More food news

A few months ago, I wrote about the donut burger, the bacon cheeseburger served in between two Krispy Kreme donuts. This is even worse.

Mulligan's, a bar in Suburban Atlanta, specializes in the Hamdog. Get ready to read this and make sure your stomach is feeling okay before you keep reading.

It's a hot dog wrapped by a beef patty that's deep fried, covered with bacon, chili, cheese and onions and served on a hoagie bun. Oh yeah, it's also topped with a fried egg and two fistfuls of fries.

To your health America...

Naming the stadium

I have to call out tennis legend Billie Jean King and NY Times writer George Vescey. These people have publicly stated when the Mets open their stadium in 2009, they should name it after Brooklyn Dodgers great and civil rights pioneer Jackie Robinson.

Folks, this really bothers me. I understand Robinson is a legend, a pioneer, and all of that. But he died 9 years before I was born and more than that, he was never a Met! He was retired before Shea Stadium was on the drawing boards.


The stadium already looks like a replica of Ebbets Field from the outside as the preview picture shows. The Mets have a minor league team in Brooklyn as well. That's enough for me. Why do we have to keep reverting to old traditions? Why can't the Mets embrace their own history and establish a new legacy? When I go to the stadium in 3 or 4 years, I want to see statues of Tom Seaver, Keith Hernandez, and Mike Piazza. Not Roy Campanella, Sandy Koufax, and Pee Wee Reese.

As one writer wrote, "Rusty Staub should be serving ribs in the center field walkway named "Mookie's Way." Instead, we'll get Duke Snider cooking bratwursts in some alley named after Andy Pafko." And if you're going to acknowledge the Dodgers, then you have to acknowledge the NY Giants as well. How about Willie Mays Stadium? At least he played for the Mets!

Another thing. On WFAN, Chris Russo had Vecsey on. They talked about the issue about what to name the new Shea Stadium (in between compelling analysis of Marcos Baghdatis' backhand). I agree with Russo who doesn't agree with Vescey, who thinks that the Mets should name their new stadium after Robinson.

I can see both sides of this argument. I don't want the Mets park to be AT&T park or something like that. Look at he SF park which has gone through 3 name changes in 5 years. But as I've said, Met Life Insurance would be the greatest name in the world! Met Life Stadium is it! But anyway, I disagree with Vescey after his radio appearance with Russo on the strength of Vescey's following response to Russo's assertion that Mets fans would rather see the stadium named after a Met than after Robinson:

"Why does it have to be a Mets player?"

Are you freakin' kidding me George? Are you suffering from dementia? It's because we're Mets fans and the Mets will play in this park! Not the Dodgers.

Here's what I would do. I think they can set aside space for a NY baseball museum honoring the past. But this is the Mets. The Dodgers and Giants have been gone for 50 years now! They're in California, they're out of here. We all know that Mets owner Fred Wilpon has a thing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He grew up with Sandy Koufax. We get that. And I don't have a problem with giving the stadium a touch of the past with a photo wall commemorating the Dodgers' time here. But as I've said, if you do it for the Dodgers, do it for the Giants as well.

And to King, Vescey, and the groups that want the park named after Robinson, here's my advice. Start fundraising now, collect your 10 million dollars for the naming rights, and pay the Mets to name their stadium after the great Dodger. Otherwise they are leading the Mets down the path of a meaningless guilt trip. They could wind up embarrassing the Met organization which is totally uncalled for.

Random facts and strange laws

1) There are more than 1,000 chemicals in a cup of coffee. Of these, only 26 have been tested, and half caused cancer in rats.

2) Jack LaLanne is 91 years old. He often says, "I can not afford to die, it will ruin my image."

3) The longest word in the English language is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.

4) Saturday was named for the planet saturn.

5) 45% of dollar bills you'll ever own have been in a stripper's g-string. (Who researched this one???)

6) The average person laughs 13 times a day. (Doesn't seem like enough, does it?)

7) Mel Blanc (the voice of Bugs Bunny) was allergic to carrots.

8) On average, 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens every year.

9) Most productive day of the workweek: Tuesday.

10) It is believed that Shakespeare was 46 around the time that the King James Version of the Bible was written. In Psalms 46, the 46th word from the first word is shake and the 46th word from the last word is spear.

11) The three best-known western names in China: Jesus Christ, Richard Nixon, and Elvis Presley. (I'm sorry, but is Jesus considered a Western name? Last I checked, he didn't live in this hemisphere.)

And a few dumb laws...

1) In Texas, it is illegal to curse in front of, or indecently expose oneself to, a corpse.

2) In Idaho, the law states all boxes of candy given as romantic gifts must weigh more than 50 pounds. (What if I had a box that weighed 50 pounds with one jellybean inside?)

3) In Atlanta, Georgia, it is illegal to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole or street lamp.

4) In Hong Kong, a betrayed wife is legally allowed to kill her adulterous husband, but may only do so with her bare hands. (The husband's lover, on the other hand, may be killed in any manner desired.)

5) According to a British law passed in 1845, attempting to commit suicide was a capital offense. Offenders could be hanged for trying. (Isn't that what the offender would want to begin with?)

6) In Sedona, Ariz., it's illegal to lie about your astrological sign. (That is one free-spirited town, so I'm not too surprised.)

7) In Kentucky, it's illegal to paint your lawn red. (Is that because there are so many bluegrass fans there?)

8) In Tennessee, it's illegal to tell someone to quit smoking.

9) It is Texas law that when two trains meet each other at a railroad crossing, each shall come to a full stop, and neither shall proceed until the other has gone.

Last but not least...
10) In Connorsville, Wisconsin a man is legally prohibited from shooting a gun while his female partner is having an orgasm.

ROH ain't WWE Part 1

I would have put that not equals to sign in here, you know the = with the slash through it, but my keyboard isn't quite that advanced. I understand I'm a little different than a lot of people in terms of my interests and things like that, but I never thought it was wrong to be different just for the sake of being different. Even if I have to attend shows, concerts, or games by myself, it won't stop me from going.

That said, I'm glad nobody tried stop me from attending my third Ring of Honor show in Chicago Ridge at the Frontier Fieldhouse on Saturday. Hands down, the best wrestling event I've ever been to and one of the best entertainment shows I've ever seen. Considering it was nearly 5 hours for 25 bucks, that's not a bad trade. I will also have pictures in here by Tuesday morning. Here's the recap. The preview is two posts back.

