Who said our pitching has issues...  USS Maine 1-hit the Cards through 7 strong...   Bye bye Birds!

Its great when you can score 6 runs without hitting the ball hard more than once all night.

A few thoughts:

Glavine should win at least 15 games this year....     He looked real sharp, especially with the change.

Moises Alou looked pretty good.. hustling around the basepaths, taking an extra on an aggressive play. 

Kind of ballsy to bring out Joe Smith in the 8th there.  Talk about trial by fire for the sidearming rookie.   Did Willie think that was Chad Bradford?   That should have been Heilman's spot all the way. 

I'm concerned about David Wright.  He had a weak 2nd half last year and he grounds the ball around the infield a lot, instead of driving the ball.  I'm afraid we're going to see him at .210 after April, but I hope I'm wrong.

First round of the A-10 Tourney...    Dunston has 21, Stout 17.  Go Rams.

Here's the deal.   13 Team League.  260 Fake dollars to spend.  10 Categories...  AVG, HR, R, RBI, SB, W, K, ERA, WHIP, S.   Top team in a category gets 13 pts, bottom gets 1.   Total points, not head to head.

I can protect 3-5 players at 5 dollars more than last year's salary.  Last year, the highest paid player went for 42 I believe.

Here's who I could protect at what prices:

Juan Pierre 26
Chone Figgins 16
Joe Crede 6
Michael Cuddyer  6
Anibel Sanchez  6
David Wright 34
Adrian Gonzalez 6
Bobby Jenks 12
Curt Shilling 19

What do you think?  Which 5 do I protect?

My ZogSports Football Team, "Ludacris Speed" is having its first practice today at 2:30 on 52nd/11th.  Wooooo.

When the Mets were in the playoffs last year, I couldn't get a video stream of the game on the web, even though I had paid for MLB Extra Innings.  Why?  Because I was actually in New York, so the game was blacked out locally.  Well, without a TV at my desk, I literally had no access to some of the daytime games.  It had nothing to do with whether I was willing to pay...  I was just shut out cold.

Now, the NFL wants to feature similar TV packages exclusively on DirectTV.  I don't have DirectTV.  Therefore, this sucks.

Argue away about business models and pricing...   about whether content should be free, paid for, freemium, ad supported or what have you... and that's fine...  but the following is UTF (utterly... ridiculous).

It is 2007 and there is digital content that I as a cable subscriber and broadband internet user  still cannot access, even though I am willing to pay for it.

When is this going to end?  It's one thing to say that the stuff is mispriced, but access?  Access should not be an issue.  If I want to watch any baseball game, I should be able to... on my TV or on the web, regardless of who I pay for my big fat dumb data pipe, which seems to be getting dumber by the minute.

All content on demand for anyone, period.  If I have to pay, I'll pay, but at least give me the opportunity.

Anyone want to venture some guesses as to when this happens?

...or the ads just royally sucked.

But Fred and I are in agreement....  the Doritos one was the hands down winner... and of course, it wasn't created by an ad agency...  it was a make your own ad contest winner.

Users 1.  Ad agencies 0.

I'd be curious to hear from agency folks on this one...  did they really think any of these were any good? 

Here are some random thoughts on the bunch...

Of course I was eyeing the Careerbuilder ones, and, well, they were sort of amusing, but really kind of heady, I think, for Joe Six Pack.  I mean, if you don't work in a cubicle, did you really relate to that commercial at all?  So it was like Office Survivor... I guess?

And what about those Toyota commercials.  So let's get this straight.  We go out to a canyon and contruct a huge and overelaborate track that just ends hanging over a cliff.  Then, we construct two huge metal doors halfway down the track... and see if this dude in a pickup truck can accellerate fast enough to make it through the closing doors, then brake hard enough not to go over the cliff.  If he fails on either part of the course, he'll die.

Are these people Bond villians, or what?

What else was there?  I vaguely remember some floating car parts.  Of course, there was GoDaddy...  was it me or was the GoDaddy chic not as hot as usual on that one?  I think that gag is getting a little tiresome.

The worst of the bunch?  Anything with a song was root canal painful...  the Garmin one, the Chevy song, Sheryl Crowe.   

I will hand it to K-Fed, though...   took a lot to totally make fun of himself like that. 

Hmm...   Jeez... I don't even remember half of them...    Some lame animal ones...  Gorillas, lions...   

I watched the game in Brooklyn with about a dozen people and we were all in agreement... worst superbowl for commercials ever.  Maybe the remakes on YouTube will be better.  Wait... I'm confused... YouTube has me voting for existing Superbowl commericals... weren't they having fans make their own versions or something?

