A question for Andy Pettite

So if you're going to give props to God after winning each of your 4 world series, he's gotta be the main culprit for your sucktacular stretch as of late, no?

Badass Music Clip of the week

There are two inherent truths about the Clash that we at SUS (or at least, I) hold to be self-evident:

1) The best Clash music was made over the course of the first three albums, 1977-1980. (The Clash, Give 'Em Enough Rope, and London Calling. Sandinista! was pretty bad, and if nothing else, not punk rock at all.)

2) And yet, they truly reached their worldwide revolutionary iconic status sometime after London Calling, once their music started to kind of suck. Relatively speaking.

Anyways, that's why I love the following clip. It's The Clash, playing a top-5 Clash song, Career Opportunities, from their self-titled debut. But they're playing it towards the end of their run, when they were recognized as not just punk rock pioneers, but revolutionaries. Ok, I'll get off of my high horse and let you enjoy the clip now. Rock.

Angry White Pet Peeve

Hey old guy at the Starbucks. I don't care how much you enjoyed the Teddy Roosevelt administration or that you saved America from the Germans or survived a depression, blah blah blah. When there's two newspapers in the free newspaper bin, you don't take them both with you! Great, you made America safe for Democracy. Does that really matter when I'm spending my Saturday morning with a coffee and no (free) newspaper?

Kobe's Time

Kobe’s Time: 2008 NBA finals preview

One of the great joys for a sports fan is witnessing an all time great player reach the pinnacle of his greatness all the while winning a championship. Such is the case with Kobe Bryant.

Going into this season we all knew how great Kobe was. However, none of us could predict that in one year he would go from being a top 15 player of all time to being as great as any guard in the history of the sport. This season Kobe has become the consummate team player taking all the right shots, making all the right passes, and taking over games whenever his team needs him to do so. And unlike his only superior MJ, his teammates actually like him! Sometimes in sports the story of a player reaching his pinnacle not only trumps anything else going on in a playoff game/series, it is the most important reason why his team will defeat its opposition.

This in spite of Boston having 3 legit stars and the best big man in the game in Kevin Garnett (Tim Duncan’s play vs the Lakers showed me that Garnett has now usurped that crown from the aforementioned Timmy). Boston’s defense will probably be able to contain Gasol and stifle the Odoms and the Fishers of the world. Garnett will probably embarrass Gasol at times sending some of shots all the way back to Fenway. However, Garnett simply does not make big shots with the game tied or his team trailing late in games and Ray Allen has not been the same player in these playoffs that he has been throughout his borderline Hall of Fame career. The only way Boston wins this series is if Paul Pierce outplays Kobe Bryant. Is this impossible? No. Is this unlikely, Yea. I think this is especially unlikely because I truly believe this is Kobe’s time.

Much like the Sports Deities cursed the 04 Yanks for committing the Sin of Glutton as they added two superstars to an already excellent team, the Sports Gods have shined down and will continue to shine down on Kobe for his selfless play. Plus, it just makes his team better when Kobe is making great dishes to Fisher and Sasha (not even going to try and spell his last name) in 3 point land and a cutting Odom and Gasol in the paint. Unless Pierce outplays Kobe AND the Celtics get a suprising contribution from a role player like Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins or dare I say Glen “Big Baby" Davis, I just don’t see the C’s being able to stay with a team who is stewarded by a Legend at the pinnacle of his career.

The Pick: Lakers in 6

The Fictitious Cleveland Indians Grounds Crew said it best...

...they're still shitty. But this was still a pretty sweet win.

(Actual text from White Boy at 2:44pm: Horrible...I abhore this team with all my heart. Way to keep the faith, brother.)

Euro 2008 Preview

Soccer is totally for pussies


June in an even numbered year for soccer fans is a great time to be alive because either the World Cup or the European Championship is happening. For those of you who don't know what the World Cup is, you are a hopeless person and shouldn't be allowed to procreate. The Euro, however, flies way under the radar for most American sports fans. It is essentially the World Cup for Europe and is taken almost as seriously there. And since European teams are consistently some of the best in the world, over the next few weeks, you are in for some of the best soccer ever.