I pulled into the parking lot around 5:45 and the doors opened at 6:30. I stood in line talking with a father and two young sons along with a guy, Frank, who was in town from England. As a gesture of American goodwill, I gave Frank a roll of toilet paper to use later in the night. You'll see why in a moment. Then this lady, who's a camerawoman at ROH, comes out trying to sell us Jimmy Rave t-shirts. This guy is one of the most hated wrestlers in the company. He's the guy we all throw the TP at during his entrance. So she noticed Frank who had TP, and she went nuts on him. And he started pointing at me, blaming me, and I of course denied ever talking to him! I give her credit, she had a comeback for every reason why we didn't want a t-shirt. I guess she's used to hearing the sales rejection. But she was very cool.

I went inside and bolted to the merchandise table. They have a buy 3 DVD's, get 1 free. So if you would not tell this to my mom, I'd appreciate it. I brought 9 DVD's and got 3 free. Yeah, it cost me some money, but look at it this way. How many movies do you own on DVD? TV series? How much did they each cost, roughly? This is basically a bunch of shorter more physical movies and a I got a few free ones on top of it. And as I completed my purchase, I saw Samoa Joe taking pictures and signing. Unfortunately, I just missed meeting him.

I had a third row seat on the hard camera side, which means I'll likely be on the DVD. I'll skip the first 3 matches, since they were the undercard, more or less.

1) Davey Richards vs. Alex "Sugarfoot" Payne. Once again, the Chicago crowd was hot for Sugarfoot. A decent match for Payne who has so little live experience under his belt and a great way to tease Richards' talents for later on in the evening. He's a young guy and he's got a lot of potential.

2) Delirious & Irish Airborne vs. The Embassy and a mystery partner. I was correct. They mystery partner was Nigel McGuinness. And he got a rousing ovation from the fans who know about the great battles he's been giving the World Champion recently. Jimmy Rave and Sal Rinauro were met with the usual TP shower although Prince Nana, their manager who is from Ghana, was not there, which bummed us out as he is an easy guy to hate. This was a good match with plenty of comedy spots, mostly from Delirious' antics and the fans' gay comments at Rave. Nigel got the win after a vicious clothesline on one of the members of Irish Airborne.

3) BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs with Lacey. Jimmy entered to his usual welcome of waving cell phones, while BJ got what can only be described as a hero's welcome for everything he's done for ROH in 2006. Good match between the former tag team champions, but Whitmer appeared to injure his ankle. He was going to get carried out, but came back. Jimmy got the win with a roll-up, but BJ came away looking fantastic as the man who keeps absorbing punishment.

Commissioner Jim Cornette came to the ring accompanied by the Briscoe brothers. and gave a very solid 10-12 minute promo on his history in the company and his brief, yet volatile relationship with wrestler Homicide.


4) Davey Richards & Homicide vs. Briscoe Brothers.
With the opener being so short, this was Chicago's first real look at what Davey can do in the ring. He did not disappoint. Davey was in the ring for the majority of the match with the Briscoes cutting him off from making the tag to Homicide. Great ending to this one. Davey was able to block the initial attempt at the Doomsday Device but Briscoes ended up hitting a sweet springboard Doomsday toward the end of the match. Not surprisingly, Davey took the pinfall so that the Cide/Briscoes feud will continue to build. But at least he was able to showcase his style that meshed very well with Homicide and the Briscoes.

ROH ain't WWE Part 2

Intermission. Slice of cheese pizza and a warm Sierra Mist. The snack table is right next to the curtain where the wrestlers came out. I could see McGuinness, Joe, and Claudio.

5) Samoa Joe vs. Claudio Castagnoli
Castagnoli is a rich guy from Switzerland who betrayed ROH by joining their rival, CZW. Joe is an ROH icon, as he was champion for almost 2 years. Fans were chanting "Joe's Gonna Kill You" from the instant the Olympic anthem began playing to announces Claudio's arrival. Joe shook off Claudio's early offense and just ripped into him with kicks and slaps. Joe hit three "Ole Ole kicks" (running kicks into the guardrail on the outside) to ensure that everyone went home happy. Surprisingly, Claudio was able to mount some semblance of a comeback land some beautiful European Uppercuts. But Joe ended that with a Musclebuster for the easy victory.

Post match, Joe discussed his "unfinished business" with Bryan Danielson and laid down the challenge for a title match in Chicago on 10/28. Fortunately, I had already brought my ticket. I would not miss seeing my two favorites go at it. Here's a photo of Joe as he's just entered the ring.

Also during the promo, he referenced his legendary Chicago match from 2 years ago with CM Punk, now in ECW. As the fans were chanting their hometown hero Punk's name, Joe settled them down and said in a shot at the WWE-owned ECW, "Don't get so excited, he's wrestling vampires now!" Huge laugh.

6) Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal (ROH World Tag Team Titles)
From an action standpoint, definitely the match of the night This was one of the best tag matches I've ever seem. Aries came out with his injured ribs taped up so Daniels and Sydal worked them for much of the match. Both Strong & Aries and Daniels & Sydal have worked with each other enough this year that they were able to land some fantastic double team moves. Nothing I could write about the action would do it justice. Anyone who saw Aries' tag matches in Chicago on Wrestlemania weekend will have an idea of the rapid pace and crisp manuevers that all four men were able to uphold throughout the entire match. There were these two girls (about 17 or 18 I think) a few seats down from me, screaming for Aries. And I mean glass shattering screaming. When Aries first entered the match, they started. He leaned towards them and said "Do that again baby." We all went nuts. Aries and Strong win with backbreaker and 450 splash combo. Afterwards, Daniels and Aries agree to wrestle next time we're in Chicago. Awesome. This is Aries with the microphone and Strong close to the camera.














7) Bryan Danielson vs. Colt Cabana (ROH World Title Match), 2 of 3 falls.
Cabana, the Chicago boy, had his last shot at the world title. And the crowd was hot for him. And he comes out to Copacabana, the Barry Manilow classic. Danielson came out to "The Final Countdown" got on my side of the ring, threw his arms out, and screamed "Best Wrestler in the World!"



