Say it Ain't So, Sosa....actually say it is

*****Cubs Rant Alert, Cubs Rant Alert***** (my new warning to anyone who actually reads this nonsense blog that this will be a long, impassioned rant by a long (hehe), impassioned Cubs fan)

Hey all. Well it looks like the Sammy Sosa days in Chicago are just about over and as a dedicated (i.e. hopeless) Cubs fan, I say good riddance! Anyone who has ever been around me enough on long summer days knows that I may be the one Chicago Cubs fan who really dislikes Sosa and is annoyed by his very presence on the Northside. I'm sick of his unjust tirades, his awful work ethic, his annoying homerun hop, the endless strikeouts, the clipped English (even though he's been playing forever). and just about everything else.
Now I will be completely honest, there was a time when I was even charmed by the Dominican boy made good, the always friendly and smiling guy who matched Big Mac in the magical '98 Home Run race. The Cub who would always run out to right field and salute the epically drunk Bleacher Bums. But that was about four idiotic epidsodes and 1000 strikeouts ago.
The Sosa of the present has exposed himself as just one more rich, selfish, out of touch mega-millionaire athlete who can't handle not being the center of attention. I don't despise Sammy because of the falling numbers, the ever growing impatience at the plate, or even the humiliating bat corked incident (which I tire of being lorded over me by always smug Cardinal fans). I can't fault the coming of age....that is not why I boo Sosa and want him as far from Wrigleyville as humanly possible. No no...its the unbelievable selfishness that has emerged and exposed Sammy as just another sham. I don't idolize athletes...well not since Steve Young retired :-), so its not that I feel jilted or abandoned or betrayed or anything stupid like that.
Sosa simply wore out my welcome by acting like he was more than the Chicago Cubs. Look...I'm not going to argue that the Cubs are a proud franchise or anything...I can't obviously. But this is a young team with unbelievable pitching depth and one of the best farm systems in baseball. GM Jim Hendry is finally trying to build a consistent winner and get rid of that godawful "lovable losers" tag. All a very good thing...unless you wear #21. Sammy simply could not handle NOT BEING the Cubs...as soon as real players with great talent started developing and other jerseys started showing up in the stands at "his" ballpark, he freaked. He cares more about being the center of attention than in building something really special on the corners of Clark and Addison. And this season after hurting himself for months by "sneezing", he was not the same hitter...and the fans let their displeasure show. (which you can agree with or not) Sosa became an automatic out...he stood so far from the plate you could throw a football down the strikezone and he wouldn't hit it. He refused to change his approach and even accept help from his coaches. He choked horribly down the wild card stretch (as did the rest of the team) and just went into a fan-hating, self-obsessed catatonic state.
This was all more than I needed...since I've never liked the man anyway. But even the Cubs and their (blindly) loyal fans had had enough. Sosa sulked about being dropped in the order by manager Dusty Baker, even though it was him who brought the idea to Baker. He later denied this. And then the straw that broke the camel's back. The last game of a lost and painful season....Sosa reported to the ballpark late and then skipped out as it started. He claimed he was there til the 7th inning even though security cameras caught him leaving 20 mins into the game. This is the friggin captain of the Cubs. Would you ever imagine Mr. Cub Ernie Banks doing this, or Stan Musial, or Hank Aaron...hell even infamous Barry Bonds? He left early, quit on his team, and then even had the gall to LIE ABOUT IT.
After this is was just a matter of time...even with the ultra classy Baker and Hendry saying all the right things. And now Sammy Sosa appears to be a Baltimore Oriole....odd fit for the team of Cal Ripken...but just fine for the Cubs and their long-suffering fans. This move might even make the Cubs weaker in the short term... but I am behind it completely, just to be rid of "Smiling" Sammy Sosa and his corked "practice" bats and irritating temper tantrums. Now he is the sole problem for the fans at Camden Yard.
Here is part of an article from Cubs beat writer Gene Wojciechowski who agrees with me (or I guess I agree with since he's more well known and read):

"But it was Sosa's breach of baseball etiquette -- bolting from a game, on the final day, no less -- that further confirmed what Cubs management and many of his own teammates already knew: that the self-proclaimed Gladiator had skin as thin as an ivy leaf, that he was a hypocrite and, worse yet, a liar.
You had to be there that day to understand the betrayal. You could see it in the incredulous expressions of Cubs players as they glanced at his empty pair of locker stalls. Several Sosa jerseys, the ones with C (for team captain) on the elastic sleeves, were still hanging on a metal rod. You could see it as Cubs general manager Jim Hendry tried to compose himself before commenting on Sosa's early departure. You could see it as manager Dusty Baker sighed wearily and said, 'This is a first for me'."
You want to know why Sosa is no longer a Cub? Because he forgot how to take the temperature of a city that can stomach losing but despises frauds. He underestimated the long-term effects of his annual late arrivals to spring training, his no-shows at the yearly Cubs Convention, the 2003 corked-bat incident, the 2004 hissy fits when Baker had no choice but to drop him in the batting order, the ditch-and-lie incident of Oct. 3."