First things first, the 16 teams are divided into 4 groups. Everyone plays each other and the top 2 teams in each group advance to the playoff round(I'm sure there is some fancy European word for it). My predictions are based mostly on how much fun I had in the participating countries and a little bit on the actual skill of the teams. Here's the breakdown:

What God drinks

Group A- Switzerland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Turkey
Yeah, Turkey is part of Europe now, I know its weird. I remember how much all the Germans I met hated the Turks, so they cant be all bad. The Czech Republic will always hold a special place in my heart, as all the Budvar I drank there probably damaged my aorta in some way. I guess a special place on my liver would be more accurate. Speaking of Czech beer, if you live in New York and haven't been to the Radegast Beer Hall in Williamsburg(thats in Brooklyn, for all you Manhattanites)you are missing out. One of the best bars in the city. I'm sort of surprised the notoriously xenophobic Swiss are allowing this tournament to happen in their country, I'm sure the guy who's job it is to blow up all the tunnels into the country in case of attack will be on high alert throughout the tournament. I mean, these guys just joined the UN like 5 years ago. And you thought Cheney and W hated the UN. As for the soccer side of this, Portugal has a lot of flashy players, led by the Manchester United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. Link for the ladies. And for the guys, these were/are his last 3 girlfriends: Gemma Atkinson, Merche Romero, Nereida Romero. Guy gets a lot of shit for flopping and being a playboy, but hes a pretty solid bet to lead his team out of the group, right behind the Czech Republic.

Germans always support the national team

Group B- Austria, Croatia, Germany, Poland
Croatia gets the prize for being the only country Germany didn't invade in WW2 in this group. But I have a feeling things will pretty much go as they did in 1939 in this group. I only stopped briefly in Austria, long enough to change trains and drink a beer at 1030am. Sounds odd, but I wasn't the only one at the bar. Germany, however, rocked. Between trips to concentration camps and looking at the bitchin Soviet war monuments, the beer, sausage and intensely strict rule following populace made me feel like a welcomed guest. Germany is also a perennial soccer power, so look to them to advance, with Poland warily following behind.


Italian Supermodel at the beach

Group C- Holland, Italy, Romania, France
Every tournament has a "Group of Death", where the teams that don't advance are killed at the end of their final game. HA, I wish! That would make any sport 4-5x more entertaining. No, this is the Group of Death because there is no way that Holland or Romania has a chance. The Netherlands is a great place, and despite their coddling of radical religious extremists, would be my #1 choice for emigration if I ever got deported. I mean, all the fun stuff is legal, everyone speaks English and entry level jobs as hookers and pickpockets abound. I got nothing on Romania really. I hung out with a Romanian sugar mama in Rome who told me that the only time she got to eat oranges growing up was at Christmas. Yay communism! France and Italy are the powers here, and look for their game to be intense after the World Cup Final in 2006. The Italians are a grimy, dirty team who cheat their way to wins, not unlike their citizens. I like the French team generally, which may come as a surprise to anyone who's had a political discussion with me in the past 10 years. These two will advance and probably meet up again in the semifinals.

Spain, where bulls go to die

Group D- Greece, Sweden, Spain, Russia
Spain is the most badass place on Earth. People there know how to get down and have a good time, and as a result have the lowest productivity of any country in Europe. And they just don't care, all they wanna do is dance. Ive got nothing but respect for that. Ive never been to Russia, but I spent 9 years as a child afraid they would blow me up with nukes and are now controlled by a guy who...I think wants to do that again. So, I'm not rooting for them. This will be a competitive group, with Spain pacing the other teams. Greece won the tourney in 2004, which came as a total shock to the rest of Europe, as they hadn't won anything since the battle of Thermopylae. Don't expect them to repeat even though they had a rather easy time qualifying. Spain will win this group and Greece will squeak by to get beat in the second round.

RIP Penguins

We now return to your regularly scheduled baseball/basketball and general NY centered posts.

Angry White Man: NBA Finals Edition

There are almost as many reasons to hate the Celtics and Lakers as there are to hate Terry McAuliffe and the Clinton Machine. The Celtics come from that town of lovable losers that only has 2 World Series and 3 Super Bowls over the first 7 years of this century. The Lakers have a Dina McGreevey-like sense of entitlement, an amazingly unlikeable superstar, and a center who looks like one of my cousins.

