wrist come of it all. But then, GW needs a sport to come back to when he's done fucking the rest of his country in a year. Better to have his attention on anything but politics I say. So, welcome spring training! Time to go get some home opener tickets.

And I'm still looking for you fantasy baseballers. Info is in the previous post.

Pro Bore

The NFL's version of the all star game is the most useless one in all of pro sports. I understand that in football with the players playing through injury as they do, playing an exhibition game mid-season is more of a penalty than anything, but why bother even playing the Pro Bowl? Does anyone actually care? Why not just make it like John Madden's Horse Trailer, give the players the distinction they deserve, whether they are injured and unable to play or not.

Its not that the other pro sports offer a substantially better all-star 'game', though they at least do offer better showcases in the home run derby or the slam dunk competition. And baseball even took the step, after that awful tied game in Milwaukee, to make the actual game mean something, giving home field advantage to the winning league in the World Series.

Hockey did its best, with mixed results, to make its talent exhibition better this year. I actually didn't see a second of the breakaway competition, but even the game itself tends to be filled with some dazzling plays.

The Pro Bowl misses the boat on all these things, and comes across like an afterthought the week after the Superbowl; something to placate the Sunday football hangover for some, for others, ruining chances to see the local pro basketball team play an actual meaningful game.

EDIT: Also, in the sports vein, I've set up a Fantasy Baseball league for this season. If you can commit to actually managing your team til the end of the season, feel free to join.

ID: 41506
Pass: void
Draft: Live draft; March 22, 12:00pm EST

Who's Idea Was This Whole Work Thing Anyways

I'm feeling kind of dead after putting in a ton of hours already this week, but I'm sure I'll find some energy somewhere for tomorrow's Logan Day festivities. Its funny/sad that I was complaining about my thesis in the post from this time last year, and its still not done.

Anyways, the bar night is gonna be held in the former stripper room at the Huether again, and promises to be a good time. Dodging thesis supervisors at the day's activities might not be as much fun, but I did finally legitimately start looking at my project again, so I have that.

I could write a much better thesis on how much the Edge replays garbage music in a given work day after spending the past 3 listening to it while doing field work. But we all already know this. I swear if I hear that goddamned Silversun Pickups song one more time I am going to go postal. Most. Annoying. Vocals. Ever....and the rhythm isn't much better.

Although it did remind me to go check out the Barry Bonds homerun ball vote that was also discussed frequently on the radio in the past few days. Awesome on Marc Ecko for having the money, stupidity, and yet brilliance to pull this off; though I'm sure its not hurting the marketing department either.

Go Vote. That is all.

Parabolic Annoying

I'm all for technological advance in delivering better sound and video to me at home infront of the TV, particularly when it comes to sports coverage. But all day today I've noticed, particularly in the NFL coverage, but also baseball, that they've taken it too far. I don't mind the features where they mic up players and take soundbytes though a game. Interviewing baseball managers early in innings is also tolerable. What I can't take now is listening to the fucking 13 year-old kid in the second row screaming incoherent gibberish repeatedly and it being picked up on the game audio and getting pumped into my rec room.

Also, the 49ers are now 2-0...NFC Championship is next!

For the non-sports inclined...I picked up tickets to the Matt Good stop in town the other day, and am pumped for that. That is, if I'll be in town. The prof I'm working for this term wants to meet this week, presumably to discuss upcoming work in Wisconsin, South Carolina, Florida, Wyoming, and/or California; all of which I will do my best to avoid.

Until then, someone please shut up this goddamned kid in Miami.

Bonds, Barry*

Barry Bonds is now one homerun away from tying Hank Aaron's career record. While being a total classless prick for his entire career is justification enough for him to be booed mercilessly when he does tie and break the record, personality faults shouldn't be enough to keep one out of the record books (nor should they keep Pete Rose out of Cooperstown, but that's another debate). On the other hand, the undeniable tie between him and performance enhancing drugs through the BALCO scandal should be enough to at least see some note made in the record books alongside his record.

Several fellow high profile BALCO customers have since tested positive for, or admitted to obtaining and using performance enhancing drugs, including Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery and Jason Giambi. In addition are the claims laid by staff with the lab that Bonds did infact use. While obviously not guilty by association with those other people, it is pretty clear that Bonds used some form of performance enhancement during the prime of his homerun hitting career.

At this point nothing will keep him strictly out of the record books, particularly since an outright rule against steroid use doesn't appear to have existed in baseball rules at the time. However an asterisk, or an entirely separate column are justified both for his single season record (and possibly McGwire's 2nd place entry) and for the career total; "Career homeruns hit, assisted", "Most homeruns hit with use of performance enhancing drugs".