OK, wow....that felt good! Very theraputic for this masochist Cub fan's psyche. Sorry that this was so insanely long...but if you're still reading....well then wow, thank you. :-) I'm flattered you could tough it out. Many more Cub rants to come I'm sure. later!

on a lighter note

Hey all. Well after a whiny, self-obsessed post, I think I'll lighten things up a bit with this link:

http://www.virtualbartender.beer.com/beer_usa.htm

In the place your order box just type whatever you want. :-) (sorry if this seems overly sexist and such but its all in fun)...plus the guys wanted me to put it here.

Here's another hilarious link:

http://www.mrcranky.com/movies/spongebobgaypants.html

Pretty funny reaction to our increasingly right-wing nutjob country...I especially like the part where he calls god an iffy theory at best. OK....thats all, I'm out like SpongeBob. later!

needless whining

Hey all. Ok, time to get a bit serious. I'm not very good at this, but I think I'm going to vent about things now. I'm someone who can't really talk about my feelings and all that silly stuff to other people. I have a tendency to bottle up everything inside and just withdraw more. So maybe I can vent a little about things on this thing....other people seem to be able to do it. I feel kind of stupid but, hey what the hell. It's either this or just cope by drinking alot...which I'll do anyway.
It's not that I am plagued by a lot...life is pretty damn good most of the time, and in the big picture it's not like I'm wanting of anything. So this might all seem silly to whine about when you compare it to the lives of other people who are truly suffering.
But I feel the need to vent about my so called academic life. I feel completely and utterly trapped in the mess that I have made for myself. I have so much work yet to do in order to meet all my MA requirements, an insane amount of work. I am in the midst of all my research. And sometimes I feel like I'm making really good progress with it, I've been through a lot of the primary sources I need (letters of Washington, Adams, Rush, etc). But there is just so damn much to go through....and I should really be writing these damn chapters by now. Take last week for instance, on my three days off I poured over John Adams' diaries for hours, I was at the UT library for what seemed like forever and it felt good for an instant...like I had accomplished something. But then I realized that I only really went through one book. ONE FRIGGIN BOOK!!! In more than 10 hrs of research. At that rate I'll have my thesis done by the time I'm 62. Yeah yeah guys....that'll be in like 3 months. Thats a very sinking feeling. As lame a comparison as it is....I really do feel like I'm stuck in academic quicksand. The more I try to work and free myself of these feelings, the more I sink into this kind of oblivion.
All I know is that it is already the end of Jan and I have not much to show for 3 1/2 mediocre years at what I've taken to calling Toledo Community College. Now this is all my fault, I should be done by now. I have nothing to excuse this amount of time I've wasted. I've just felt very lost these last couple years, and its hard to get motivated to finish a useless degree that I don't even know what to do if I ever get it. I have to get this damn thing done by March at the latest so I can revise it and defend it in April if I hope to graduate at semester's end (which I have to do because I have a professor on my committee who is retiring.) And to top this all off I have a couple of projects that I need to finish by the end of this semester or I will actually fail classes.
And I just don't know how the hell I am going to get all this work done in this short a time. I used to think I was a good student, a good (though slow) researcher, and an excellent writer. Now I'm doubting everything. And I allow myself to get distracted easily (by side projects, beer, etc.) because deep down I just don't have enough faith in myself to think I can get this done.
This is a black cloud that I never escape from. I may be in good moods from time to time and distract myself with family, sports, friends....all the fun stuff, but always in the back of my mind is this overwhelming sense of dread. Somedays it keeps me from even attempting to work because then I have to face it and the inevitability of it head on. And I just don't know what to do.
Wow....I'm sorry, I have no idea where all of this came from. I guess in the absense of the Cubs and baseball to vent through, this just came out. I have no idea why I feel it necessary for everyone in the world to know my deepest, darkest fears. I pretty much feel like an idiot. Oh well. This may not even be here by the time you look at my blog. But if I don't come to my senses, try not to think any less of me...weaknesses and all. Ok....there is more I could pour out I'm sure but I am really done being pathetic tonight. Take care everyone. I hope to see you all soon, especially my MI buddies that I need to get up to see. later!

winter baseball

Hey all.....so watched Field of Dreams tonight. Always will be one of my favorites. And you might think less of me as a man, but it never fails...still tear up for the last scene where Kevin Costner plays catch with his dad, and for the following speech (which might best capture the magic I find in the game of baseball):

"Ray, people will come, Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn into the driveway, not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. "Of course we won't mind if you have a look around," you'll say. "It's only twenty dollars per person." They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it; for it is money they have and peace they lack.
And they'll walk out to the bleachers, sit in shirt-sleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game, and it'll be as if they had dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces.
People will come, Ray.
The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers; it has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again. Ohhhh, people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come."

