I may need a ringer or two for kickball tomorrow...   e-mail me if you can be in Central Park right by Columbus Circle tomorrow (Tuesday) at 5:45PM and you're interested.

Yes, I play kickball.   ZogSports, the same league we all play dodgeball in, has a kickball league as well.  We won our first game 16-3, but that may have led to a little bit of overconfidence, because we didn't do as well last night.   We lost to the Ligers 14-7.   Plus, it didn't help that our ump what a very loose interpretation of where the foul lines were.  That puts "Those Punks Stole Our Name" at 1-1 for the season. (That's our team name, for obvious reasons.)  Still, we had a lot of fun and got pics and video thanks to my  hobbled buddy Marina, who sprained her ankle in the first game.

Randy Johnson and the exploding bird.

The pine tar incident.

The All Star Game tie.

Add Fordham's Friday night game against The Deal to your list of wacky incidents.  A scheduling error by the league left Fordham opponentless for 45 minutes until The Deal finally started showing up around 6:15--early as far as they knew.  Both teams scurried to start as time on the field permit ticked away, but in the end, since the game didn't go the full time, the league decided to suspend the game with Fordham up 7-5 after five, to be continued later in the season.

Fordham bats were quiet but effective during the game, with several "seeing eye" hits doing some major damage against The Deal.  Patti "Hit it where they ain't" Dickerson drove in four runs on two clutch floaters  just over the infield.  The game of inches also came back to hurt Fordham as well.  Pat "The Mighty" Quinn just missed a great stab at a liner over third and Larry Porco attempted a diving stop of a smash to first.  Both plays would have shut the door before The Deal put three on the board in the third, but as it was, luck wasn't much of a lady to either team on Central Park's Great Lawn that night.

Fordham sent Charlie O'Donnell to the mound in place of their absent ace Brian Cuthbert.  O'Donnell frustrated The Deal with his unwillingness/inability to keep the ball around the plate, causing some ugly and desperate swings.  He also walked three, but never game The Deal much of anything to hit.  He slipped several called strikes past the surprised Deal hitters, and while it might of been ugly, it kept Fordham in the game.

No word yet on when the remaining two innings will be played, but Fordham will look for their first win this week at Heckscher #1 this Thursday night at 6:45 in Central Park.

Do you want to play softball on Thursday?  Did you go to Fordham?  Well, come on down to Hecksher Field #1 on Thursday at 6:30PM and we'll do our best to accommodate you!  We're having an open practice and then we're going to the Young Alumni Happy Hour (as we do every 3rd Thursday of the month).  This month, we'll be going to T.G. Whitney's.

Here's the field map:

So, all of the sudden, the Mets have drawn even at 5-5, erasing their dismal 0-5 start.   They beat the Marlins 4-0.  In fact, the Mets have a better record than the Yanks right now.  Tonight, they did it on the back of...  Aaron Heilman??  I've panned this guy so many times before...  he's a career 3-11 in 20 starts.  People are saying "finally" because they've touted him so much, but I have to see another start.  I remember Dave Mlicki shutting out the Yanks one time and that was about it for his career.  At least with Mlicki, he had a 12-6 curve that made me think he had something.  I'm not getting on the Aaron Heilman bandwagon just yet, but I'll throw the guy a bone for a 1-hitter.  Impressive start.  Tomorrow, I'm going to see Pedro's home opener against Al Leiter.  Should be quite a game and the weather is supposed to be faaaantastic.

From Brian:

[10:19] cuth23b: Brian Roberts is on pace for 92 HRs, 218 RBI, and a .412 BA
[10:19] cuth23b: AND
[10:19] cuth23b: 46 steals

Tomorrow, at 6:15PM, the Fordham Young Alumni softball team plays its inaugural game at City College.  Spectators are encouraged!! 

Here's how to get to the field...

_________________________________________________________________

Link: eBay item 5183660221 (Ends Apr-13-05 18:24:27 PDT) - FOR SALE NEW YORK YANKEES CLOSER MARIANO RIVERA.

You have to love the Yankee fans.  Rivera, probably more so than any other Yankee, is responsible for their current run, and these goofballs have him up on eBay.  Some of these idiots even booed him (not many, but a few) after yesterday's blown save.  This proves my theory...  Yankee fans have no capacity for human emotion.  Remember when the keys to Yankee success were Scott Brosious and Jimmy Leyritz?  Those days are gone.  Now, they have sold their soul and worship The Big Unit.

