A few minutes open up

Not a very busy morning here at CEC so I have a few things on my mind right now.
Actually, more than a few.

1) My mom just got a new car yesterday. It's a 2 year old black Honda Accord with the navigation system, leather interior, and best of all, XM radio. I got to drive the car for 5 minutes when we went to the dealership to drop off the car we had been borrowing. Man, XM puts regular radio to absolute shame. I like DJ's and all, but with these stations out here, I am tired of hearing the same songs over and over. Anything by KC and the Sunshine Band in particular. Play by play of almost any sport, local news stations from all over America. I guess I have to be really nice to her now...

2) Jets barely bother to show up in Cleveland. Giants win again. This week Houston, week after that, on national television, Chicago. Oh dear God, please let either the Giants or Jets break the Bears winning streak!

3) Won three more matches in volleyball and I put every serve in play. I even nailed a couple of clean kills (spikes) which I don't think I've done all season. I think we're basically neck and neck with another team for second place. One team is undefeated and they look almost impossible to beat right now. But you never know. We have one match against each team left in the league and we're (Lazer) going to be in the second/third place semifinal, so these matches are about building unity and smoothing out our rough spots (i.e. communication on the court, staying in position, service receving, etc.)

4) Knicks start tomorrow night in Memphis. Out of 82 games, I pick the Knicks will hold their opponent to under 100 points a ttoal of 18 times. I'll give them 30 wins.

5) My college gets wiped out in fall playoff action. Field hockey gets upset in the first round, volleyball can beat everyone in conference but Endicott, tennis out in the semis, cross country does ok, but still can't beat Roger Williams, the only hope I have is us beating those evil Gulls in the first round in men's soccer. And as disappointing as this year has been for Gordon so far, I'm not too optimistic. But our men's basketball team opens the season ranked 24th in the country! Considering where the team was when I arrived, that's a great accomplishment. So here's a message to Coach Mike Schauer, other coaches, fans, and players. This year, let's finally win that first CCC title!

6) Armand's in St. Charles and Elmhurst makes pretty good pizza. I don't know about great, but it'll do.

7) Halloween is here, to which I say big deal. Don't like candy, haven't dressed up in years, and live in a neighborhood where kids don't trick or treat.

8) I wonder if any Jason movies are on tonight...

9) Greg, James, as of December 9th, I welcome you both to Ring of Honor....

Final post before retreat

I'm pretty excited about it. I don't know how many people are going but I would guesstimate 25-35. I'm not thrilled about doing a car pool beause I'm a little tight for time, but it'll be good to have people in the car anyway. And the rain is out of here too which is certainly a step up from last year. Last year we had six or seven hours to just go off by ourselves and do what we needed to do to get with God. I was so beat, I wound up sleeping for about 5 of them!

Here's a good story from Wednesday night at Houlihan's. I promised I would not mention wrestling since Ring of Honor is this weekend in Chicago and I have to miss it because of the retreat. Bryan Danielson vs Samoa Joe!!! Anyway, people asked me how I'm going to feel at the end of the weekend and Greg Smith (the borderline wrestling fan who I've been trying to convince to go to a show with me) gets going on the topic. I mention again the return date is Dec 9. I asked again if he wanted me to get tickets. He weighed both sides, but he caved in and said "Yes!" James, another guy at the table, who I don't think has ever really watched wrestling said he was interested. So I decided to get three tickets.

Now my friends Jill and Sarah overhear this and we've been trying to convince them to go. At least Jill was at least open to going one time, even if she's not into it. But Sarah, who I've known for 5 years, is having none of it. It surprises me because she's cool and seems open to trying anything once. But she won't do it. What bothers me is she's going by her perceptions of wrestling on TV to gauge what I'm going to go see.

So she said "If you all play for my ticket, then maybe I would consider going." Which to me is a nice way of saying "No way Jose." She did ask what night the event was. I said "A Saturday night. It's not like you're going to have a dtae or anything that weekend. You're free, you have no excuses."

That may be the cleverest, wittiest, and meanest thing I've said to anyone in a while. I was proud I even thought of it, but I certainly didn't want to hurt her. She knows me well enough, I don't think she minded that much. She did laugh though. Hey, the whole table roared laughing.

Well, one week is basically down at CEC. Some things I have grasped quite quickly, and others, well, not as fast. It's just a lot of information and a lot of situations to use that information. I don't know if it's possible to learn it all, but I'm trying to get a little bit each day and make steady progress. I think if I can do that, I will be okay.