Cabana jumped out to a 1 fall to none lead within the first ten minutes of the match , following a Colt 45 (Tiger driver/Pearl River Plunge). Colt was clearly in the head of Danielson early and it showed. The Colt 45 and following pinfall stunned the World Champion and put him on the defensive the entire rest of the match, while at the same time increasing the need to get a decision over Colt with each passing second. 15 minutes into the match, Danielson fell through the ropes to the outside and separated his right shoulder. He had to wrestle 45 minutes using his left hand to chop, suplex, headlock, etc. It shows how great he is to be able to improvise like that after such a severe injury. I've separated my shoulder and couldn't put a shirt on myself for 4 days!

Most of the next 30 minutes was mat wrestling with Cabana controlling most of it. Around the 40-45 minute mark, however, the match took a sudden, unexpected brawling twist with Colt and Dragon brawling all around the arena for a good 10 minutes. Danielson hit hit springboard dive onto Colt in the 3rd row of Section B (I was in C) and from that point on, the final 20 minutes were filled with desperation for Danielson, possibility for Colt, and a rollercoaster of emotion for the fans. I couldn't quite catch a lot of the action from my vantage point, but at one point Dragon went to work with a chair and delivered a suplex on Colt to the floor. As they went all around the building, we were shoving our chairs out of the way to let them through. At one point, they actually went right by me! The entire brawling and highspot sequence was brilliant because it not only added some much needed variety to the match, but left the crowd standing on their feet whether they wanted to or not.

Cabana had so many near falls, including another Colt 45. Danielson worked the leg of Cabana, and relied on his trademark maneuvers, especially the Cattle Mutilation, Crossface Chickenwing, and Elbows to the head. Then the announcement came that there were only 5 minutes left. For the final minutes, every move, every hold, every pin attempt sent the crowd into a frenzy because they realized just how close Dragon was to losing the title on a technicality. I have never experienced a crowd atmosphere like the one during the final minutes. I pray that it will come across on the DVD because you just can't imagine how hot the crowd was whether they were cheering for Dragon or for Cabana. The finish was the embodiment of the phrase "edge of your seat" (metaphorically speaking of course because everyone was standing).

With 2 minutes left, Cabana could almost feel the World Title belt around his waist. He constantly asked Todd Sinclair to confer with Bobby Cruise over the time left in the match. He made every attempt possible to dodge Danielson and try to escape with a 1 fall victory and a home win over Danielson. He ran around the ring for a 20 seconds with Danielson chasing. The n with 40 seconds remaining, Danielson asked Sinclair to check the time and when his back was turned, Danielson hit a low blow on Colt, allowing him to utilize a small package to get a 1-2-3! The falls were even at 1-1 at the 59:35 mark. Both men spent the remaining time spent, exhausted, and gasping for air as the 60 minute time limit expired. This match was absolutely incredible! This is Cabana mortified at losing the opportunity and championship that was snatched away from him.



I know the finish sounds cheap, but Danielson did it his way and he once again proved why most consider him the "Best in the World." There is clearly more doubt on the title reign of Bryan Danielson and how much longer he can retain, but the fact is the man went 60 minutes in back-to-back nights and for the 3rd time in 22 days. His endurance is unmatched and when it seems like his back is against the wall and the title will leave his waist, he finds the ability to retain. I hope his injury isn't too serious.

This show was way better than the June show, and I will be purchasing it on DVD when it comes out.

Strange family past

1) My grandfather didn't speak to my grandmother for three days. He didn't want to interrupt her.

2) My great uncle invented the burglar alarm, but didn't get anything out of it. It was stolen.

3) My great grandfather invented the telephone, but he only had one of them so he couldn't prove anything.

Mets fever

This is just one of those Mets days. So much has happened today. Unfortunately, I tend to write about my teams on this blog when I'm aggravated with them, which is most of the time! So I figure I should make an exception.

The good news began when it was revealed that veteran starting pitcher Tom Glavine will not need surgery to repair a blood clot in his pitching shoulder and he will only miss one turn in the starting rotation. In terms of our chances to win in October, this is some of the best news we could have asked for.

The news got better when we finalized the trade for Arizona outfielder Shawn Green. All we gave up was minor league pitcher Evan McClane, who has been good in Triple-A Norfolk, but has never really been a candidate to come to New York. And we have a lot of young starters in the waiting, so he was expendable. Green is a solid lefty hitter and will make up for the loss of Xavier Nady. And when we likely lose Cliff Floyd next year, he can slide into the number 6 spot in the batting order. And the fact that he's Jewish won't bother too many New York fans either.

Then some bad news. Ramon Castro, our backup catcher, apparently tore his meniscus while rehabbing an oblique injury in Brooklyn. He will miss some time, and I know about meniscus problems. That is usually the second worst part of the knee to injure, outside of the ACL. So Mike DeFelice will have to stay as our backup catcher. The guy can't hit to save his life, let alone hit in the clutch like Castro does. Hopefully, Castro will be ready for the playoffs.

Then the first game of a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals, which was attended by Bill Clinton. Thanks to a three-run homer and a grand slam in consecutive innings by Albert Pujols, the Cardinals led 7-1 in the fifth inning. Pujols is basically the best hitter in baseball bar none. And Met starter John Maine had been perfect through 3 innings. That fell apart quickly.

I was at work with no radio or TV access, all I had the mlb.com gameday updates. Somehow, I stayed with the game. I couldn't leave it alone. Maybe it was the fact that Jeff Weaver was pitching for St. Louis and I felt we had a chance. Sure enough, in the bottom of the fifth, Ricky Ledee walks and Jose Reyes reaches first base when Chris Duncan drops a fly ball in left field. A key error has keyed rallies for us numerous times this year. Paul Lo Duca singles to load the bases with nobody out. Carlos Beltan grounds into a force out at home but the Cardinal catcher could have thrown Beltran out at first base for a double play. His decision to not throw would be pivotal. Carlos Delgado, who had hit his 399th career homer in the first inning came up. And he smashed one into the night over the wall for a grand slam, the Mets' ninth of the year. 400 homeruns for Dealgado. 7-5 St. Louis. The Mets scored one more the next inning to make it 7-6.
Then came the 7th. This is where the game officially turned in my opinion. Pedro Feliciano gets one out but walks two batters, although the umpire squeezed him a little bit. And Pujols comes up. So manager Wille Randolph brings in Chad Bradford, our submarine relief pitcher who throws like he's pitching underhanded. He's been amazing this year, he's gotten out of jams without yielding damage all season. And on his second pitch, he induces a double play. At that point, I was confident the Mets would win. Somehow, they would win.