It was a sloppy game and the commercials were pretty much the worst of all time, except for the fan created Doritos one in the beginning...   but at least one good thing came out of this year's Superbowl: 

$550 in charity donations in the Charity Superbowl Wiki.

At the end of the first quarter, it seemed like we might have an upset in the making.  The first play of the game resulted in a Bears TD and Peyton was the first QB to throw a pick.   Six turnovers later, the Bears were up 14-6, making sexy commedianne blogger Heather Fink our first quarter winner.  That will send a $55 check over to RAINN.

Of course, the Bears hold on the game, and the football, didn't last, and the Colts came back with 10 unanswered second quarter points, taking a 16-14 lead into the half...   which...   wait a second...   makes Heather a winner AGAIN.   Tack on another $137.50 unto the check for RAINN, bringing her halftime total up to $192.50.

The third quarter was all about kicking...   and three fieldgoals later, the Colts extended their lead ever so slightly with two of their own to one from the Bears, making the third quarter score 22-17.  Score the third quarter for Matt McLaughlin of Thermodepot's sponsorship of the American Cancer Society.  They'll get a check for $82.50 on Matt's behalf.

Still, the Bears were in the game...  until Grossman tossed up a duck and the Colts returned it in the fourth, putting the game out of reach, and giving us a 29-17 final, eh...   I add the "eh" because our final score winner is Ken King and he has selected the Canadian Diabetes Association as his sponsored charity.  They'll receive 50% of our pool total: $275 American.  I wonder if Ken is as successful in his Grey Cup boxes.

Thanks to everyone who played our Charity Superbowl Wiki... see you next year!

Checks will go out tomorrow.

Thanks

So, it turns out I screwed up the roman numerals for this game....  its XLI not LXI...   eh...  Doesn't change the fact that we'll be giving away $550 (thanks to a few people for some extra donations to the pot) to charity today based on the scores of tonight's game.

So here's the number selection video.  Check out what numbers you got here.  (Everyone got an extra box, by the way).

So, I'm a little bit disappointed we couldn't get a meme going out of the Charity Superbowl Wiki, but the momentum has slowed and I'm only up to 40 bloggers.  Right now, there's a CSS design post up at the top of the popular list.  I guess charity doesn't really get the blog world hot and bothered.

Maybe the combo of the wiki and paypal was a bit too technical for people?  I dunno.

So, I figured I could just push for 10, give everyone a free box, and call it a day.. but that would only give 500 bucks to charity.   

Instead, I'm going for broke and opening it up to anyone.  Still one box per person, but you can now sign up regardless if you have a blog or not.

So, seeing as how there are supposedly 970ish of you out there, I don't think its asking too much that 60 of you contribute a 10 spot to charity.

So, pick a charity, pick a box, and tell others!

Right now, after a day, we have 23 participants in the 100 Bloggers, 100 Boxes Charity Superbowl Wiki.

A good start, but we have a long way to go, so please, pass the word and consider participating.  It's for charity!   We'd love some tagging, digging, and reblogging to help get this out.

As an experiment in non-profit collaboration on the web and to give us reason to keep watching in case Rex Grossman throws 4 INTs, I've created The Charity Superbowl Wiki for 100 bloggers to participate in a charity game.

For a donation of $10 (plus PayPal transaction fees), you get to stake claim over a box on a 10 x 10 table whose row and column numbers will represent the last digit of the scores of the Colts and Bears at various points in this Sunday's Superbowl. 

The key is that you are playing for a charity... and all of the proceeds, net of PayPal fees, will be going to charity.  When you win, your charity will get money. 

Check it out here, and please help us run up the various meme lists by linking, digging, tagging, etc.  It's for a good cause.

Are you going to be one of the 100 bloggers to participate?

Fantasy baseball draft at Mondial Tiles.

I hear the Sox are going to give JD Drew $15 million a year.

That makes Carlos Beltran's $13 look like a steal, considering Beltran has more power, more speed, plays better defense at a more important position, and, oh yeah, is good for more than 130 games a season.  Out of Drew's 8 full seasons, he's only played more than 130 games 4 times.

Then again, if Gary Matthews, Jr. can get $10 million a year for five years at 32, after only playing fulltime the last two seasons...    The guy's never hit more than 19 homers, never driven in more than 79 and he's a career .263 hitter. 

Put it this way...  Jay Payton is two years older than Matthews, but his career stats per 162 are .284-17-70 with a .439 slugging.  Matthews?  .263-14-58 and a .419.  

I think Jay needs a new agent, because he's only making $4 million.