I have to end this on a sad note. For the second time in three years, I think, a student in my high school was killed. 17 years old. I didn't know her but she lived two towns south of me. And not only that, right around the time the accident happened, I was driving on the same road just a few miles north in Geneva. Here's the link.
http://www.dailyherald.com/story.asp?id=243461

Halfway through

week 1 of my first week on the floor at CEC. The morning passed surprisingly fast today. Probably because I actually had work to do that will probably take me most of the afternoon to finish. Of course for the second day in a row, I forgot my lunch at home. Since I'm going out with a co-worker tomorrow, I just passed today. That's okay though, I have a sausage deep dish pizza from Home Run Inn sitting in the freezer back home.

I brought Mindy Smith's record last night. I think I need to give it another listen before I can really post my thoughts. Think about your favorite songs. Were they your favorites the first time you heard them or did they have to grow on you? For me, it's usually the latter. Now are there are exceptions like "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk!" jk.

Since I'm missing ROH, this weekend, here are my predictions.
Samoa Joe over ROH World Champ Bryan Danielson in a non-title match
Austin Aries over Christopher Daniels
Davey Richards over Mark Briscoe
Jay Briscoe over Matt Sydal
Delirious over Steve Corino
Shingo over Roderick Strong
Jimmy Rave & Sal Rinuaro over Colt Cabana & Jimmy Jacobs

Break time is over. I'm out.

OK, I'm calm

Maybe from now on I shouldn't post in the heat of pure misery. Retreat to Lake Geneva is comng up Friday. It will definitely be good to get away from everything out here for a few days. I'll have to stop at Popeye's on the lake and bring home some broccoli cheddar soup. It's even better than the Soup Nazi could make.

I'm now done with training and on the floor at work and a lot is still kind of up in the air. My team lead, Bradlee, seems like a fair guy who is pretty specific about what he wants from all of us. What I liked his that he said if we are making the necessary progress and doing the work well enough, he will not hesitate to hire us permanently. That's great news for me.

But the guy training me yesterday, Dan, well, that's a different story. He's been working here for a year almost, but he was not on his game. He spent a lot of time on IM or just complaining about the schools and people who had fouled everything up for him. I learned very very little from him over 5 or 6 hours. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt for one day, but today, we had better get something accomplished. I won't let his being in a bad mood hinder my progress.

Turned out my car insurance is 1000 dollars less than what I thought it was going to be. I'd better read those dates better. I saw 800 dollars and thought it was a quarterly payment when it was actually bi-annually. That's some good news.

Giants and Jets win. Good deal. Knicks start in a week. Sure, they'll be a fast paced energetic offense. But this may be the worst defensive team in NBA history. Isiah Thomas, you've got full control. Now prove yourself.

Kids don't read this.

If you get offended by bad langauge just don't read this. Suffice to say I now know God does not give a damn about baseball.













First to my "friend," GS, in who was kind of enough to leave an insulting message on my cell phone, I wish you were reading this. You are a selfish, cocky worthless piece of $hit. Go ahead, insult me and make even more miserable than I already am. See if I'm there when you need help in your bad times.

This was the Mets year! This was OUR NLCS! OUR WORLD SERIES! We're the best g-damned team in the whole National Fucking League! And we're still the best. So FUCK St. Louis, F#CK Jeff Suppan, and to Yadier Molina, you big fat son of a bitch, go rot in f#cking hell you no good Satanic motherf#cker. And to every Cardinal fan in the world, may your penises shrink to the size of raisins and f#ck you all up the ass. I hope if there's ever another terrorist attack, they go after that no good miserable piece of $hit city St. Louis Missouri.

And you know what? The f#cking joke's on me more than anyone. My teams letting me down year after year. The Giants blow a 24 point lead in Frisco, the Jets choking in Pittsburgh after Doug Brien misses the two field goals, the Rangers having lousy season after lousy season, the Knicks never winning the title in the 90's and deteriorating into literally the biggest and most expensive embarrassment in sports, or the Mets sticking it right up my ass again. Just the same whole piece of $hit treadmill I've been running on for 15 years. I have not seen one of my pro teams win a title since 1994! Since then, it has been nothing but teases and garbage. F#CK this whole thing.

Game Seven!

John Maine and Paul LoDuca get the game balls for last night's win. Incredible job by both. Jose Reyes is getting on base too. Shawn Green hit a little bit. But Billy Wagner, you are coming too close to the edge. I'm only 25, but my heart can't take that kind of suspense. I'm going to have to buy Zantac. In case you didn't know, prior to the 6th game, in typical Willie Randolph fashion, he gave his players their standard travel itinerary package for the weekend.