In the 8th, Bradford got Ronnie Belliard to ground into another inning-ending double play. By the way, former Mets outfielder Timo Perez batted in this inning. I had no idea Timo Perez was on the Cardinals! In the bottom half, we got a runner on second with one out. Our former closer, Braden Looper comes in, and he did not get the warmest ovation. He got a groundout and strikeout of Julio Franco to get out of it. That hurt. BTW, Franco finally looks all of his 48 years old and then some.

Ninth inning. Aaron Heilman comes in and smokes the Cardinals with three straight outs, including 2 strikeouts. So another ex-Met Jason Isringhausen comes in to close. As good as Izzy had been closing games against the Mets for a long time, I knew he had not been pitching well lately. I just felt if one Met got on, Izzy would blow it. Jose Reyes grounded out. Then Lo Duca bloops a single into center and up comes Beltran. First pitch. He swings. Forget it. It flies over the right field fence. Home run. The crowd goes insane. The Mets rally from a 7-1 deficit to beat the second best team in the National League 8-7.

For a Mets fan, this night could not have gone any better. If this is not our year, I don't know when it will ever be again.

It's the Final Countdown!

Ring of Honor comes back to Chicago this Saturday! Unfortunately, I have to miss a luau that a friend of mine who lives two blocks away is putting on. But hey, you can't expect me to miss American Dragon, Samoa Joe, Homicide, and Christopher Daniels for an event announced six days in advance. Especially when I paid 25 bucks for a third row seat!

So here's the card as it stands along with some background on the matches and my picks.

ROH World Title Match- 2 Out Of 3 Falls American Dragon Bryan Danielson defends against Colt Cabana
These two fought the last time I went to ROH back in June. Danielson, who has now been champ for 11 months won with a small package, or an inside cradle. After the match, Cabana, who is the good guy, as he is from Chicago and graduated from Deerfield High School, gets on the mike and complains that Dragon, who claims to be the best wrestler in the world, had to win with a cheap small package. Dragon countered by saying his small package "is inescapable. Sometimes they call me Mr. Small Package!" Oh we laughed. Hard. So Cabana challenged him to a 2 of 3 falls match for the next Chicago card. Now two weeks ago, Dragon pinned ROH Pure Wrestling champ Nigel McGuinness to become a double champion. So I think he will drop the world title somewhat soon. And I think this would be a good time for it to happen. I really don't want it to happen as I am a huge Dragon fan. The only thing is I don't know if fans outside of Chicago would buy Cabana as a world champion. For that reason, I say Dragon retains in 3 falls.

Prediction: "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson

World Tag Team Title Match Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal

Roderick Strong is becoming one of my favorite wrestlers. He's not great on the microphone, but his chops and back breakers are excellent. And Aries is what he says he is a wrestling machine. Matt Sydal used to be in a stable called Generation Next with Aries and Strong until they (along with Jack Evans) agreed to go their separate ways last month. He's a really high flyer. He's teaming with the Fallen Angel Christopher Daniels, one of the best independent wrestlers of the last 15 years. Strong and Aries are too experienced and I don't see Daniels as a tag team champion.

Prediction: Austin Aries and Roderick Strong

Homicide & Davey Richards vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe
The Briscoes are one of the best tag teams in the business and trying to get back into the title picture again. Richards is a young up and comer that could be a star. I actually saw him in the first ROH card I attended last November where he lost rather quickly. But he's teaming with Homicide, from Bed-Stuy, do-or-die, Brooklyn, New York. He's a gangsta character and has been in ROH for three or four years. He has never won a title and has promised to leave ROH if he doesn't win a title by the end of the year. And he's having problems with the company not treating him like he feels he should. Now he and Richards have never teamed so these men have no history together. I like experience here. Homicide will probably walk out on the match for one reason or another.

Prediction: Jay & Mark Briscoe

Samoa Joe vs. Claudio Castagnoli
Joe's gonna kill you! Joe's gonna kill you! That is a legendary chant in ROH. Joe is one of my favorites in the world. He doesn't look like a great wrestler as he has a few extra pounds, but he is remarkably agile at 290 pounds and just beats the crap out of you. Claudio abandoned ROH earlier this year to join forces with Combat Zone Wrestling, a hardcore promotion with whom ROH feuded this year. So now, with the feud over, Claudio is apparently back. Last time in Chicago, he clipped Joe's knee after a match so this grudge match was signed. I can't bet against Joe. Then again, Claudio's tag team partner CZW champion Chris Hero could show up and make a difference. Hero led the CZW charge against ROH and he is the one guy every ROH fan wants to see get beat up. I'll take Joe, as long as interference doesn't play a part.

Prediction: Samoa Joe

BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs with Lacey
These two were tag team champions just about a year ago. The former "Lacey's Angels" split up and Whitmer has emerged as a star in ROH. Last time, these two had a fight that saw Whitmer powerbomb Jacobs off the turnbuckle and into the crowd. I don't know how they'll top it. Jacobs has been losing a lot lately, and I think it continues. Whitmer's push towards a title shot will continue.

Prediction: BJ Whitmer

Delirious & Irish Airborne vs. The Embassy and a mystery partner
More a filler match than anything. Airborne is a tag team on the rise and Delirious is a good wrestler who looks like a combo of Spiderman and the Green Hornet. He's known more for his crazy antics than anything. What do you expect from a guy who's announced before matches as from the edge of sanity. The Embassy has long been one of ROH's most hated groups. I don't know who the mystery partner will be, but my gut tells me Conrad Kennedy or Nigel McGuinness.

Prediction: The Embassy

Stuff like this really gets to me

This was one of the top headlines on CNN.

WATERTOWN, New York (AP) -- The minister of a church that dismissed a female Sunday School teacher after adopting what it called a literal interpretation of the Bible says a woman can perform any job -- outside of the church.