So it's easy to explain why both of these teams deserve to die. That's being done all over the blogosphere. Nah, instead, let's talk about why both of these cities, The City of Angels and Beantown deserve to die.

Why Angry White Man Hates Los Angeles

-Lost my IPod in a rental car while out there. Some worker at Hertz has probably become a diehard Clash and Pearl Jam fan. I don't care how spoiled this sounds-traveling cross country without a music player of any kind blows.

-Got lost driving everywhere.

-When I wasn't lost I was in traffic. Actually, I was also occasionally lost in traffic too. That was fun.

-Tried driving my car back to LAX, ended up on Crenshaw. This was actually kind of cool. I'll never get closer to being in a Dr. Dre video. Maybe.

-Nice public transportation for you, the 2nd most important city in the country. Subways almost exist. Driving around cities is awesome.

-Yeah, the Venice Beach boardwalk is decent. But I liked it better the first time I saw it, when it was called the Jersey Shore.

-You know what's worse than no Ashton Kutcher celebrity sighting? Actually hoping to have an Ashton Kutcher celebrity sighting. That night required a loooong cold shower.

-Snotty locals. If you give me the choice of snotty Los Angelenos vs Asshole New Yorkers, I'm taking the latter every time.

-Too intimidated to actually hit on any girls while out there. This could be a problem with me, but let's blame this on Los Angeles for right now.

-I was also in San Francisco and Vegas on the same trip. And as Lloyd Bentsen has undoubtedly said, I have seen SF and Vegas, and you, LA are neither.

Speaking of liberal Americans, let's now turn our attention to

Why Angry White Man hates Boston
(Full disclosure: All of us except for MissMet, SHMUCK, and ironically enough, Merloni went to college there.)

-Bars close at 2. For a town that prides itself on being one large drunken Irish stereotype, that's kinda early.

-Why have a subway system that closes 1.5 hours before the bars?

-Ever been stuck on the "T"? No? Well, my friend, you haven't truly had a proper Boston experience yet.

-Sully and Murph. The Boston accent is deified when you don't live there, but after 10 minutes in a bar, you're ready to punch these guys.

-I can't wear Yankee gear without getting into a fight. 1st amendment freedom of expression arguments don't tend to sway Sully and Murph. Go figure.

-College kids with an amazing sense of entitlement. I was one of the more grounded kids, but I'd still hate me if I ran into a 21 year old version of me at Our House.

-For a city dominated with people ages 18-25, not as many hotties as you'd expect. For the purposes of maintaining a happy staff, I can't vouch for New Hampshire girls.

-BC. Everything about them sucks. Especially their hockey team and any ex-girlfriends I may or may not have from there.

-BU Hockey. I like you guys slightly more than I hate you. Very slightly. Thanks for ending your winning seasons sometime around the '99-'00 season. Dare we say, the Curse of Dipietro?

-Patriots fans. And for that matter, anyone who needs me to explain why.

So there you have it. Are there any winners when Boston and LA get together? Not if one of them is going to leave with a championship. Death to you all, and we'll see you in 2010 when LBJ comes to Brooklyn and I start to care about the NBA again.


As a side note, watching the Yankee game with my dad as Joba's dad is being interviewed, this happened:

Dad: "I'd be at your first start at Yankee Stadium."
Me: "Nice of you to brave that GWB traffic and show up."

Stay tuned for my Oliver Stone-like look into the conspiracy that is the Yankees' handling of Joba Chamberlain.

Welcome Back, Pedro!

As I'm writing now, the Mets are ahead in their game against the Giants. John Maine has pitched very well so far and the team has hit. After the debacle that was Ollie Perez's Monday night start, most fans should be really pleased with the way the series has turned out. Perez lasted a third of an inning, gave up six runs on five hits, while walking two. Needless to say, he picked up the loss. Claudio Vargas came in and did a great job to hold the Giants in a promising long-relief appearance.
After that game ended in a 10-4 loss, Pedro Martinez's comeback start meant even more. Pedro's injuries in the past few seasons have made him a wild card in the rotation. How would the team's biggest cheerleader fare in his return? Gary, Ron and Keith were all worried about the cold weather's effect on his old bones and muscles. He started out a little shaky, but really made outs when it was needed. The Mets kept up with the Giants' early run and then broke the game open with an 8 run 5th. I could not stay up to watch the entire West Coast night game, but apparently, Pedro got better as the night went on, which is a great sign. He's old and rickety, but he's still getting the job done. With the possibility of iffy performances from Perez and Mike Pelfrey, it is exciting to have a healthy Martinez back in the mix.