This is now the most exciting thing I've heard all day....

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear ZogSports Kickball Captains,

Kickball season is quickly approaching, and we wanted to welcome you to our spring/summer kickball league and provide you with some key dates for information regarding the season.

o Wednesday, April 13^th

§ Regular Season schedule will be posted on www.zogsports.org

o Thursday, April 14^th

§ Email will be sent allowing captains to add to or adjust their roster as well as change name or charity

o Monday, April 25^th

§ Regular season begins

o Shirt pickup Monday, April 18^th – Thursday, April 21^st Times TBD

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Cheers,

Christie

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

So, last night, our ZogSports dodgeball team, Dodge This!, got swept in the playoffs, losing all four of its games.  We were disappointed that we didn't even pull a game out, but in the end, we were all really happy about the season and this wacky sport that brought us all together.  One of the teams we lost to is also playing kickball, so we'll have to exact our revenge on the turf. 

So far I've played dodgeball this year, and kickball last year, and I have to say, this league is really something special.  The quality of people that it brings together is amazing, but I guess "people who play charity dodgeball or kickball" is as good a social screen as you can get.  Plus, playing in the league gives you an automatic connection to all of the other Zoggers as well.  Anytime I see one of those colored t-shirts with the ZogSports logo, I always ask what sport the person played and how they got involved, and they're always very receptive. 

Another thing that was nice last night was an appearence by "the Zog Guy"--founder and new dad Robert Herzog.  I pointed out to some of the people on the team who he was and some of them were curious about what his story was.  I really didn't know too much about the guy, but when I Googled him and Zogsports, I learned just how special this whole thing was.  You see, Robert Herzog worked for Marsh McLennan on the 96th Floor of the World Trade Center's North Tower.  Two hundred and ninety seven people from Marsh died that morning, but Rob, miraculously, was later to work than usual.  His story was detailed in a great Tampa Tribune article a few years ago.

So now, ZogSports is up to 11,000 participants.  Zog encourages "New Yorkers to maintain perspective and a more balanced lifestyle by having fun while also giving something back to the community." Its really something amazing to be a part of and I really have to tip my hat (and no, I'm not suddenly wearing hats because I shaved my head) to Rob.

Former Mets GM Steve Phillips is speaking at the Buyouts Symposium.

WTF?

What does he have to do with buyouts?  He wasn't even a good GM...   the Mets fired him.  Plus... its the Mets.  I mean, I'm a Met fan, but its not like the team has done anything to warrent their fired GM speaking anywhere.  To be honest, I think I'd rather see Bobby Valentine speak.  Maybe he could wear a moustache, too.   That would be hilarious. 

There are speakers that, if you can get them, apply anywhere...   Rudy Guiliani, Bill Clinton.   Steve Phillips is not one of these people.   He wouldn't even be welcome at a Mets Fans Symposium.  I don't get it.

Last night, the team dropped three games and tied one as the snow fell outside PS 191.  They weren't blowouts, but now next week's game becomes even more important.  Dodge This! will be fighting for our lives (or running for them)!  And, if that doesn't work out... we always have kickball, which we just signed up for.

The team name?  "Kick this!" of course.   I took a few pictures at Lincoln Park, a proud sponsor of the Zog Sports league and on my way there, I snapped off this pic on Broadway looking down from 49th street.

_______________________________________________________________

Here's the mid-season update...   We're in 6th place out of 12 teams in our division.  Dodge This! is holding its own at .500.

Lazer/Blazer Division

Name                                                        W            L           T            Pts
Dodgy McShady KG                     10         1         1         21
Balls of Furry PR                            9         3         0         18
First Picks GO                               9         3         0         18
Moral Victory RB                            8         3         1         17
Get Outta Dodge IV                        5         4         3         13
Dodge This! HG                              6         6         0         12
Jajballers CH                                  5         7         0         10
Orange Crush OR                           5         7         0         10
Blue Evaders BL                             4         8         0          8
Special Olympics BK                      3         8         1          7
Snoop Dawgs From LIC OL              3         9         0          6
Team Voltron LG                             2        10        0          4

Link: ESPN.com - MLB - Seeking relief, Astros add 44-year-old Franco.