The First Baptist Church dismissed Mary Lambert on August 9 with a letter explaining that the church had adopted an interpretation that prohibits women from teaching men. She had taught there for 54 years.

The letter quoted the first epistle to Timothy: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent."

The Rev. Timothy LaBouf, who also serves on the Watertown City Council, issued a statement saying his stance against women teaching men in Sunday school would not affect his decisions as a city leader in Watertown, where all five members of the council are men but the city manager who runs the city's day-to-day operations is a woman.

"I believe that a woman can perform any job and fulfill any responsibility that she desires to outside of the church,"LaBouf wrote Saturday.

Mayor Jeffrey Graham, however, was bothered by the reasons given Lambert's dismissal.
"If what's said in that letter reflects the councilman's views, those are disturbing remarks in this day and age," Graham said. "Maybe they wouldn't have been disturbing 500 years ago, but they are now."

Lambert has publicly criticized the decision, but the church did not publicly address the matter until Saturday, a day after its board met.

In a statement, the board said other issues were behind Lambert's dismissal, but it did not say what they were.


This woman taught there for over 50 years and now they just decide to take the Bible out of context and dismiss her? Obviously, there's a lot more to the story than what appears in the article. Maybe she teaches in a way or teaches a certain lesson that the board is not comfortable with. And to veil it, they use Scripture. It's no wonder that some people find the Bible to be out of date. The fact is in the context there were a lot of women who were causing problems, in terms of teaching incorrect doctrines, having affairs, etc. So Paul was saying to Timothy, a young leader, to be careful of theses types of women. It was a specific situation that some modern feminists are now using against the Bible. So I just wish people (and I'm referring to Christians and non-Christians alike) would do their homework and understand that cultures and situations have changed and they should be looked into before making a claim about the Bible or for that matter, any religious book.

Back from Baltimore, Softball playoffs

I'd throw a nickname instead of the city name, but I have no idea if Baltimore even has a nickname. If it does, I'm sure it has something to do with crabs. It was an excellent two days and I'll have a more thorough recap in a week or two once my pictures get developed.

Plenty of things to discuss, so I'll probably split this up. First, softball is finished. After flying in from Baltimore, I drove straight to the field and I got there at 8:50, 10 minutes before the first pitch. They opened with a run in the top of the first and we countered with 2. Then they erupted with 4 to make it 5-2. Then it was 6-2. In the fifth, we cut it to 6-4 thanks to Cliff (Our Ozzie Guillen look-alike), who hit a 2-run triple. Unfortunately, I flew out with runners on second and third and two outs to kill the rally. In the sixth, we scored three runs to take the lead. Derek (who has the worst swing I've ever seen, as he drops the bat straight down and swings up) drilled the ball to right field for a double and 2 runs scored. We got one more and then came the top of the seventh. With 2 outs and runners on first and second their guy hits a grouder to short. Tim (who had played great defense all day), flips the ball over the second baseman's head. Run scores. We do nothing in the seventh. To extra innings we go.

Nothing happens in the eighth. Actually one thing happened. We had a runner on first and Derek came up. Pop up to the third baseman and he drops the ball. The runner at first was thrown out, which makes sense since he thought the ball would be caught. But Derek never ran to first. He just stood at home plate. They throw to first for an easy double play. They scored twice in the ninth. In the ninth, our leadoff hitter gets on with a walk. Cliff grounds out to third. But Tim over runs second base and gets thrown out trying to get back to the base. Two down just like that. Jody (our best hitter) Lucas and get on forst and second and Dan our lefty pitcher comes up. I'm on deck. All year long, we've been talking about patience and waiting for our pitch. First pitch. He swings. Groundout to second, game over. Year over.

That was the third straight week we lost to that team. We finally played them tough but we beat ourselves. I didn't really know if we would win, but the bottom line is this. We made mental mistakes, they didn't. They were aggressive, took the extra base when they had a chance, we didn't. So for the year, we finished 8-6. Not too bad considering that team had 1 win in 20 games over the 2 years before I joined. So I guess I did my job. Now I need to iron out my hitting.

As for my hitting, I grounded out twice, singled, walked, and flew out to deep left.

So summer ticks down

And the fall season will soon be upon us. Translation: For me that means starting next week my work week escalates from 37 hours a week to roughly 57 hours a week. Somehow I find more time to blog then probably because at my night job I'm just waiting for sports scores to come into the office and I don't have much to do except check e-mail and blog.

I went to Carol Bugh's visitation on Tuesday. I've only been to one funeral, a burial, and a wake in my 25 years of life. This was something else. I remember when Papa (my dad's dad died) last January, he had 2 days of visitation. Carol's visit was one day from 3-9 pm. I got there at 4 and I saw a line of people stretched through the whole church building. I didn't get to the casket until 5:30. By comparison, if I had 30 people at my funeral who genuinely liked me, that would be okay with me.

My Mets are fading faster than Milli Vanilli's career. Pedro on the DL, Cliff Floyd in a walking cast, Ricky Ledee is 1-for-12 with 5 strikeouts since coming, In 3 games only 1 run was not scored by or driven in by our leadoff hitter Jose Reyes. Our big imported slugger Carlos Delgado looks more like Wilson Delgado, the career minor league utility player. David Wright has disappeared, Carlos Beltran has done nothing in August after a torrid July. Julio Franco finally looks 50 years old. And last and certainly least, Lastings Milledge. This is a guy we wouldn't trade to get Manny Ramirez? I know he's 20, but he looks lost out there. Not too many positives. Aaron Heilman is pitching well. Paul Lo Duca is hitting great in spite of the gambling and divorce allegations that are swirling around him right now.

We're up by 12 games on Philly, but the way this team is playing, they are not winning a playoff series. They're not beating LA and they would struggle against St. Louis, Cincinnati, San Diego, Philly, or Arizona. I've said I will take winning the NL pennant if we lose to the Tigers or an AL West team. A loss to the Red Sox, Yankees, or White Sox would be worse than losing the NLCS.
Right now, I don't know if we can win one round. Slumps happen, but being outscored 27-4 by Philly in 3 games? Now today, they face Scott Mathieson, who they lit up last time. And our young super pitcher John Maine goes for us. This is a must win game, plain and simple. The Mets must send a message to Philadelphia.