Yep...never fails, especially that last part. This led to my baseball fanaticism and Brandon's ever growing fanaticism taking over and making us play catch outside in the dark until our hands froze up completely. God I can't wait until spring training. later!

blatant rip-off of J's blog

Hey all....ok, I have absolutely nothing to write about this afternoon, but I feel this strange compulsion to see my new thoughts on my blog. This whole thing basically serves to feed my ego anyway.....so I must put something down here in order to look at it later. :-) So since imitation is the most sincere form of flattery...here are just 3 cds that I like alot to start your new years collection, (with apologies to J) here's the list:

1) Garden State soundtrack.....very cool collection of songs that are very different but all fit in very nicely to the movie (which was a very good flick, check it out) and any kind of mood that could possibly be in. I can't think of a single song I dislike on it..which is rare...but some of my personal favorites are "I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You" (Colin Haye) and "Blues Eyes" (Cary Brothers). A very cool song that grew on me is "Lebanese Blond" (Thievery Corporation) and the Frou Frou song isn't bad
2) Straylight Run, self-titled....excellent cd most of the way around (the couple songs with the female singer are so-so), I think that this may be the closest I can get to dsecribing what kind of music I like....some of it can actually be almost cheery (which is not me usually) but thats ok, trying to be more upbeat, check out "Existentialism on Prom Night" (89x has been playing it) and "Your Name Here"
3) Ray soundtrack....this may seem a bit off but its a very good collection of some of Ray Charles' best songs on one inexpensive cd....may not be for everyone, but Ray Charles was pure cool and this a great collection if you like his music, and its hard not too. On a side note....this was a very good movie, great telling of the man's life and Jamie Foxx WAS Ray Charles....it was remarkable, I almost forgot that he wasn't the man, thats how good his performance was.
-I was going to throw Chris Botti's new cd on here.....but SOMEONE said it sounded like elevator smooth jazz!!! (mad face)
OK...so thats all I have right now...was going to go with 5 cds...but it was just too much work....this is a very "lame" post....sorry about that, but I got nothing. later!

new career

Hey all. So I've been thinking, if this professional graduate student/bookstore cashier doesn't work out, I think I will become a weatherman. Apparently you need NO QUALIFICATIONS AT ALL!!!!! Our intrepid Toledo weatherman all said we might have snow flurries last night or late this morning (our completely incompetent Toledo Blade actually called for "some light flurries" in the weather forcast. We got ATLEAST a friggin HALF FOOT OF SNOW!!! Maybe even 8-10 inches!! I could totally do that job. You are just guessing everyday at work and getting paid for it! Can you think of any other job in America where you could be so bad at your job and have so much sophisicated equipement to be bad at your job...AND NOT EVER GET FIRED!!! I bet you don't even need schooling, real schooling anyway. Just some lame weatherman school where you learn to talk like a cheesy AM radio dj. God, what a friggin racket. As completely useless as dentists.
Sorry, thats enough ranting for one afternoon. Things are just kind of rough around here right now..some of you know why, others don't. Hopefully it'll be better soon, but I doubt it. Thanks to someone as icy as this Ohio weather. Ok...well off to work, I have to go dig my car out of these "light snow flurries"! later!