French Open
As SUS's resident tennis fan, let me talk a little about the French Open, which is ending on Sunday.
On the Women's side, Maria Sharapova (seeded 1), squandered a great opportunity for her to win the only Grand Slam that she has not won before when she was upset by Dinara Safina in the Quarters. Justine Henin, the top player in the game, recently announced her retirement- a shock to everyone in the sport. Venus and Serena Williams both lost early on (on the same day). In such an open women's field, no one really knows what to expect on the clay at Roland Garros. With two Russians and two Serbs left to play each other in the Semi-Finals, my guess is that Serbian Ana Ivanovic will be playing Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the finals, with Ivanovic winning her first slam.
On the Men's side, there are usually only two names to follow: Federer (1) and Nadal (2). This year, US Open winner (Serbian) Novak Djokovic is making a run for the title as well. In the Semis on Friday, Federer will play the Frenchman Gael Monfils, while three-time defending champ Nadal will play Djokovic. I'm gonna have to go along with the seeds and pick Federer and Nadal in the Finals, with Rafa winning for the 4th straight year.

BTW
The Mets appealed the time change of the game that aired on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball (remember when it was sponsored by Gumout?) because the team had to travel to San Francisco after the game. Originally scheduled for Sunday afternoon, the team wanted to change it back in order to be able to catch an earlier flight out west. The appeal was denied. As part of the newest Collective Bargaining Agreement, the MLBPA agreed that they would not have any say in whether their games would be switched to ESPN on Sunday nights. In the old agreement, they did have a say. This had nothing to do with Ollie's bad pitching though, he and Pedro traveled early Sunday.

Braves pitcher John Smoltz is out for the rest of the season for shoulder surgery. I'm saddened.

I hope the Penguins win tonight. Game 7s rock.

~MissMet

Joba Quckie

I love Joba, I love that he is a starter and I believe in Girardi as a manager going forward. However, the handling of Joba's first start of his career was butchered beyond comprehension. What is the point of starting a guy and only allowing him to throw 62 pitches!!!? You might as well just let him pitch 3 innings out of the pen in relief of some piece of garbage from the minors like Jeff "Carcinogens" Karstens. Also, and this is a point that was brought to me by friend the B.I.G. (Baseball Insight Guy), why would you start him at home on the heels of a 2 game losing streak against a Cy Young candidate and probable future hall of famer Roy Halliday??? Why not start him vs KC in a few days or Minnesota a day prior? What you got was the worst case scenario tonight. Joba forces the Yankees to rely on their horrendous bullpen to carry them through till the end of the game. Hey Girardi, how is that plan working out for ya? Oh, right your awful pen gave up 8 runs in 6.2 innings. Wow does this team make me sick.

Mahatma’s Game 5 Diary

I wanted to do these all series but alas my job decided to get involved and intervene in my blogging time. Rather than do a recap, I figured I’d do one of those diary thingys because they’ve done so much for Doogie Howser.

• Look for hockey pregame coverage around 7:45. Can’t find anything. Opt to watch the end of the Groomsmen on Showtime. I like Eddie Burns and I like this movie. God why am I watching all these late 20/30 something movies about love, marriage, kids, etc.. argh.

• Have cocktail #1. Does it bother me that I’m drinking alone in my apartment.

• Get a call to go to a bar near my office. Would rather watch the game in my own private hell.

• Attempt to persuade Yinzer Sr. to go to Shots place. Fails. Continental on Aster and 3^rd. The dreaded 5 shots for 10 dollars. It seemed like a fitting end to the hockey season as it was for every Stiller lose. I should have asked BH. We could have thrown down with Raiden again.