As I've said, I'll be in Baltimore with my father this weekend. 6:30 flight so I'll likely be awake by 3 am. Hopefully, I'll have some photos to post from the trip within a week from now. As always, thanks for reading.

My tribute to Carol Bugh

She was the wife of Rob Bugh, the senior pastor at Wheaton Bible Church, where I have been going on and off since 1998. Last Friday, around 11 pm, she died of melanoma of the liver at the age of 50. She had been battling the disease for 11 months. I have posted a link to the obituary of the funeral home and a series of updates on her condition chronicling the last several months.

http://www.meaningfulfunerals.net/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=55286&fh_id=10184

http://www.wheatonbible.org/?p=482

Now I didn't really know her. I think I saw her 2 months ago at a service because she was sitting right next to where Rob would sit and she looked a little thin. I'm pretty sure that was her. The only words I exchanged with her came 5 years ago at a smooth jazz concert at Navy Pier. Mom begged me to go with her so I did. So in between acts, I'm walking up the stairs towards the back when I recognize Rob and Carol was near him. And somehow they recognized me though they had never met me. I don't remember the conversation but it lasted a few minutes. From then on, whenever I said hi to Rob, he would always give me a smile and a nice greeting. He never called me by my name, so he might not have remembered. But that's okay. He knows a lot of people I'm sure.

As for their kids, I don't know Ryan as he'll be in 6th grade this year. He's the one I really feel for since he's the only boy, the youngest, and the only one not done with high school. He's losing a lot of years he should have had with his mom. I knew Alissa a little. She was a host at Outback and is rteturning to college in Arizona soon. I did a mission trip with Kyle many years ago and we didn't get along too great. But I think well of her, sometimes misunderstandings happen. She'll be a senior at Wheaton College after transferring from a school in California to be with her family. As for Shannon, the eldest daughter who is my age, I had gotten to know her better over the last 3 years. I only saw her on occasion since she spent a lot of time in Colorado, but she just came across with the warmest heart toward me. And I wasn't even one of her best friends. And she just married some guy I've never heard of. He's a lucky guy to have her though.

I attended the early church service Sunday morning and it was very subdued. Rob obviously wasn't there. It was a time spent mostly in prayer for the family and speaking of the joy (she's gone to be with her maker) and sorrow (the loss of a loved one) the church can feel in this time.

So in my life, I can't begin to relate to this kind of loss. But I'll be attending the visitation at the church today, if only for a few minutes. Just my own way of paying my respects. So any prayer for the family and for the church would be great.

The lyrics ahead are from a Randy Travis album called "Passing Through." The song is "I Can See It In Your Eyes." I played this the morning after I heard of Carol's death. And though it doesn't mention God, I think this would sum up her and Rob pretty well.

The first time I saw you I felt weak inside
I search my heart and mind for words I couldn't find.
Some how you seemed to see what came over me that night.
As a love began to grow that would last for all time.

And you said, ''I can see it in your eyes. They're the windows to your soul.
Sometimes they say more than words could ever hope.
We could wait a thousand lifetimes and never feel like this again.
But when you look at me that way I can see it in your eyes.'

Later on I asked your hand and I prayed the time was right.
I knelt down on one knee and said, 'Would you be my bride?'
Then the sound of silence filled the air as your tears fell with mine.
You didn't have to say a word for me to realize.

And I said, ''I can see it in you eyes. They're the window to your soul.
I see dreams come alive and future plans unfold.
I could wait a thousand lifetimes and not find a perfect love again.
When you look at me that way I can see it in your eyes.

Many years have come and gone and what a life we've made.
Now again we search for words as the heart inside me breaks.
Until death do we part were the vows we made.
And now the time has come but goodbye's so hard to say.

But I can see it in your eyes. They're the windows to your soul.
The light of life is burning but soon you're leaving me I know.
But time that's left is precious dear so please don't shed another tear.
You don't have to say a word. I can see it in your eyes.

I've heard you say a thousand times "I'll love you dear, until I die."
But you don't have to say a word. I can see it in your eyes.

Stayin' Alive

Well you can tell by the way I use my walk I'm a woman's man. No time to talk. Music loud..

Sorry about that. Anyway, the point of the title is my softball team is barely alive in the playoff tournament. Now I already posted the deal with the brackets. Safe to say in our rematch against the navy blue team (Brommel), we got kicked in the teeth. They scored in 5 different innings and we just could not get a rally together. The wind was blowing out and we had trouble dealing with that too. And our infield defense was beyond bad. I think for every ground ball play they fielded correctly in that game, they missed four. We lost 8-2. I went 1-for-2 with a single, walk, and ground out. I made 3 catches including 2 tough ones in the seventh. That said, we had a rookie umpire who had no idea what he was doing. Many of his ball/strike calls were borderline, not to mention inconsistent. He didn't know certain rules. He was brutal and he played some role in us losing.

So we had an hour off and as pissed as we were, we needed it. Fortunately, the team we were going to play in the first game of the loser's bracket didn't have enough players so they forfeited. We got an automatic win. The we played a team from the B league. They only had 9 players, so they had to play with 3 outfielders instead of 4. And they really had no power hitting, speed, and not much defensive ability. They jumped out to a 5-0 lead on us thanks to more bad defense and some inaccurate pitching. It took 7 batters for us to record an out, a fly ball to me. We scored 1 in the 2nd and in the 3rd, I walked to load the bases with nobody out. So our 2, 3, and 4 hitters are up. Foulout, pop out, flyout. End of inning. No runs.

I was feeling confident but that inning took something out of me. I was worried. But things started to happen. With two runners on, Cliff (a new guy who looks just like Ozzie Guillen) tripled to right. On that play, their right fielder (also their leadoff guy) popped a hamstring and they had no subs. So they moved him to second base while their original second baseman went to right field. Problem was the new RF had just arm surgery and couldn't throw at all. So everything just turned in our favor. We came back with 3 in the 4th, 3 in the 5th (though I did leave the bases loaded with a popout), and 6 in the 6th. We allowed 2 more runs along the way and 2 more in the seventh to get out of there with a 13-9 win. To be honest, we were lucky.