The title of the document: Detroit.

I love his confidence. And so it comes down to Game Seven. It doesn't get better or more dramatic than this. One game for the chance to go to the World Series. Mets. Cardinals. Northeast. Midwest. New York. St. Louis. Willie. LaRussa.

I have the night off from work, and I'm planning to stay home and tape it. Fortunately, Mom is in Wilmette right now so I can yell as soon as Oliver Perez gives up his first hit. I think we can win, as I can't expect Jeff Suppan to do as well as he did last time in Game 3. But he can handle a Game 7, he did it 2 years ago against Houston. Oliver, well, who knows. He's going on three days rest and he is very very erratic. All I want is to be within a run and the Cards pen in by the end of the sixth inning. If we can keep it close, we'll win. I think St. Louis needs to score early to have a realistic chance. And I think this is the time for David Wright to come through in a big spot in this series.

Prediction: Mets 6, Cards 4. Onto Detroit!

I'll make this simple

First off I apologize about the venting, it was a very bad last night. And chances are if we lose tongiht, there will be more of the same. Now I've written a lot of long posts so I'm going to keep this one short and sweet. And I havte to paraphrase someone else's catchphrase.

I'm watching this game tonight for two reasons.
1) To see the Mets kick ass
2) And drink beer.

(Drink...) I am now officially out of beer. LET'S GO METS and let's smack those Cardinals OUT OF HERE!

Kaput!

You know, people will tell me I'm too negative with my teams. Fine you can say that. But how can you not be when you have to deal with nothing but garbage and teases for so many years? Because today for the first time since the Scott Kazmir trade, I am embarrassed to say I am a Mets fan.

Hoe bad was Game 5 last night? How many line drives did they hit down the foul line that just went foul? How bad was Tom Glavine? Giving up RBI hits to Ronnie Belliard? Ronnie Belliard? Pedro Feliciano has been automatic against left handed batters this year. Chris Duncan, who can't hit a lefty with two fists and a flashlight, and had hit .170 against lefties this year, hits a home run for the 4-2 Cardinal lead, and you knew we were dead. I don't want to hear about the umpires screwed us or anything like that. That's a cop out, that's crap. Just like our team right now, crap. Lo Duca is getting hits. Beltran and Delgado too. Everyone else can go screw themselves. Jeff Weaver served up one fastball right down the middle right after another. And time after time, the Mets choked. David Wright stinks right now. Jose Reyes can't get on base. In 23 at-bats through the first five games of this series, he's batting .260. He has no stolen bases, and has touched third base only four times with just three runs scored. I love him, but that is unacceptable. Shawn Green is washed up, Jose Valentin is washed up, Julio Franco is done, I don't care how meticulous his diet is, he can drink 20 protein shakes a day, he still can't run and he can barely hit now that's he's in New York and out of Atlanta.

And I'll say it again, if we lose this series, the whole season is a failure. Considering how bad the National League was and how high our expectations were, the NL East title means nothing without a pennant. Barry Zito, enjoy your 6 year, 90 million dollar contract you've got coming to you in January featuring Fred Wilpon's signature.

Oh the pain...

Random musings

I think everyone who has ever written a blog has a post with the word random in it. So it's my turn. Here are ten Tuesday tokens of thought. Nice alliteration there huh?

1) Meijer (one of those Target/Wal Mart stores) makes a great pasta sauce. Meijer Gold it's called. It was 5 bucks nad my mom used it on stuffed pasta shells, which she made last night. I have to admit, for a store brand, that was an excellent sauce. The consistency was smooth, it tasted light, but not wimpy. It was well seasoned with herbs and garlic too. There are some great sauces out there, but this was up there with the better ones I've had.

2) More food stuff. If you live anywhere near a Fresh Market grocery store, by the end of today, go there, and buy a pumpkin pie. This is the absolute best pumpkin pie I've ever had and it is so flavorful and satisfying, you don't really need whipped cream for it. I recommend sprinkling a little cinnamon/sugar on top for an extra kick.

3) Neil Rackers is the worst clutch kicker inthe NFL since Mike Vanderjagt.

4) Steve Trachsel has no place pitching for the Mets ever again.

5) I'm driving my mom's car and I have to say the stereo is weird. On certain songs, high sounds just don't come through. Like a high-toned guitar or piano just barely comes through the speaker. I don't know if it's the stereo or the speakers, but I may look into it. Then again, I need to replace the timing belt and change the oil by next week, so that may be all the money I can put into that car for the forseeable future.

6) I'm getting obsessed with Youtube. Those Comedy Central roasts of Pamela Anderson, William Shatner, and Jeff Foxworthy are downright hysterical.