• Getting close to game time, I pray to lord Ganesh. Ganesh was die-hard Penguins back in the day.

• Pens come out surprisingly well. Perhaps Michel “Bill Cowhard” Therrien gave one of those motivational speeches we’ve heard so much about.

• When pressed for comment, no Penguins would answer how many times Therrien referred to them as Soff.

• Get random text from high school kid I haven’t talked to in 5 years. Ah yes, it’s the playoffs. Screw reunions. The playoffs bring high school classes together since 1890.

• Penguins kill a penalty. I’m onto cocktail #2.

• Pens called for too many on the ice. Numerous Therrien = douchebag texts being sent out of my Curry Hill establishment.

• Pens kill it off because apparently Pavel Datsyuk called Jordan Staal an 19 yr old drunk.

• Penguins have a powerplay. It sucks shit. A common theme for this series. I kick my foot rest in frustration.

• After some more Penguins dictating play, Pascal Dupuis hammers Brian “Rat Bastard” Rafalski who chokes up the puck. Dupuis to Crosby to Hossa. And It’s 1-0!!! A Giant Fuck You is echoed through-out Murray Hill including a patented middle finger salute to Osgood and a fist pump. Some would call me White Boy, I just think I’m passionate.

• God dammit Hope. I felt it. Perhaps this was different than Saturday. Well on one hand, I was waiting for Scott Weiland to wake up from his drug induced coma but on the other hand this was entirely too similar to game 4 to me.

• I knew the other shoe would have to drop. The action was absolutely intense. Back and forth. The way hockey should be played with little to no whistles.

• 4^th liner Adam Hall works the puck down low and makes a power move to the net. Osgood stops it but than Detroit’s Douchebag, Niklas Kronwall puts it in to his own net!

• If this was South America, Kronwall would be in a river by now. Thankfully, he’s in uh Detroit? Get him a bodybag. YEA!!!

• More crap ensues. Penguins can’t get that next goal. There was a post there somewhere. I cry.

• Detroit begins to wake up.

• Sydor misplays a puck and Darren Helm has a breakaway but realizing that Helm stole his purse, BU’s finest Ryan Whitney skates after him and distracts him enough with a diving poke check. If anyone played the NHL 2k series in videogames, that’s what we call hitting triangle.

• Cocktail #3.

• 2^nd Period begins with the Pens taking it to the Wings. . Osgood stops Crosby on a semi-breakaway. I cry again

• The momentum is changing.

• Staal can’t clear a puck and it goes off Rob Suckderi and into the net. Detroit scores and I die a little inside.

• Teams exchange PPs not pee pee because that would be disgusting.

• Wings have a 2-1 where Fleury stones jerk off Samuelsson. Why this asshole didn’t do this when he was a Penguin makes me cringe. Atleast, we used the stiff to get Fleury.

• The following turned about be a potential turning point as the Penguin’s leading blueliner Sergei Gonchar goes dome first into the boards and doesn’t return.

• Minutes later, Ryan Taters Malone takes one in the grill piece.
  

• I think at this point, I went online to bullshit. Cocktail #4. Period 3

• I play Scrabulous on Facebook with Devo. Devo thinks we are the only two guys who play Scrabulous. I’m okay with that.

• Begin the 3^rd period, Fudgepacker Datsyuk goes to the net and scores. I throw my mouse somewhere. Sign off in a rage of glory. Apparently the goal only hit the post. So why the heck are they reviewing this.

• Cocktail #5 but atleast my Sister comes home

• Heart Attack #249434

• Wings kick it up a notch and overwhelm the Pens.

• I wonder if Sister is the bad luck charm.

• Wings score on some Datsyuk redirect. His first goal of the SCF and I hang my head in shame. It's not quite Walk of Shame bad but still. I'm crestfallen.
  

• Detroit keeps bringing it out. I almost tell Sister to go away and keep her negative juju away.

• Bill Cowhard on Ice tries to slow things down with a time out but he’s a moron so it doesn’t work.

• Rat Bastard scores. I stand in disbelief.

• That’s all she wrote.

• Detroit’s idiot fans are screaming We want the Cup.

• I pray to Ganesh again.