Looks like the Mets just lost Chad Bradford to the Orioles.   That really stinks.  Bradford was a double play waiting to happen every time he came out of the bullpen.  I loved watching him pitch, since I throw a little bit of sidearm myself.  In fact, my one and only career pitching win in little league (the only game that I really ever found the plate) was a complete game throwing sidearm.  It's also how I pitch in wiffleball.

Wiffleball...      sigh.   Boy, do I miss wiffleball.

Anyway, this is a big loss, since Mota will miss the first 50 games of the season due to his roid suspension.  They also traded away Henry Owens.  I guess the return of Duaner Sanchez made a righty in the pen expendable, but it was nice to have someone who keeps the ball in the park.

Last night, after 2 kickball seasons, 3 other dodgeball seasons,  3 softball seasons and a football season, on my 10th try, I finally won my first ZogSports Championship!   After going 18-6 in the regular season and finishing in second place, Dodge This! edged out Chico's Bail Bonds for it's rightful place in obscure sports history.

Pictured (L to R): Allison Auman, Rebecca May, Alex Lunney, Nancy Kish (seated), James Pastore, Charlie O'Donnell (me, seated), Abby King, Evan Timbie, Erick Bond, Courtney Bongiolatti.   Not pictured: Doug Miller (injured reserve)

It is beautiful out in New York City today...  currently 58 and expected to get up to 67.  It will probably be 22 by Monday, but what can you do.

Anyway, I biked in this morning and made my usual stop at the gym first, to workout and and cleanup.   The NYSC on 35th and Madison, unlike the other ones I've been to, has no poles in front of it... no parking meter, streetlamp... anything.  The only place to lock my bike is on the corner of 36th against the walk/don't walk sign... which is a little ways down.  I'm not totally comfortable with that, and so I asked at the gym about a place to put it inside.

So, the woman at the desk said that I couldn't bring it in because they couldn't be responsible.  I wasn't asking for that...  I just felt safer if it was inside.  And, actually, if they had a bike rack inside, and someone came in with some clippers, I'd imagine she'd at least call the cops or something, just to be nice.  She suggested I talk to the manager.

The manager said there were some places around the corner, which of course, defeats the purpose.  He also said they tried to get the city to put in some bike racks across the street, but they didn't get anywhere.  "What about a rack in the club here?"   The club has a double entrence and in between the inner and outer doors, there's a perfect space for a small bike rack.

This is where it gets ridiculous. 

"Oh, we can't have that because this is a high visability club."

I knew what he meant, but I just wanted to get him to say it.

"High visability?"

"Well, it's a nice location that a lot of people come to so we can't go messing it up with a bunch of bikes that people can see."

"Umm...  doesn't biking sort of fit with the whole gym concept?  You know...  exercise.  Just seems to me a gym, of all places, should be bike friendly?"

"I see how that might make sense, but I don't think that's something we're going to do here."

The ironic thing is that, every year, New York Sports Club sponsors a team in the Five Borough Bike Tour. 

They're all about biking, so long as it's not near one of their clubs, because bikes are aestheticly displeasing.  Let me tell you, bikes are pretty far down the list of aestheticly displeasing things I've seen at the gym...   I wish they would ban the hairy naked guy that towels off next to me with one foot up on the bench. 

I just don't understand how you could go down looking in Game 7 with the bases loaded and a chance to tie or win the game.  That just hurts.

Gotta give it to Perez for holding his own this series... Maine, too.  Much to look forward to next year, but, man, this stings.  I lack the words.

I didn't think it would come to this.

I didn't want it to.

I think I'm going to hole myself up in my apartment and not come out until its over.  My whole entire season depends on Oliver Perez.   They better score 12 runs.

I don't understand why we're not starting Darren Oliver.

The guy pitched 6 scoreless the other day... AND...  and this I didn't realize today... he's got a great postseason start under his belt.  In 1996, with the Rangers, he left the 9th inning of Game 3 with a 2-1 lead and two on and none out.  The Rangers bullpen couldn't hold it, so he got the loss, but still...  that makes him a lot more qualifed to start than Perez, who honestly got battered the other night.  He just had a lot of run support.

I don't really understand what goes on in Willie's head.   Maine bats in the bottom of the 5th, only to get taken out after the leadoff guy reaches base in the 6th... that was after he fanned Pujos to end the 5th.  The guy was cruising and he goes to the pen in the 6th inning.  Why strain the pen when your starter is cruising and you know you're going to need at least four innings out of them the next night?   He could have gotten one more inning out of Maine.

So now we get to watch Wild Thing fall off the mound because he can't figure out a windup that works.

They better score 12.  Please, let them score 12...  in the first.