Happy Halloween!

What do we do now?

Kay, Baseball can come back now.

I'm bored.

The Corn Police

Really, sometimes I'm just staggered. James Lileks, as usual, nails this one in his inimitable fashion. He can ridicule with the best of them.

The good part:

This, for example, makes my head combust: corn is the new villian. Corn. Maize! It's the new tobacco. Squanto's Revenge! Demon Corn will be the new food meme, and work its way into the cautious sensbilities of the Interminably Concerned, all because of one lauded doc that detassels the myths and exposes the way Big Corn has persuaded everyone who glug nine gallons of sweetened soda per day. Gah. GAAAH. I can't take it anymore. I try to get (G)Nat to eat corn; it's one of the vegetables I was told was good for you, even though experience with diapers years ago taught me that it has a strange incorruptable carnuba-wax shell that allows it safe passage through the corrosive halls of the digestive system. But I love corn. I love corn with butter. I love corn with salt. I loved popped corn. I love Corn Puffs. I love corn-fed beef. I loved corned beef. Friends, Romans, Countrymen: lend me an ear.

I'll gladly give up ethanol, if they're concerned about corn subsidies.

No? Huh. Imagine.

I don't consume a lot of high-fructose corn syrup; no one in this house does. Why? Because I don't buy it. I don't buy many products that have it. Delta Corn Force doesn't break into the house in the middle of the night and force everyone to consume corn syrup at gunpoint. Look: I'm opposed to farm subsidies. It's pork. Corn-fed pork. But there's something else at work here, and it's the same old tut-tut gullet-nannies who can't bear the fact that you can get a meal at McDonald's for two bucks, and you like it. STOP LIKING WHAT YOU LIKE. People are choosing the wrong food, for some strange peculiar reason. We have to make them stop doing that.

The article notes that the farm bill will now be used to "improve what people eat," presumably more fruits and vegetables. Because those are so very hard to come by in this country. I go to the grocery store and head for the fruits and vegetable departments, and angry butchers block my way every time. From the article:
The health reformers say they have only just begun.

"We are exactly where we were with tobacco in the 1970s," said Barnard.

These people will be happy when everyone is squatting in a peat hut in hemp loincloths gnawing on raw broccoli. You'll be allowed to have an ear of corn, but only if a malarial mosquito gets in the hut. Then you beat with the corn. The organic way.

Sorry to rant, but jeez. CORN. It never ends. It never, ever will end.

Don't try this at home

OUCH!

FJM says it best...

From Fire Joe Morgan:
I'm devastated that I'll have to wait months and months before seeing Fox's Scouting Reports and Keys to the Game again.

For Josh Fogg in Game 3:

1) Dragon slayer -- beats good teams.
2) If stuff matched his heart, he'd be a Hall of Famer.

They might have well have added

3) Outstanding, once-in-a-generation hypothetical cut fastball
4) If hands were made of metal, he'd be affected by powerful electromagnets buried underneath the field.

And before the clincher, we were offered these keys:

Red Sox: Try To Wrap-Up Lopsided Series

Rockies: Desperate Times, Simply Win Tonight

I will never stop enjoying these. "Try to win." "Simply win." Win the next win is all, guys.

Additional Key To The Game: Both Teams Cannot Win.

World Series Final Thoughts

Make you comments here.

Mike Lowell was a fine choice for MVP. Runner-up? Not jacoby, not Beckett. Varitek. He had timely hits. But the biggest reason would be the performance of the pitching staff. It is in no small part a testament to his efforts. He should be a Red Sox for life. As should Manny, Ortiz, Wakefield, Youk, Schilling. Papelbon, too, though he's young yet.

Fox's post-game coverage was just awful. We wanted to see the players and we had to listen to Henry, Lucchino, and Werner all say something. And then more blather from the talking suits. Sadly, I didn't have NESN set up to record.

The Red Sox will be a formidable force next year.

Series Over! Mom Wins!

Who's the new baseball guru among us? Who stayed up to celebrate her victory long after I went to bed? Yup, Mrs. Red Sox, Mom.

The final standings:

Mom 26
Luke 25
Me 22
Laura 21
Don 19
Kate 18
Jason 18
Michelle 17
Caleb 11
Judi 10
Claire 8
Shawn 5


Send along your $5, cash, no checks. Do it today so it doesn't slip through the cracks. Thanks for playing everyone. We'll do it again next year if the Sox are in it, and we'll modify the scoring a bit to improve the competition.

One run game!

Popple Ban is coming in. The dog just woke up.


...and the cat is scared...



...doesn't Fox/MLB/The Rockies know that I have a huge exam at 9 AM?

Still sleeping...

The only team who could possibly beat the Red Sox right now? The Patriots.