I went 0 for 2 with 2 walks and a run scored and made 4 or 5 more catches in shallow center field. There was a play where they had a runner on first and two outs. Guy hits a ground ball up the middle and I fielded it. I tried to get the force at second but I knew it would be a tight play. I didn't have time to wind up and throw, so I just whipped my hand back and pushed the ball out. The second baseman scooped it out of the dirt just in time. It was ugly, but it got the job done. And these guys are used to seeing me play great defense so they were laughing at me about it.

So I think we need to win 3 more games to win the title. And in our next elimination game, guess who we play. That's right, the navy blue team that has beaten us 2 weeks in a row. So we have a little revenge to get on them. They're a pretty cocky group with a few guys that like to talk smack so I really want to knock them right on their ass.

Of course, we play at 9 am and I'll be in Baltimore this weekend. My flight is scheduled to get to Chicago at 8:30. Which means I will have to do some serious rushing to get to the field on time. We'll see what happens.

Been a few days I know

Life has been a bit of a whirlwind this weekend. Let me start out with this. Have you ever watched Vertigo? It's an old Hitchcock movie with Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak. I seriously think I lost a few brain cells watching this. It was a good movie but so random and mentally twisting that when it ended, I just found myelf looking at other people around and asking them, What in sam hell just happened here? Then again, that's Alfred Hitchcock for you!

My Mets are 9 games up on St. Louis for the best record in the National League. As for the NLeast division, we begin a 4-game set with second place Philthy-delphia tonight. We're 15 games up, so just a split would work for me. Our magic number to clinch is 32. In other words we need a total of 32 Met wins and Phillie losses over the last 96 combined games. So if the Mets play .500 baseball between now and the end of the season, the Phillies must go 38–8 to tie for the division lead. I like our chances. And for our first division title since 1988, it's about time.

The Giants and Jets will both be horrible this year. Next.

The Knicks? Next.

My next Ring of Honor card is two weeks away. Hopefully, the World Champ and now NEW! Pure Wrestling champion Bryan Danielson will retain his title against Colt Cabana in Cabana's hometown in a 2 out of 3 falls match.

At the urging of a certain friend of mine, I just joined facebook, one of those online community deals, so I'm here, facebook, and on myspace as well. My myspace display name is Bartolo. Kind of easy to find that way.

Think about this for a moment.

Every year, Major League Baseball give out the Comeback Player to one player from each league who has bounced back this season from a lackluster season during the previous season. Does anyone find it bizarre that the sponsor for a Comeback Player award is Viagra?

Piazza returns to Shea Stadium tonight

My twin, Mike Piazza, and the greatest hitting catcher of all-time will return to Shea Stadium as a member of the Padres as San Diego visits the Mets. I remember I was a junior in high school when the Mets traded Preston Wilson, Ed Yarnall, and Geoff Goetz to get him. I thought I was dreaming. I was never one to root for opposing players, but Piazza was easy to root for. He was quiet, tough, Italian, and he was a catcher like I once was. As the saying goes, I felt it was the dawning of a new era.

By the way, the Mets made the trade May 23, 1998. On May 22, the day before Piazza’s first game with the Mets, this was the Mets starting lineup.

1. Brian McRae
2. Bernard Gilkey
3. John Olerud
4. Butch Huskey
5. Carlos Baerga
6. Jim Tatum
7. Alberto Castillo
8. Rey Ordonez
9. Rick Reed

Yikes. And even if you're a baseball fan, I'm sure you have one question. Who the hell is Jim Tatum? It really says something about the Mets in the 90's that he had to bat 6th!

Piazza added a mystique to the Mets they hadn't had in 10 years. We'd had plenty of superstars pass through (Bonilla, Coleman, Murray, Baerga to name a few), but there was something different about this. He was on the rise and he had that quiet charisma. More than that, he had this leadership that a direction-less franchise sorely lacked. Not a vocal Mark Messier or Keith Hernandez, but I beleive his teammates did their jobs better because they were more confident with Piazza in the lineup.

I'll make it more simple. He was the face of the franchise that was needed in Flushing. He was our Michael Jordan, he was our Barry Sanders, he was our Walter Payton. He breathed life into the Mets organization. And when his contract ended after 1998, he re-signed a 7-year deal that helped make the Mets a believable team. People started to believe they could win. And we did initially with 3 playoff series wins and an NL pennant in the 2 following years. The 5 years after that were mostly disappointing, but that blame goes primarily to GM Steve Phillips for acquiring stiffs like Mo Vaughn, Roger Cedeno, Robby Alomar, Jeromy Burnitz, and trading away Jason Bay and Melvin Mora.

So I will be tuned into WFAN radio tonight and even from my basement dungeon in St. Charles, IL, or 1500 miles west, I will heartily applaud Piazza when he comes to bat for the first time against Steve Trachsel. And if he hits a home run, well, it better not be in a close game!

Regular season softball ends

All in all, I would have to say this regular season was a success. I came into this 6-team men's league and I joined a team that went 1-9 last year. This year, we finished 6-4 and second place overall.

We dropped 3 of our first 4 games thanks to the not so helpful combination of impatient hitting and hideous defense. But we won 4 in a row until we dropped our last game. There were two final inning rally wins along the way as well. Along the way, our catcher and center fielder left and our captain told us he's moving away in October. Quit a ride.

So the playoffs start this week and it's double elimination. Now there are 10 teams. We're in the C league and the bottom 4 finishers from the B league got moved into our bracket. We're the 3 seed and the #1 is undefeated. I know those guys, but the key is they never beat themselves. Then again we've had some battles with some of the lesser teams. But if we play defense well, we'll be fine. First, we're playing a team that we split a pair of games with. The first game was a solid win two weeks ago, but their win was last Sunday. We shut them out 6-0 except for one inning where we allowed 14 runs. Everything self-destructed there for just that brief moment. So there's no reason we shouldn't beat them.

Here's the link for schedules and standings. I'm on Team Chamberlain.
Ripley, Heuer, Stenger, and Cerutti are the B league teams.
http://willowcreek.org/sports.asp

Alone for a week

Nice to have the house to myself for a few days. It's just that Hogan goes into such a depressed mood without Mom around. I'm just the opposite! kidding, Ma.

Let's see what's on the plate for these days. Lot of work. I'll try to play some disc golf Thursday. Friday night I'm going to watch Vertigo, the Hitchcock classic with Jimmy Stewart. And Saturday, I'm doing some volunteer work up at Willow Creek church. They have their leadership summitt going on this week and I'll be doing some basic cleanup and maintenance for it.

