Why working here is great: I just had a 20 minute conversation with someone about whether or not it was ok to take food into the bathroom. The answer, by the way, is no.
It's amazing to hear what those guys think about that university and
what they think about that football program and Tressel and all the
crap I gotta put up with being back there.
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STUFF I'LL FILL THREE HOURS WITH. -Half full/half empty? On one hand, the Reds split with the Majors' hottest team. On the other, they should've won three of four, and really all four.
-Edwin Encarnacion's errant throw in the 10th was bad. The runner on third, Cancel, was not even thinking about breaking for home, and Edwin wasn't going to get the double play with Argenis Reyes running to first. He's tryin to do too much. Actually, I can live with that. What really bothers me is the Chinese fire drill that took place on Jose Reyes' bunt. Paul Bako has to take charge there and Edwin has to get out of the way.
-Why I love Brandon Phillips...there's a 2-4 with a homer and a steal, there's the great play on the backhand flip to first, but more than that was him taking responsibility on Edwin's bad throw.
-Josh Fogg. A little more tradeable with every start.
The Houston series concludes July 30. The
next day is an off day, and also is the trade deadline. New Reds
president and general manager Walt Jocketty should know by then the
direction he's going - unload players, or acquire help to make a run at
the wild card.
This is a joke, right?
-Yesterday, Doc wrote a piece about the Green Diamond gallery. It's very, very cool, especially if you're a baseball geek like me. A collection second only to Cooperstown. The guy who owns the stuff has the right to do what he wants. I just think it's kinda sad that instead of allowing people who might not have the chance to either go to Cooperstown or amass such a collection, they charge memberships that most of us cannot afford. Baseball people always talk about educating young people about the game's history. This would be a great opportunity. Too bad only country club elites and CEOs get the chance to see the stuff.
-Didn't get to my seat Saturday night to hear from the first three inductees (actually, one is dead, so we won't be hearing from him soon), but I was there for Barry Larkin Saturday night. The ovation was great, except for one guy near me who was booing. Some will surely pile on him because his speech was long and he plugged some sponsors. You go into a team's Hall of Fame, you can do what you want. What impressed me most, was most Reds players (and you can say this about the Crosley Award ceremony yesterday too) were on the top step of the dugout paying close attention to the proceedings. I've been to the ballpark for those before when the dugout was empty.
-Took in three games the last four days. Thursday...one run game, we gotta do the wave. Saturday, one run game, we gotta do the wave. Yesterday, tie game, three goofballs try to start the wave but no one's feeling it. If we have to do the wave, can't we enforce some rule that says no waves if the game is within three runs?
TODAY'S COUNTRY > YESTERDAY'S COUNTRY Conway Twitty never wore hooker boots. At least not in public. Eddie Rabbit never wore hooker boots. Kenny Rogers, perhaps. But Carrie Underwood wears hooker boots on stage, thus ending the ongoing "Today's Country v. Classic Country" debate.
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BUCKEYE/WOLVERINE COEXISTENCE IS POSSIBLE. AND HOT. Three questions came to mind when I saw this on Busted Coverage. 1) Did a catfight between these two develop? 2) How awesome was it. 3) If you were to jump in that body of water behind them and start swimming, would you fall to your death?
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AH, YANKEE FANS. Can you even imagine having to sit next to this clown? What I find funny is that he's upset about being at a baseball game at 1:30am like he actually has a) someone to go home to and b) something to do in the morning. And last I checked, you're allowed to leave baseball games early, as most Yankee fans usually do.
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BEST NICKNAME EVER. We have "CoCo." They have "The Mexicutioner." They win. At least until some politically correct busybody gets in the way.
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SPEED-DATING WITH CHUGES This morning, we played "Speed-dating with Chuges," where we set our intern Chuges up with three contestants. He had a four minute mini-date with each of them on the air, and after much deliberation and advice, settled on Alisha. Chuges and Alisha will be going on their first date soon. Of course, Mark and I will be there to video tape it. Amy and Molly, the two losers, will be available in case Chuges needs to go to the bullpen.
Left to right: Molly, Amy, Chuges, and Alisha.
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FRIDAY SHOW STUFF. -I wasn't aware the Reds signed the 71 year-old man that threw to Josh Hamilton in the Derby. Wouldn't have used him in the ninth last night.
-Francisco Cordero's save % this year: 79%. His save % heading into this year: 79%. He's pitching to his baseball card. He's also making $8.5 million this year, which demands him to slam the door more frequently.
-No way Cueto starts the 6th last night. Delgado had already taken him deep, Tatis had already hit a hard single, he had given up two in each of the previous two innings. Give the ball to Mike Lincoln.
-Speaking of....I'm a huge Johnny Cueto guy, but when he's walking off the hill after 5 1/3, 6 runs, you do not give him a standing ovation. I thought we had the smartest fans in baseball.
-The offensive approach has got to change. In the ninth, against a pitcher prone to wildness, Edwin swings at the first pitch and pops it out. Maddening.
-Can you even imagine how different you'd feel today if Junior had hauled in Wright's homer in the ninth?
-Ballpark music selections last night....Cotton Eye Joe, Take me to the River, Escape by Rupert Holmes. Seriously, is the guy picking the music even trying?