• Cocktail #6

• I think they showed the Stanley Cup guy polishing the cup. On an aside, I wonder where I can apply to be the Stanley Cup waxer guy. Actually never mind, dude is massively creepy. You think he enjoys spending all this time with Cup. You'd think he could channel that into maybe finding a spouse?
  

• Wings continue to dominate. This is going to be painful.

• I debate turning this off but decide to stick with the boys.

• The Flower gets pulled and Bill Cowhard puts in Max Talbot?!

• I yell to Sister why Talbot is out there and continue to curse Cowhard.

• Zetterberg has a chance to score but doesn’t. The agony is unbearable

• WE WANT THE CUP. WE WANT THE CUP. WE WANT THE CUP. WE WANT THE CUP. WE WANT THE CUP.

• The puck gets dumped in. Malkin and Talbot charge on Rat bastard. Rat Bastard coughs it up again! Pens get control. Somehow Max Talbot scores!!!!!

• I yelp like a Dog that’s been kicked. HOLYSHIT!!!!

• Everyone is stunned. The announcers, the crowd, everything.

• Wings get a chance to score another go ahead but luckily don’t as we go to Overtime.

• Cocktail #7

• Wings come out as if the Penguins just stole their girlfriend and dominate.

• Flower comes out large stomping Holmstrom on a backhand

• Zetterberg smashes Fleury and rightfully gets called for interference. Douchebag.

• Penguins impotent powerplay does nothing. No Gonchar meant Purse Boy would lead the charge.

• Purse Boy ends up playing every 2 shifts. He will screw this up I know it.

• I remain standing. Cocktail #7 sits there like a log. I attempt to remember where I stood where Talbot scored goal #3. I think I just stood there. Sister attempted to move her and spot before I said you can’t go anywhere and it would screw with the energy. The playoffs turn me into Joe Jackson.

• Fleury keeps the agony going. Cocktail #7 is lonely.

• We go to OT 2.

• Phones and texts are sent.

• They can’t win this can they? seemed to be the common message
  

• I think the Pierre McGuire says Sykora just told everyone he will score. That’s funny because he hasn’t done shit in about 6 games.

• Wings run Fleury again: PP Pens. Pens do nothing

• Pens hit a post somewhere.

• Than Babe Ruth gets called for holding? I can’t await to refer to Sykora as Hasselback in my blog post tomorrow, I ponder.
  

• The Flower comes through again!!!

• 3^rd OT

• Half drunk, I disband all notions of energy, karma and juju, and staying in one happy place and run to get a slice.

• Cocktail #7 gets sipped on. All is right with the world.
  

• I wonder if I should call in sick tomorrow. Than I remember I did that about 2 weeks ago. Son of a bitch!

• How long is this going to go?

• Sister asks if I should go to bed. I say curse word.

• Wings again come out like assholes again. Somehow the Penguins and their 5 shitty defensemen keep them from scoring.

• Back to standing. Can’t fuck with the energy

• I see Sergei Gonchar back on the bench. The man looks like he just got smacked in the head with a brick.

• Rob Suckderi gets sticked in the face and draws blood. I wonder if he channeled Vince McMahon to use the old tape a razor blade to your glove and bleed as they do in the WWE.

• 4 minute power play!!

• Gonchar comes off the bench. WTF. I get some text about Willis Reed or something. I have no idea what that means.

• Babe Ruth steps on the ice. Perhaps Cowhard is sensing the future.

• Evgeni Malkin has the puck behind the net and gets it to Sykora.

• A massive YEAAAAAAAAAA is heard as I run out to the Balcony. Ready to yell out a Drama-esque Victory, I stopped myself and hopped around like an asshole instead.

" Even White Boy has got to shout" Big ups to Penguins,engulfing some Yankee Self-Haterade and a shot at a pitcher on the other NY Team

I'm very happy for my boy Mahatma, I am very annoyed at some of my "boys" who wouldn't know me from a hole in the wall, and Oliver Perez sucks when he isn't pitching against the Yankees

(1) One of the most exciting sporting contests ever....... How can this evening's game 5 between the Penguins and Redwings be described any other way. I'll leave any analysis to the hockey fans who write for the blog (a.ka. everybody but me and maybe Merloni?) but even for a general sports fan like me this game was intense. When any shot on goal by the Wings could mean hoisting Lord Stanley's cup; it gets even the most casual of hockey fan's, such as myself, watching. 3 periods of regulation and 2.5 overtimes later, the Penguins silenced a capacity crowd of 20,000 hockey fans and 500 octupus (octipi???). Congrats to the Igloo and I hope they pull off the miracle comeback.