7) Conan O'Brien will take over the Tonight Show in three years. One word: horrifying. I'm sorry, the guy is just not funny. The only funny things on his show are the "If They Mated" segment and the conversations he has with celebrity impersonators. His monologue is short and bad and he can't interview either.

8) Mike Tyson is going on a world tour of boxing where he will fight exhibition matches. He said he would be open to fighting women. Funny, the last time Tyson fought a woman in public, he wound up going to jail for4 years on rape charges.

9) Kevin Federline shows up on WWE Raw last night? I mean, at least he got beat up, but is that the A-list celebrity that was promised? Brittney Spears' talentless, lazy husband? No wonder I've been buying ROH DVD's instead.

10) OK, and that will segue smoothly to this. I'm not really a huge risk taker. But here's a thought. I caam unable to sell my Ring of Honor ticket for October 28, the same weekend as the Ecclesia retreat in Wisconsin. Could I leave the retreat about midway through (say Saturday around 5 p.m.), drive from Lake Geneva to Chicago Ridge and see Ring of Honor and drive back the same night? It would be a lot easier if there were 250 people on this retreat instead of 40-ish. Unfortunately, when I leave a group for a period of time, I've learned that they notice that I'm gone. People are too darned observant!

First article this season

Geneva doubles up
Vikings claim both singles and doubles titles to win St. Charles East sectional
By Adam Bartolo
Daily Herald Writer
Posted Sunday, October 15, 2006

After Friday’s play at the St. Charles East sectional, it was known that only three teams would be sending players to the state tournament.

St. Charles North placed four semifinalists in four different matches while Geneva and St Charles East each had two.

The Vikings and Saints won all four semifinals and Geneva won both finals, giving the Vikings took the sectional title 28 points to St. Charles North’s 26. The Saints finished third with 22 while Glenbard North and DeKalb had 8.

The highlight of Saturday’s action was the doubles championship match between Geneva’s undefeated combo of Jenny Yonuks and Blair Selakovich against St. Charles East’s Abby Winter and Amanda Gomez.

The first set went to a tiebreaker. The Saints had 2 set points but their execution struggled and they could not close it out.

Trailing 7-6, Yonkus and Selakovich rallied for 3 straight points for a pivotal 7-6 (9-7) first set win. Both teams later acknowledged those three points as the turning point of the match.

If Winter and Gomez were upset about the tiebreaker, they didn’t let it show in the second set as they took the first two games. But Geneva got the match to 5-5, held serve for a 6-5 advantage, and broke the Saints’ serve for a 7-5 set win and the match.

The teams acknowledged while neither played their best match in the finals, the battle got them more ready for state.

“We’re going to be so much more intense,” said Selakovich, who along with Yonkus is 30-0 this season. “We’ll play a lot better. I can promise that.”

Geneva coach Maureen Weiler expected her team to win the match, but admired the play of Winter and Gomez.

“I thought St. Charles played a fantastic match,” Weiler said. “It was good for Jen and Blair to be pushed that hard and play under that type of pressure.”

Winter and Gomez had a crazy tournament that included surviving a match point in their second round match against West Chicago and a three-set win over the North Stars’ Andrea Gentile and Lauren Drawbridge.

“State has been our goal for two years and this match gave us a huge boost of confidence going in,” said Winter.

In the third place match, Denise Lovorn and Lauren Dutkiewicz topped fellow North Stars Gentile and Drawbridge 4-6, 6-4, 6-0. But Gentile and Drawbridge had a great run as they upset the third seed, Geneva’s Meredith Bettcher and Liz Bertrand, 6-1, 6-0 in the quarterfinals.

On the singles side, Geneva freshman phenom Kayla Fujimoto ran through the field that ended with a 6-1, 6-1 win over St. Charles East’s Stefanie Youngberg in the finals. Fujimoto got a battle from St. Charles North’s Annemijn Koenen in the semifinal before Fujimoto prevailed 6-3, 6-2.
As she’s playing more, Fujimoto’s play is growing more and more confident.

“I just play my game really aggressive and it worked for me,” said Fujimoto.

Saints coach Sena Drawer said her squad proved themselves against a tough field.

“Stefanie and the doubles team are peaking at the right time,” Drawer said. “I’m very happy for all the girls.”

In the other all-North Star third place match, Koenen was awarded third place against Megan Gow, who had to pull out in the second set after straining her right bicep. She and the rest of her team decided it would be best to make sure she would be ready for state.