-My favorite all-time Red goes into the team's Hall of Fame tomorrow night. Why does it seem like Barry Larkin isn't as loved as he should be?
-Rich Franklin will join us to talk about the UFC card on Spike this weekend.
-The NFL's crackdown on gang signs is stupid.
-I'm going to see Bruce Springsteen for the third time this year next weekend, and for the 11th time overall. You might call that excessive. You might say Bruce sucks. That's fine. At least you won't see crap like this at a Boss show.
An anonymous topless woman featured in yesterday's paper said she thought she was shielded from view by tinted glass at last Saturday's Blue Jays game at the Rogers Centre.
The woman was clearly visible through a hotel window that oversees the field and Toronto Sun photographer Dave Abel captured her shapely image.
"The (stag hosts) told me that no one could see through it," said the former SUNshine girl.
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THIS GUY REALLY LIKES THE INDIANS He's despondent about the direction of his favorite team and he expresses himself in song. Makes me wonder what he'd do if something really traumatic happened, like a girlfriend leaving. Oh wait, there I go making wild assumptions again, like assuming this guy has a girlfriend. Or had one. Or has ever even touched a woman. Go Tribe!
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STACY KEIBLER: CLASSY GAL Before Stacy Keibler became well-known for uh, being hot I guess, and for making really bad shoe commercials with Chad Johnson, she performed for frat boys on spring break, which I'm totally ok with.
ME. YOU. BEER. JESUS. ALL WEEKEND LONG (EXCEPT SUNDAY) Two stops this weekend on the church festival tour. Tomorrow night, we're headed to North Bend for the St. Joseph's Summer Festival.
Saturday night before the Reds game, it's a brief stop at the Divine
Mercy Parish festival in Bellevue. Go to one of them. Or both. They'll
have beer. Buy a shirt. Be seen in it, win a funnel cake.
SPORTS IN 2008. Disagree with someone's take? Call him names!
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WONDERING IF YOU DRESS LIKE A DOUCHEBAG? If you have to wonder if you dress like a douchebag, you probably dress like a douchebag. But here's help if you need it.
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QUALITY VETERAN OF THE WEEK - NANCY O'DELL Nancy is host of something called Access Hollywood. Keep in mind, I would rather eat off of either of these plates than watch Access Hollywood. Nonetheless, at age 42, Nancy O'Dell is still big league.
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KNOW WHY WE CAN'T GET AN ALL-STAR GAME? Remember the 1988 All-Star game at Riverfront Stadium? Doc Gooden took a tough-luch L as the NL lost 2-1. The National League squad consisted of three Reds as Danny Jackson, Barry Larkin, and Chris Sabo were All-Stars. It'd sure be nice to have another All-Star game here, mainly to show off the outstanding riverfront we've developed dirt pit next to our new stadium. My fear is however, that it's going to be a while, because this is the pregame entertainment we offered up to the rest of th country the last time the Midsummer Classic graced our fair city.
11-year-old Landon Wilburn got an idea. He and his friends had often yelled at speeders to slow down, to no avail.Then
last month, Landon began pointing a Hot Wheels-brand radar gun at them
and charting their speeds. The orange radar gun, which costs $30 to $40
at toy stores -- although Landon traded toys with a neighbor for his --
can clock the speed of almost anything from baseballs
So whereas 11 year-olds where you and I come from play outside, ride bikes, play video games, shoot hoops, whatever, this loser is practicing for his future gig as head of a busybody homeowner's association.
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WORST DAY ON THE SPORTS CALENDAR. SO TODAY SHOULD BE GOOD.
-Two things from the All-Star game last night. 1) If you watched (and I watched from the 7th inning on), the myth that the guys don't play as hard in the All-Star game as they used to was dispelled. 2) You saw with the possibile chicanery that would have taken place had the game gone much longer that attaching any significance to the game is downright silly.
-Looking for cable/satellite nightmares. I pay a decent chunk a month for an HD DVR. It was my anniversary last night, so watching the game from the get-go wasn't in the cards. So I tried to DVR the game, mainly to watch the pregame stuff. But it didn't work. A 35 minute call to my TV programming provider had me unhooking my box, and being told I had to either return it to the store or wait for a tech to show up next week. All the while not getting any kind of price break on a service that's not working.
-Next time you see an article on ESPN you want to read, but you're told you have to pay for it, remember where that money is going.'
-I floated this yesterday, with an uncapped year in 2010, isn't it beneficial for both the Bengals and TJ to sign a one year deal for 2009?
Worst Firing: Cincinnati
general manager Wayne Krivsky: The Reds fired their GM two weeks into
the season. That's a good way to waste an entire winter and spring
training worth of planning.
What was the planning? Josh Fogg coming here? Kinda trying to win? Taking Todd Coffey north? Keeping Juan Castro on the roster? Handing Corey Patterson three mill? Need a hand with this one.
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JOSH HAMILTON DID THE IMPOSSIBLE For about five minutes, he made the Home Run Derby relevant, and he made Chris Berman tolerable. But lets's face it, he was hitting batting practice pitches from a 71 year old man. I'm a Josh Hamilton guy, but let's relax for a second.