Thank God...   Its OVER.  I was going to write something about how many blown saves he had for the Mets, so I went to his page on Baseball-reference.com.  Someone had sponsored the page and summed up my feelings on John Franco perfectly...

__________________________________________________________

        Mr. Wilpon, I sponsored this page so you wouldn't waste another penny on this guy.

___________________________________________________________

Dave Alexandro...  You're hilarious.

For the record, with the Mets, Franco had 276 Saves and 64 Blown Saves... 81.1%.  So, one out of five times he went out there, he blew it.   In 1998, the Mets finished 2 games shy of the wild card and Franco went 0-8 with 8 blown saves.  Good riddence.

Dodge This! proved that last week wasn't a fluke when they split their 1st regular season matchup, 2-2.   They came out a little bit stiff, but 4 dodgeball games and a post game visit to Blondie's loosened up our heros in grey.

So we've been debating team gear for next game...  sweatbands?  Tube socks?  We're a wacky bunch.

Pics from Blondies:

Nice article in the Daily News about Fordham basketball.

The Rams scored a big win on the final play of the game yesterday up at Rose Hill, beating Xavier 76-74.  Yours truly was lucky enough to be up at the game, which Fordham nearly gave away in the last few minutes.  The win makes them 6-9 and 1-1 in the conference.   Not too shabby...  certainly a lot more than Bob Hill did with the team.  Where is old Bobby boy anyway?  I hope he's coaching an 11 year-old CYO team somewhere.

Last night was our first ZogSports Dodgeball Game.  Not only was it a blast, but it turns out we're not too shabby either.   In fact, we went undefeated in the four game round robin at PS 191's gym.  (Yes, we actaully play in elementery school gyms.) 

Here are the pics...    The gym was sort of dimly lit, but Sue Yoo did an admirable job with the photography work while she sat out this week on the DL nonetheless.

Pastore came up with a great team cheer:

  D! O! D! G-E! DODGE-THIS!  [Run around like idiots and bump chests]

We've yet to get the whole team on board with the cheer, but we're working on it.

I have to say, everyone up and down the lineup did a great job.  We worked together as a team and became a sweaty force to be reckoned with.  Extremely sweaty.  Ohhh...   memories of being nine.  One lesson we all learned well today...  Don't mess with Lindsey. 

Carlos Beltran is now a Met.

Beltran is simply the most exciting addition this franchise has made... EVER.  That includes the trade for Mike Piazza. When Piazza joined the Mets, don't get me wrong, it was exciting, but he wasn't coming off the kind of postseason performance Beltran had. Carlos Beltran nearly carried the Astros on his shoulders into the World Series. Plus, unlike Piazza, he can field and he's much younger than Piazza.

You know what's even more exciting? Carlos Beltran was a Jesuit--he was on my fantasy team for the last two years. I got him last year for a paltry $23 bucks, which meant I got to keep him this year for $28, because I'm in a franchise league. Clearly one of the best fantasy signings ever. So, I've rooted for this guy... waiting for him to come up on SportsCenter every time I was out at a bar, checking the box scores on the net. When I watched the playoffs this year, I had a special kind of pride in Carlos Beltran... the kind of special pride that can only come from watching one of your fantasy guys succeed in the real world. Geeky? Perhaps, but hey, its 2005, and this is the bizarre state of the game for the internet generation.  I'm a rotohead loser, so shoot me.

And yet, the press says that the Mets aren’t even done yet. There’s apparently an outstanding offer to Carlos Delgado on the table. Pedro, Beltran AND Delgado? That’s just nuts. Imagine this opening day lineup…

SS Reyes

3B Wright

CF Beltran

1B Delgado

C Piazza

LF Floyd

RF Cameron

2B Matsui

P Martinez

Now that’s potent with a capital M. :)

The carnage begins Thursday, January 13th, when my charity dodgeball team, Dodge This!, plays its first ZogSports dodgeball scrimmage. 

Come see us play!

Thursday, January 13, 2005    9:30PM
PS 191 (West 61st Street bet West End/Amsterdam)

Be there, or we'll throw a wrench at you.