St. Charles North is thrilled to qualify six girls for state, the maximum number possible. Coach Tim Matacio came away very satisfied.

“This is not an easy sectional so we’re anything but disappointed,” Matacio said. “We’re very excited and we’re looking forward to state.”

Back to the grind

I rented a few CD's from the library on Friday. I made sure to get a Merle Haggard record. I needed songs with titles like If We Make It Through December, Working Man Blues and I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink.

Anyway, the Mets did get the sries tied at 2-2. I give a lot of credit to Oliver Perez. I pitcher with plenty of stuff and not much control, he didn't dominate, but he gave the Mets a chance to win. And against Anthony Reyes, Brad Thompson, and Josh Hancock, a chance was all the Mets needed. 12-5 win and Game 5 is tonight. Or it's scheduled to be tonight as heavy rain is forecasted for St. Louis. Rain would suit me fine as Tom Glavine would get an extra day of rest, which he would sorely need. 40 year olds pitching on three days of rest isn't the greatest idea.

Jets win, Giants win. Cool.

Got swept in volleyball by the best team in the league. Two games were close and one was an absolute joke. Most of my hitting in the first two games was not good. My serving did get better as the game progressed. But I hate lobbing a serve in. I want my serve to be hard and consistent, a weapon if you will.

I'll be getting the new Mindy Smith record this week. By the end of October, I'll have a review and let you know what I think of her follow-up to "One Moment More."

Let's play taps...

That's right, they are done, I am officially writing off the Mets chances to win the World Series in 2006. Now I'm not saying they won't beat the Cardinals. Although judging by this "beauty" of a game tonight, I wonder if they forgot how to drive in baserunners. But John Maine could only pitch 4 innings, Mota was bad, and Wagner absolutely sucked. No other way to say it. He sucked.

And the way the Tigers are playing right now, we may as well just award them the World Series. I don't care if the Mets are Cardinals play Detroit in the Series, the NL is not winning more than two games. Not a chance and that's if every break goes against the Tigers.

The Mets are done. They may win the pennant. But this is not a team that looks like they even have a prayer of winning a championship. And to think it was all but gift wrapped for them after the Yankees were eliminated. 20 years and counting and no World Series.

Cory Lidle

I was in training class when I heard Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle was killed in that plane crash in Manhattan yesterday. A lot of things have been said so I'll keep this brief. That is a tragedy. To think 2 days ago, he had to call into Mike and the Mad Dog's radio show to defend his comments about the Yankees not being prepared to play the Tigers. And 48 hours later, he's dead.

I thought I would post my top 5 Cory Lidle memories

1) The Mets. Cory was in Flushing around 1996. I thought he would be a good young pitcher, but I got the idea that the managers and front office just thought of him as an okay pitcher.

2) The expansion draft. I knew once he was exposed to the draft where Arizona and Tampa Bay entered, he would be gone. Sure enough, Tampa Bay snapped him up.

3) His honesty. He was never afraid to speak his mind. Whether he challenged teammates' desires to win, called out Barry Bonds for steroids, or discussed the state of baseball as a game, he was not afraid to speak his mind. That's cajones.

4) His streak in Oakland. Lidle's best season was 2001 when he went 13-6 with a 3.59 ERA (10th in the American League) for Oakland, helping the Athletics win the wild card. In August 2002, Lidle was named American League pitcher of the month after finishing the month with 1 earned run and an ERA of 0.20. His five wins during that span helped the Oakland Athletics win 20 straight games.

5) The interview. 14 minutes of straight arguing with Mike Francesa and Chris Russo on the radio this past Monday. It's on wfan.com and Lidle came out of it not looking too good. He kept accusing them of twisting his words to serve their own purposes (what media member or broadcaster doesn't get accused of that anyway?) and they were adamanat that by saying the Yankees were unprepared for Detroit, that he had to be blaming Joe Torre, the manager. Lidle said it was the players' fault. It was not pleasant to listen to. From what I've heard, Russo and Francesa sounded very guilty and apologetic after breaking the news of the crash. And the clip of that interview is still on WFAN's website. I really think it should be removed. It does not portray Lidle in a positive manner whatsoever and shouldn't be left for the public to hear.

RIP Cory Lidle

NLCS time baby!

Game one between your (and my) New York Mets and the Cardinals of St. Louis kicks off tonight. 7 pm Central Standard time. You know, most people think the Mets will have little trouble winning in 5 or games. But I am always very cautious with these types of things. I never let me expectations get too high for any of my teams. Somehow, it lessens the disappointment if only by a little bit.