(2) Andrew Eugene Pettite........ I love this man. He was the most consistent pitcher on 4 world series teams and was the only one of the starters on any of these teams to be a home grown Yankee (I don't count El Duque because he didn't grow up in the farm system). However, Andy, I'm finally getting pissed at ya. A savy vet such as yourself can't give up 3 consecutive leads in the same game. When there are two men out, no men are on base and you are facing a great hitter like Mauer, you can't throw an inside fastball in a hitter's park like The MetroDome. Sure enough, Mauer hit one that hasn't landed yet and Minnesota tied the game at 5 with 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th. He also pulled this crap against the mets a few starts ago giving up 3 runs in the 3rd after the Yanks jumped out to an early 2-0 lead.

(3) Kyle Fanrsworth Sucks....... I'm so freakin sick of this guy. He gives up a run almost every time he comes in. Now grant it, as Devo has pointed out in the past, This is okay if he comes in during the 8th and the team has a 2+ run lead and Mo is due to pitch the 9th. However, in a tie game with the great Joe Nathan waiting in the wings, this is a recipe for disaster. Sure enough, Kyle gets greeted by a booming double from Michael Cudeyer and he promptly scored after a sac bunt and an rbi single. Tonights 6-5 loss to the Twinkies enraged me mostly because this game was a microcosm of the team to this point so far; (1) zero clutch hitting, (2) pitchers giving up leads (3) the non Rivera-Joba pen being horrendous. 14 hits should account for more than 5 runs. Oy.

(4) I don't want to upset Miss Met too much..... but I have to kill Oliver Perez. I admit, this is largley because he destorys my beloved Bronx Bombers but yet is awful against everyone else. He has been bombed by the likes of the Buccos (Sorry Mahatma) and the lowly Giants but somehow makes the Yankees lineup look like a single A ballclub. Perez makes me nuts and I don't even like the Mets. He makes Mike Mussina seem calm and unflappable by comparison. If the slightest thing goes wrong he completley falls apart. Tonight he gives up a leadoff home run to Randy Wynn. Pitchers on his own staff like Johan Santana and John Maine will fight threw early struggles and realize they have a job to do; Perez falls apart and mentally checks out of the game. But hey, Rick Peterson is a great pitching coach right.

While you were the sleeping...

this guy scored.



See you Wednesday!

And what will Tuesday bring us?

Joba! Pedro! It's Tuesday night baseball at its finest in New York. One man's predictions on what's to come:

Joba

Best Case Scenario
6 IP, 2H, 0ER, 10K, 0BB-75 pitches

Worst Case Scenario
3 IP, 5H, 5 ER, 2K, 5BB-60 pitches

Probable scenario
5IP, 3H, 1 ER, 7K, 1BB-70 pitches


Pedro

Best Case Scenario
6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 5K, 0BB-85 pitches

Worst Case Scenario
2 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 0K, 4BB-60 pitches, tightness in shoulder

Probable Scenario
5 IP, 4 H, 3ER, 3K, 3BB-

Is there a hockey game tonight?

Madden 2009 Team Ratings!! Because you care about this more than hockey.

Patriots 97
Cowboys 96
Chargers 95
Colts 95
Giants 94
Steelers 94
Jaguars 93
Packers 91
Eagles 91
Bucs 91
Vikings 90
Browns 88
Redskins 88
Seahawks 87
Saints 87
Panthers 86
Broncos 84
Titans 84
Bills 82
Ravens 81
Bengals 80
Bears 80
Cardinals 78
Texans 78
Lions 78
Rams 77
Jets 76
49ers 72
Chiefs 71
Raiders 71
Falcons 67
Dolphins 67

- (source: any video game site)

The important question that must be asked is if it's still the same shitty game it's been since what Madden 2004?