And this is the last week for a long time where I know I won't have to go into work at the newspaper at night. So sad, so sad.

What's happening to colleges?

So right now at work I'm updating account information for a bunch of colleges. One of the things I do is add the school's list of classes for the upcoming fall semester. Now every school arranges them differently so you never know what you'll see from one school to the next.

I'm working on this one school in Tennessee, I don't feel I should mention the name. After I get done adding their courses, I see they have this section at the end of their online schedule called August and October Accelerated courses. And they have Auditing, Interpersonal Communication, Literature, and similar subjects. But do you know what subject/major offers the most accelerated courses? Physical Education with nine! I'm not making this up. Over the fall semester, they offer accelerated courses in badminton, golf, walking for fitness, two swimming courses, two racquetball classes (I guess there are a lot of advanced racquetball players at the school), scuba diving (in Tennessee!), and a team sports class.

I guess this school won't be appearing on the list of most challenging schools in US News and World Report anytime soon. At least tuition won't cost too much for those classes.

Mets at the deadline

Well the sweep of Atlanta was long overdue. First Met sweep of the Braves in Atlanta since 1985! 14 games up in the division with about 60 to go. Chances are if we take 2 of 3 from second place Florida this week, we're all but NLEast division champions (that spelling was done on purpose).

And now the trade deadline has come to pass. Two years ago, my birthday gift from the Mets was Bartolome Fortunato, Kris Benson and Victor Zambrano for Ty Wigginton, Matt Peterson, Justin Huber, Jose Diaz, and some guy named Scott Kazmir. Nuff said there.

Now the deadline was 3 p.m. Around 1:45, nothing significant had happened, and I'm thinking we'll stand pat. Fine. I hang up the phone with my father, not even five minutes later, I read a post on a website that says Duaner Sanchez, the Mets best setup man is out for the year with a shoulder separation. These are his goggles, or as I call them, the mark of Duaner...

I was praying it was a rib. Turns out it wasn't. Some shmuck who was driving drunk crashed into a cab that Duaner was riding in down in Miami on Sunday night. So he's all but done for the year. So any hopes of acquiring a starting pitcher like Roy Oswalt, Barry Zito, or Jason Schmidt are all but gone. Now, Omar Minaya has to get a reliever. And he gets Roberto Hernandez and Oliver Perez for outfielder Xavier Nady.

A lot of Met fans are incensed. But what was Omar to do? Hernandez was a decent setup guy last year and this year, his ERA was under 3 for the Pirates. He's 41, but he can still be effective. We weren't going to get another Duaner, although we actually almost did. I'll get to that later. Perez was a very good starting pitcher. A hard throwing lefty who has been brutal for the last season and a half. Maybe some time in AAA and working with Pedro and Glavine will help. I have a feeling it will and he will be a good starter for us, though it may not happen until next year.

And as for Nady, well, I'd be angry if they weren't bringing up Lastings Milledge. The kid gets time to prove he belongs here. Nady was very good this year, but his defense his still weak and he struck out a little too much. A loss, yes. But not earth shattering.

The other deal which was supposed to happen was packaging Perez and Heath Bell and sending them to San Diego for Scott Linebrink, one of the best setup men in the game. But the Padres backed out at the last minute. I really wanted that trade to happen.

So to Stephen A Smith and the other geniuses who labeled the Mets losers at the deadline, look at the White Sox, Red Sox, Diamondbacks, or Cardinals, who all did nothing or next to nothing. A move had to be made and with Sanchez' injury, we couldn't trade Aaron Heilman.

Now our chances to win the World Series have taken a hit. But if young pitchers John Maine or Mike Pelfrey or Brian Bannister (who is recovering from his injury very well) steps up, the bullpen gets a little work taken off. The best way to help an already good bullpen is to have good starting pitching. And right now the Mets are a little questionable, a little spotty there, but brilliance has been seen from El Duque, from Maine, from Pelfrey, from Bannister. Can one or two of them do the job in September and October? That's one big question. Number two, can Aaron Heilman step up as the pitcher he was last year? If he can, it will be a huge lift. I don't know. Oh, and it might be time for another look at Henry Owens, who has 62 strikeouts in 31 1/3 AA innings and a .131 batting average against. It'll be an interesting final two months of the 2006 season.

25 years old and counting

Well as of Monday, July 31, the people's blogger is 25 years old. I kept it low key, I didn't go anywhere except work and I was there for about 10 hours. I don't know what the number is, but there seems to be a certain age where birthdays just aren't that big of a deal anymore. Ever since that surprise party I had at my old house in Winfield back in 1998 (it's been 8 years!), there's no way to approach how crazy that day was.

But let me think of reasons to celebrate. I'll ty to come up with 25 random ones.

1) I'm one day older than MTV, which began August 1.
2) Didn't need to eat cake yesterday.
3) Family
4) Ecclesia
5) Knowing Jesus
6) Hogan still living after 14.5 years
7) Sport a good goatee
8) Working two jobs.
9) Traveled to 41 states and 7 countries, that I can remember anyway. Sidenote: I've flown over Canada a dozen times. Does that count as another one?
10) Still enjoy pro wrestling, the good stuff anyway.
11) Had some good friends.
12) Been betrayed but am better because those associations are over.
13) Learned ways to treat people and not to treat people.
14) Learned a little, but still have a lot of learning to do.
15) Started reading on my own and cut down on the TV.
16) Taken pretty good care of my body with diet and exercise. Although I do eat a little too much at once, particularly when pizza is in the cards.
17) I dare say I know good food as well as anyone my age.
18) Lived in the north all my life and I love country music.
19) Never been seriously ill or injured.
20) Done a lot of acting on stage, and I've played every role from Jesus to Satan. Literally.
21) Never thought it was wrong to be different just for the sake of being different. I'm stubborn in terms of not changing certain beliefs, values, or characteristics.
22) Done mission work in 3 countries and 5 states.
23) Can fit into almost any group of people and be comfortable, as long as they don't live in a certain area of Edison, NJ! My parents know what I'm talking about here.
24) Went through some very rough early years before finding a better way of life.
25) Best of all, my car insurance rate will finally start to go down!