John Smoltz

Days gone by...

I was reading somewhere the other day about how we like to romanticize the past and dream of going back to a time in our childhood when we thought things were better.  Though they stated that usually things weren't really better then than they are now, it's just that we tend to forget the bad stuff from those times.

That being said, if you could go back to another time in your life or another period in time, when would that be?  Mine would be either my junior year of college or if I could go to another period in time it would probably be the 1950s.  The 50s to me were the golden age of baseball and I just think it would be a lot of fun.  So what would you choose?  I'm interested to know.

Curveballs

I've always heard the phrase, "sometimes life throws you curveballs" and took it to mean that sometimes life gives you something that you're not expecting and it stinks.  But lately I've been thinking about that, and as a baseball fan I don't think that's what it means.

A curveball is a pitch that when you see it initially you think it's a bad pitch.  Your gut reaction is to bail out because it looks like you're going to get hit or to not swing because you think it's a lousy pitch.  But what good players know, is if you recognize it for what it is and hang in there, you can hit it out of the park.

I think that's really the situation that Kimberly and I are at right now.  We're getting a big fat curve and our initial reaction is fear of a bad pitch, but I think we should just hang in there.

The Minute Mustache

This was my mustache that I had for just a brief period of time this morning.  I was shaving my weeks worth of facial growth and decided to surprise Kim.  Boy was she surprised!  She basically told me to immediately go to the bathroom and kill the woolly worm.

*As a side note, I need to apologize because I completely forgot to mention, in my previous post, that Skip Carey (may he rest in peace) is gone from the Atlanta Braves...as is TBS.

The End of an Era

So word has just come across the wire that the Red Sox and John Smoltz are close to sealing a one year deal.  While I'm glad for the Red Sox, I have more of an attachment to the Atlanta Braves and this news saddens me like no other news...probably like the day I found out the Braves let Dale Murphy go to the Phillies.  I see this as the end of an era though.  These are no longer the Braves of my youth.

Gone is:

Ted Turner

John Schuerholz

David Justice

"Neon" Deion

Terry Pendleton

Ron Gant

Greg Maddux

Tom Glavine - Technically he's back, but I think the Mets just returned his body like the alien abductees in The X-Files.

John Rocker

Andruw Jones

Rafael Furcal

Mike Hampton - Oh wait, I'm glad he's gone

Fred "Crime Dog" McGriff

Vinny Castilla (twice)

Francisco "the one hit wonder" Cabrera - I made that nickname up just now

The Revolving door of closers (Wohlers, Merker, Stanton, Rocker, Lightenberg, etc.)

Ryan Klesko

Rafael Belliard

Mark Lemke

I suppose Chipper Jones is the next to go since he's a free agent after this season, but hopefully since they don't have any other players they can at least afford him for a few more years.  I feel my childhood slowly slipping down the drain.

Google maps to the rescue!

Those who read this wonderful blog know my love for Google Maps.  Recently, police in Massachusetts used it to help find a girl who had been kidnapped by her grandmother.  It's a great story that I encourage you to read here.

2008 Bowl Season

This year I've seen an unusually high number of bowl games and I have to say, some were entertaining but most have stunk.  Some of my favorites were:

• Boise St./TCU (Even though I was pulling for Boise St.)
  
• W. Virginia/UNC (Great game, great outcome)
• Iowa/S. Carolina (Just funny to see Spurrier stomping up and down the sidelines)
• Miss/Texas Tech (Shocking game)

This being said however, most were uninteresting, and I have to say it's the match-ups.  I cannot stand arranged match-ups in specific bowls.  For years people have been talking about how good USC is and how good the SEC is, but the two never meet.  That's because they would have to meet in the championship game or not at all.  For the past 3 years USC has abused 3 different Big Ten teams in the Rose Bowl.  Enough with the crappy bowl games!!!