A Defense of Wrigley Field

Hey all. Ok, enough is enough. Now I realize that Corey is just being silly Corey and trying to get a rise out of me, well it worked. As a loyal (hopeless) Cubs fan I feel I must rise in defense of Beautiful Wrigley Field, as it is so often called people think its part of the name. Wrigley Field is NOT a dump. Wrigley is a classic and beautiful place, full of history and tradition, in a league full of bland new ballparks that all look the same.
First of all, Wrigley is 91 years old. It was built when Woodrow Wilson was president and the world was at war...the first time. That must be kept in mind. For someone used to sparkling new stadiums with all their new brick and fancy wine bars. It is the same way for all the classic ballparks, Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park.
Now, to be completely honest I was a little underwhelmed the first time I saw the outside of the stadium. I was used to shiny new Fifth Third Field. My mind just needed to wrap around the fact that the place has been built 2 years after the Titantic had sunk.
Secondly, without attending an actual Cubs game, no one can understand the magic that the place holds over all fans of baseball. To see the awesome neighborhood surrounding the stadium alive with people walking around, drinking (heavily) all in Cubs blue...unless those evil Cardinals are in town. You stand under the Wrigley marquee, far more distinctive itself than anything found on any of the new stadums that are built to look as historic and classic as Wrigley and Fenway do. Then you go in and walk around all the old concourses, the same concourses people have been walking for generations. After ascending the ramps you get into the open and see the place in all its glory. The greenest grass that anyone has ever seen is where the players are warming up. You see the green of the ivy crawling up those incredible brick walls. You can see all those awesome houses past the outfield walls where people dot the rooftops to see the game. And then you see my favorite part of the whole incredible place....the towering, beautiful hand-operated scoreboard with the flags flying in the swirling Chicago wind. Such an amazing experience. The place, the game, the 7th inning stretch. And I'm not even defending the bleachers its drunken hoardes....not something I feel like defending, but fine I guess for drunk slobs. And lots of quotes seem to suggest people love the bleachers.
Thirdly, the place in the dead of a Chicago winter is not going to have any of the magic that it would have on a sunny, gorgeous afternoon in August. They are renovating the stadium as we speak which didn't help (yes yes, because it caved in a couple of times..big deal).
Ok, this is becoming obsessive and silly (I was going to use quotes and research to back it all up but I suppose that energy should go for my thesis), but I felt the need to stick up for maybe my favorite spot on earth. Some people might not get it. But I would much rather have an historic, classic, beautifiul ballpark than a new playhouse stadium with merry-go-rounds and steamboat smokestacks. I like new stadiums for all their comfort and new beauty, but nothing compares to that baseball mecca on the corner of Waveland and Addison. Ok, I had more arguments in my mind but this is bordering on...well...something. :-) But please feel free to comment and back me up if you like the history, tradition and beauty of Wrigley Field. later!

WSJP weekend thoughts

Hey all. I know this is really only of interest to any of the WSJP'ers who read this (hehe...P'ers) but I was brainstorming ideas for the annual weekend or whatever. I know a few of us kicked it around after Malarkey's when Stiga was in town. Here's some ideas we kicked around:

1) Chicago.....one of my favorite places in the world (for obvious reasons). There's only a million things to do in the city. There are more awesome bars and places to eat then you could go in a lifetime. There is zero chance we would get bored. Depending on when we go, we could even take in a Cubs game at Wrigley, which would make Adam VERY VERY happy (or a White Sox game if we absolutely had to). Getting there wouldn't be too bad, only about 4 hrs from Toledo. I know staying there can get expensive, but if we stayed a little way out, like on the North Side somewhere, its pretty easy and cheap to take the L train everywhere we'd want to go.

2) Toronto....I've been here once when I was pretty young, but I remember it being a very cool place and people seem to rave about it. There seems alot to do there, but I'd have to do more research on things to do, places to go, places to stay, etc. It would be obviously a longer trip for everyone, especially Stiga and Jen but we could even take the train up there, which would be cool. Though it seems Chach and J will be back here just months later for the Rock, Paper, Scissors Championship.

3) North Carolina....not sure this would work, but the beach sure would be nice. It would be super convenient for Stiga and Jen and I'm sure they could show us a ton of things to do down there. It would be a very long drive for the OH and MI people, and would require longer than just a long weekend probably. And I know people will probably go down later and see them. But did I mention that the beach would sure be nice? Anyway...might be a better idea for later years. But worth thinking about.

Those are the three ideas I remember talking about....here's one that I thought about....probably a silly idea but I thought I'd throw it out..

4) Southeast Ohio (Athens)....this may not be of any interest to anyone but me, but this might be a cool, different idea. For people who've never been down there, the whole are around Athens is a beautiful, hilly state park region. Its the Hocking Hills region, and it has awesome parks, paths, and nature type things. There seems to be alot of hotels, campgrounds and especially cabins to rent right in this area. There is also Athens...which is maybe the best college town I've ever been to. There are more cool bars than people in our group so that would be good. Its a good 5 hrs for the MI contigent and I have no idea how far for Stiga and Jen (though closer than Toronto or Chicago would be. So feel free to call this idea dumb, but it seemed kinda cool to me.

So those are my thoughts, basically for the WSJP guys and the select guests that would be more than welcome. Not sure anyone actually reads my posts, so I may email this to everyone and get their reaction. But feel free to comment if you wanna. Never too early to plan these things. ok, this is ridiculously long. later!