I think we should win, but I don't know if we WILL win. We already know Pedro and El Duque or done for the season. No big secret there. With his Achilles proble, Cliff Floyd is moving slower that Stephen Hawking through a snow storm. Now I find out that Carlos Beltran has a torn muscle in his abdomen! Oh the pain!

On a good note, the Mets don't have to see Chris Carpenter until the series moves to St. Luois in Game 3. Thankfully, he won't pitch more than twice. Scott Rolen is expected to play despite his shoulder problems. Jim Edmonds will play despite the pain in his foot. And the bullpen was excellent against the Padres and they continually got hits off the bench from guys like Scott Spiezio and So Taguchi.

Don't think I'm overconfident. I've seen too many heartaches and suffered enough ageda to know better.

If we can starting pitching like what we got in LA, we will win. It's that simple. If not, we'll be in trouble. That said, I would like to see a starter last into the 7th inning though!

I like the odds of Glavine vs. Weaver in Game 1. That's a game we should win for sure. Game 2 Maine vs. Suppan. I don't know. Maine gives up homers and with Pujols, I dread the thought. Suppan is either really good or really bad, but the Mets should hit him. Game 3 Carpenter vs. Trachsel. I'll surrender this one. Game 4 is Oliver Perez against TBA for STL. I'm guessing it'll be Jason Marquis over Anthony Reyes. Talk about on or off pitchers. Look up questionable pitchers in the baseball dictionary and you'll see a big photo of Perez.

But I'll be fair. Mets in 7.

Let's open with this.

An inside message to Bob in Brooklyn: WHERE ARE THE YANKEE FANS!!!! To anyone reading this, if you have Real Player, click here and click on the audio file labeled Saturday October 7th Chris Russo talks opens his show in classic fashion - basking in the joy of a Yankees loss

Oh my God! The Yankees get absolutely embarrassed by the Detroit Tigers, losing 3 games to 1. I am no Yankee hater, but I am laughing at this like nobody's business. The payroll is over 200 million dollars. A guy who finished in the top 3 in the AL batting average race bats 9th, an All-Star at every position, they finished tied for the best record in baseball, and they get eliminated in the first round! One stretch of 20 innings with no runs scored. This is a lineup with Damon, Jeter, A-Rod, Abreu, Giambi, Sheffield, Matsui, Posada, and Cano. The pitching was lousy. What happened to the days of David Cone, David Wells, and Andy Pettitte in the rotation and Nelson, Stanton, and a younger Mariano in the bullpen. They never get replaced the right way.

Joe Torre has got to go. I respect him, but he has got to take a hit now. If I'm Brian Cashman (and this is assuming his job is secure) I go after Lou Piniella right now. If I can't get him, get Joe Girardi and overhaul this roster. Even if that means an average year next year, it has to be done. The Yankees do not have much of a farm system beyond Eric Duncan and Phillip Hughes. Sheffield will be gone, Mussina will be gone, A-Rod will be traded if someone will actually take his salary, and the Yankees will have to absorb a lot of the salary as well. They need to get younger, and they need pitching. The starting pitching was hideous. Randy Johnson is done, Mike Mussina is not the pitcher he was, and only Chien-Ming Wang did his job.

And they get shut out by Kenny Rogers in Game 3 and Jeremy Bonderman takes a perfect game into the 6th inning in Game 4 on Saturday? Meanwhile, the Yankees throw Jaret Wright in Game 4, a guy who on his best day can't pitch more than 6 innings anymore. Oh my God, you cannot make this up.

I watched the whole game at the Daily Herald office. Magglio Ordonez leads off the Tigers' second with a bomb to left field off Wright. Three batters later, Craig Monroe hit a two-run homer. 3-0 and the rout was on. Third inning is where I knew it was over. After Wright gets the first two outs, Ordonez hits a grounder to A-Rod who throws the ball away. Mags is safe and then Carlos Guillen singles, and then Pudge Rodriguez singles a run home, and that was it. Cory Lidle comes in to relieve Wright, and holds the Tigers off until the fifth. Four straight hits, two more runs, Brian Bruney comes in to pitch, and Pudge hits a sac fly, it's 7-0 in the fifth inning!

Meanwhile, Bonderman is getting everybody out! Cano breaks it up in the 6th with a ground ball single up the middle, effectively removing any drama that was left in this game.

It is the Mets' time baby! They sweep Los Angeles. I'll write more about this series later and how my whole Saturday went. For right now, it's enough to say bring on Pujols, Rolen, and Carpenter. Or bring on Giles, Piazza, and Peavy. I'll take either one on.