In the short term, the best I can hope for is that he continues swinging too hard at the ball through the weekend series at home, and then goes ahead and ties and breaks the record away where the fans will be more likely to give him the far less than positive reception he deserves, not only for his steroid use, but for the lack of class he has brought to ballparks and locker rooms throughout his career. Good on Bob Costas for not backing down after the way Bonds has regarded the media through the years, even better on the fans in LA or San Diego in the upcoming series' if they boo and heckle the hell out of him when the moment comes where he ties and surpasses the record.

Looking down the road, Alex Rodriguez is on pace to hit the 755 mark almost a full season faster than Barry, and he hasn't really hit the later career homerun hitting surge yet. While No-Rod has his own building collection of classlessness (take his bush league interference play in Toronto earlier this season), he still has time to atone for himself, and at least attempts to be media friendly in a city where the media is regarded as being the furthest from the same.

Bubble Machine

One exam down, three to go in the next 65 hours or so. That's 100 carefully shaded in scantron bubbles so far, and too many more to go. Since its finals time again, my nose today started emulating the outdoor faucet on the side of the house that froze and cracked this winter. I'm sure the people sitting next to me absolutely loved my sniffling tonight.

I don't feel the least bad for it though after all the sniffling, rustling, inappropriate questions and cell phones I've put up with over the years.

And in less than 3 days it will all be over, and time for some relaxation and a trip down to Toronto on Tuesday night where I won't have to worry about undue traffic around the ACC. I wonder what Mats is handicapping these days?

In more worthy Toronto team news, both the Jays and Raptors pulled off huge wins over Detroit tonight. If you asked me, or any honest person, in October if I could imagine the Raptors with a shot at 2nd place in the Eastern Conference, there would of course have been an emphatic 'no', but what a show these guys have put on. And with the average age of this team, things should only be looking up for the next 3 or 4 years. Bryan Colangelo deserves most of that credit for pulling together the talent pool he has, but Sam Mitchell also deserves an apology from me for being very much a skeptic of his coaching ability. Ultimately he's the one that's gotten this team believing there is no 'I'.

And now I have nothing except psychology terms and bacteria names plying into the little folds of tissue in my head so its time to climb back into my hole, grab some vaporub, throw on the tube and get some sleep.

St. Patty's Gong Show

Actually, contrary to most expectations, St. Patty's this year wasn't much of a show at all. There was no hitting the Bomber beer tent before noon to have my recommended yearly intake of green food colouring. There was no group sabotage of otherwise drinkable beer with salt and pepper shakers. There wasn't even a noon 'til midnight binge, barely removing myself from the same chair at the BarleyWorks this year. Instead, some 'retro' EA Sports game on PS2, some Belgian and German wheat beers (since I dropped the ball on getting myself a substantial quantity of, or in fact, any Harp or Smithwick's), and some movies.

Not very Irish of me, I'm aware, but I have my health to show for it today. Will I use the lack of feeling like I got punched in the liver to get to work on the final presentation for my thesis I am expected to make on Thursday? Probably not. Will I watch more of round 2 of college hoops, and pretend like I knew what was going on beyond the top 4 or 5 teams in the country before this tournament started? More than likely. Will I listen to the Jays game, and think about ways in which Gustavo 'DUI' Chacin's career could now parallel Boomer Wells'? You bet.

There's still one week til the Fantasy Baseball Draft, get signed up!

Update: I was listening to the Ongoing History of New Music archives earlier this week, in particular to a two part show on Tool, when Alan Cross played a sample of a lullaby version of one of their songs. Curious, I looked it up and found that, not only are there some hilarious renditions of Tool, but a bunch of other bands from Bjork to Metallica and a bunch in between. Check out some of the samples here.

Down in Dunedin

Well would you look at that. Baseball's spring training is already under way, and that means its also time for Fantasy Baseball:

LooBall 2007
Yahoo League ID: 157649
Password: norod

Sign up and do your worst. Winner gets....uhh not sure what I'll get myself yet, but maybe I'll offer something for second place just to be nice.

Beyond that, I could ramble on about the Jays chances this year, and how they depend on the healthiness of the top 2 in the rotation, or on Vernon Wells having the same jump start that he did coming out of the World Baseball Classic last year, but its all been roughly said before. All that needs to be said is that the AL East is gonna be tight this year, and the Jays have a legitimate shot at the playoffs.