Wednesday night, Game 1. National League Championship Series. Mets play either St. Louis or San Diego. I can't wait.

WHERE ARE THE YANKEE FANS!!!!

Which Friday wears you out more?

You know, if this was a normal Friday, I would do the following. Wake up at 6, head to work around 7:15 get there at 8, stay until 5, get home at 5:30, eat dinner, hang with my small group, and go to work at the paper around 10 p.m.

Well this has been one of the most unpredictable weeks of my entire life. Let's just deal with today. I got up at 4:30 to prepare to the drive to Rush Medical Center, right near the United Center. We got to the facility around 5:45-6 in the morning for mom's surgery. I hang in the lounger for a while and do some reading. Then I get the call to go see her around 10:30.

The procedure went well, but there was a lot of bad stuff to clear out in her left foot. She has to be off of it for a good 8 weeks. But she can't lave the hospital until she can move the foot on her own. That usually takes a few hours to occur. Well, it is 3:45 and 6 hours later, we're still here. After getting four hours of sleep last night, I think I have fallen asleep three or four times.

Now it's inevitable we'll be fighting the rush hour traffic home. I seriously need some rest right about now.

Game 1 recap

You know, I like my trainers at CEC, Loren, Karen, and Jackie, the middle one is especially hot. But seriously, some people just don't understand. There are priorities and there are priorities. What are people thinking scheduling something so intensive when the Mets are in the playoffs for the first time in 6 years?

My training ended at 5 and the game began at 3. So I had to be pretty creative. Luckily, I sit in the next to last row of the class on an end side, so it's hard for anyone to see my laptop screen. We were discussing formulas for figuring out if a student is full time or not and in between multiplying weeks for the academic year by credit hours and checking Federal Pell Grant charts, I clicked on Sportsline to get updates.

The Dodgers went up 1-0 and I missed the play in that inning that will live for a long time on highlight plays. Two Dodger runners on and the hitter hits a fly ball to right field. Shawn Green fires the throw in and Jeff Kent gets thrown out at the plate. Coming right behind him is JD Drew. He slides and he gets tagged out! It's amazing. Something crazy usually happens whenever the Mets are in the playoffs.

And what a job by Carlos Delgado. He's waited over a decade to get in the playoffs and he delivered. 4 for 5 with a home run, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored. The bullpen? Still incredible. Feliciano, Bradford, Mota, Heilman, Wagner. Wright and Reyes did their jobs. Beltran didin't get a hit but he walked three times and scored. Green and Valentin did nothing, but that can change.

So it's a 1-0 lead in the best of 5 Division Series and after a beautiful afternoon in the northeast, now it's raining in the Bronx when the Yankees are trying to play the Tigers in Game 2. That's pretty funny. I just heard a Yankee fan on the radio ask "Why are you Met fans raining on our parade?" That's New York.

Happy trails

The pessimistic way of thinking won out. My car is getting totaled. I really liked this car, but I have driven it for the last time. I am extremely bummed right now.

Five minutes till John Maine opens the playoffs...

Flooding

Well these last two days have been one adventure. Never mind the 27 hours of work. It's been the aftermath. We have had an ungodly amount of rain. I left work at 10 pm Monday and it was raining incredibly hard, but I figured I could still get home. With a 1/4 mile to go, I notice a puddle is coming up. I kept going and all of a sudden, I wasn't going anymore. With a monsoon pouring down on my car, I was stuck. My car would not start up again and after about 15 minutes, water began creeping in through the bottom. I called 911. The water kept rising and rising, and it almost reached the seats. It came very close, but not quite that far. Fortunately, the police and tow truck dragged me out of the water and dragged my car to...an area that at least wasn't a puddle.

In that car, I did everything imaginable. I read the Bible, and prayed, and cried, and yelled, and begged with God, and whispered, and did everything and felt every emotion from one extreme to another. I envisioned sleeping in my undrivable car overnight. And then I thought of home. Our basement flooded two weeks ago and I knew it was going to be worse this time around. Mom was home alone trying to get the basement dry. I sat in my car for about 75-80 minutes waiting for the rain to let up. I knew there would be no more driving. I just wanted to run home. At midnight, I took off. I got home and I was so relieved to be back. She cleaned that basement like nobody's business. It's still wet, but it's nowhere bad as what I thought it would be.

My car had to be towed. It wouldn't start this morning. And now the forecast is for more rain tonight. Oh joy. I can't wait. Mom brought 20 bags of topsoil and a tarp to help prevent water from leaking down into the window that leads to the basement. Hopefully, it will absorb the damage that will be savaging St. Charles once again in a few hours.

My comments on the Jets-Colts

This is why the Jets are the Chicago Cubs of football. Let me recap my Sunday afternoon.

I get home around 11:30 from church and head downstairs to watch a few minutes of the Jets games before I have to leave for volleyball. So on the Jets first possession, our All-World tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson lets Robert Mathis run over Chad Pennington like a steamroller. Fumble. Colts recover on the Jet 26. Four plays later, touchdown. 7-0. The Jets get the ball back and get minus yardage. They punt, I leave for the match. Volleyball was a disaster today, but that aside, back to the game.

I pull into the house around 2:15 and go downstairs expecting a 28-3 score or something like that. I find out the Colts are only ahead 17-14. I was amazed. Jerricho Cotchery had an amazing touchdown run where he ran over one of the Colt defenders. What I didn't know was the Jets had a 9 minute drive in the third quarter where they had 4th and goal from the 2 yard line. Eric Mangini decides to go for it. Colts play the play action attempt perfectly. Ball gets intercepted.

I tune in just in time to see Kevin Barlow (who I was playing against in fantasy football) score his second TD of the game! Figures. 21-17 Jets, 8 minutes left. I knew the Colts would likely score. They go on a 5 minute drive. Manning completes 5 of 6 passes, throwing a 2-yard TD on a 3rd down play where he looked for sure like he was getting sacked. Colts lead.

But we had time and I felt we had a chance. I just didn't want to see the Colt offense on the field again. Justin Miller takes the kickoff from inside the 2-yard line and returns it all the way for a touchdown. I was going absolutely nuts in the basement. I can only imagine how loud Giants Stadium was for those few minutes. 28-24 Jets. Colts have no timeouts left.

Then our immortal kicker Mike Nugent steps up. For the second kick in a row, he can't even get the ball to the 10-yard line. This was a second round pick and his kickoffs suck. No other way to say it. They suck. The Colts return it 30 yards to their own 40. I knew right there the Colts were scoring a TD. Sure enough, Manning completed 6 of 8 passes and ran for a 1-yard TD. 31-28. I almost expected that. So 50 seconds left. The Jets need a field goal to tie and they have a timeout.

First, CBS shows a horrible diagonal camera angle from above the stadium. Then Indy tried a rolling squib kick. It bounces past every Jet and into the end zone. Our rookie RB, Leon Washington picks the ball up inside the end zone and instead of taking a knee, which would put the ball at the 20, he runs it out and gets stopped at the 2 yard line. 18 more yards to go! This is where I lost it. I screamed like I have not screamed during a game in years. I was not this angry when the Jets lost to Pittsburgh in the playoffs, when the Mets lost the World Series or to the Braves, or when the Rangers got swept by the Devils. Probably the last time was during the Giants miracle collapse in the playoffs against San Francisco 4 years ago.

Pennington completes 3 short passes and we had 8 seconds with 68 yards to go. They pull off the old Cal-Stanford play with about 9 or 10 laterals that gets them to the Colts 20, but not close enough. Game over. but the worst is yet to come. During the final play, Laveranues Coles gets tackled by 3 Colts and separates his shoulder. Who knows how long he'll be out for. The AFC Player of the Month now lost probably for a couple of games. Typical Jet luck. The loss was bad but losing Coles and running back Cedric Houston, who has been our most effective runner in what is a hideous running offense makes it even worse. And CBS showed their class by cutting away from Coles writhing on the ground in pain and cutting to another game. Absolutely disgusting and distasteful by that network.

And fantasy baseball. I picked up Woody Williams and Jaret Wright and both pitched terribly, all but sealing my fate in the championship match. And I needed that on top of volleyball and everything else. So that topped off what was a brutal Sunday afternoon for me. Absolutely brutal. Oh, the pain. Oh, the pain.

I blame the defense for the loss. Coach Mangini had little to do with it. He takes chances (a recovered onside kick) and that won't always work. Against Indy, if you have a chance to get points, you do it. Indy is excellent, but our defense can't stop the run against good teams and even against bad teams, we cannot rush the passer except when safety Kerry Rhodes blitzes. Manning had a good 10-15 seconds on several occasions to throw a pass. You can't beat Indy when Manning has that kind of time to make something happen.

Dewayne Robertson is garbage. Get him out. I don't know who will take his money. But he has no business playing in a 3-4 defense. The first two priorities for the Jets this offseason should be to get a nose tackle and also get a running back we can build this franchise on. If we had a running game to complement Chad at quarterback, this offense could be really dangerous. We need the next Curtis Martin, if you will. Although there will always only be one Curtis Martin.