Rockies better turn it up a notch...

The Cat With a Name can't keep her eyes open...

Can we get a close game tonight please?

Even the Dog With No Name is bored...

Game thread

Sorry, Rob! Sorry, here it is.

Jeepers, don't annoy your Uncle Rob, kids.

Comment away . . .

In Perspective

Don't miss this column on Rockie's manager Clint Hurdle.

Boston fans Photoshop the Sox

Some of these are a lot of fun. I am particularly fond of the one of the Three Tenors -- but Jacoby-wan Kenobi has quite a ring to it.

Baseball Time Again-Game three thread

Ok, Murphies and friends. Make comments. Don't leave me out here all alone. For those of you who care about such things, Mom and I replayed JT's SSB to start the game off right. While he played, we stood and put our right hands over our hearts. A stirring beginning.

The Sox will lose tonight. Fogg will be tough, and Matzusaka will nibble and leave after five.

Aunt Judy sent some wonderful pictures.

On the back of this one, Grandpa Murphy wrote:

XMAS 84 - Conway, Mass.
"Dr" Caleb Murphy checking G'pa Tom Murphy
G'pa Beech Hodgdon in background

It was Caleb's first stethoscope! In this one, the doctor is examining Aunt Judy's mother, Harriette Hodgdon.


This one was also taken in Conway. Grandpa wrote on the back: T.P.M. - Lucas Murphy. The picture is date-stamped Jan. 1989, so this was probably taken at Murphy Christmas 1988, when Luke would have just turned one year old.


This one was taken in our living room in the Main Street house in Ashfield. (I can tell by the couch. Remember that couch?) Grandpa Murphy wrote the date on the back -- 6/86 -- and Grandma Murphy wrote:
Laura Mae
"I love you."

No baseball. Replacing it with blog posts. Last one.

This one's for you, Luke. I just can't believe all the dumb shit that is out there. Good thing I can just laugh at it.

Thomas Freidman in the venerated NYT:

People often ask: I want to get greener, what should I do? New light bulbs? A hybrid? A solar roof? Well, all of those things are helpful.
But actually, the greenest thing you can do is this: Choose the right leaders. It is so much more important to change your leaders than change your light bulbs.
Why? Because leaders write the rules, set the standards and offer the tax incentives that drive market behavior across a whole city, state or country. Whatever any of us does individually matters a tiny bit. But when leaders change the rules, you get scale change across the whole marketplace.

9/11 not so bad, really.

We're just naive.

Cadillacs. They make you feel like a million bucks!

Says who? Why, Bob Dylan, of course. That iconoclastic counter-culture icon. And, hey, his Cadillac is an SUV. Hasn't he heard about you-know-what, or does he just ... not ... care.

Where do I Start?

What do you say to this guy? Oh, you poor thing? Yes, it's a shame you can't get other people to pay for your education? Though, of course, he did, by attending a state school. The taxpayers of NY foot the bill for about 2/3s of it. That's not enough? Maybe his parents should kick his ass out.

For Our Vet Student Readers

Today, Panda went back to the vet's for the second half of his Lyme Disease/Bordatella vaccination, (I think Bordatella is the right name -- not quite sure) and so the vet could take a look at a little growth on his left forefoot that Panda's been chewing and worrying at quite a lot lately:


The vet says it's probably a sebaceous adenoma and not a problem in itself, but since it's bothering him, it needs to come off or it could become a problem later. So, we're going back week after next and he'll freeze it off, like a wart. While I was getting Panda ready for the vet that morning, I had realized that a little rashy patch on his side that he's had for a short while was getting worse. So I asked the vet to take a look at that, too. After the vet clipped the area and cleaned it, this is how it looked:


It's not really quite as red and angry as it looks in the picture. It's an oval area of little slightly-raised lesions that get scabby, itch, and also seem to be a bit painful. The vet says this is a bacterial infection that can probably be treated topically, though if that doesn't clear it up, or if it spreads, Panda may need an oral antibiotic. He prescribed this:


(Enlarging the picture makes the name legible.) So, tonight I was putting on the ointment, and what did I find on his other side but ANOTHER red, raised, bothersome area that he had clearly been gnawing and nibbling at. I swear it wasn't there this morning. The picture is pretty bad and I can't see it clearly enough myself to be sure if it's another area of the same rash or possibly another irritated, tiny sebaceous adenoma. I will treat it with the same ointment, watch it, and show it to the vet if it's not improving when we go back to take the other one off his foot. What a nuisance. Could he have picked up the bacterial thing at the groomer's, do you suppose?

By popular demand . . .

. . . a Game 2 Thread.

Dad would normally do this, of course, but he is reading this old-fashioned thing called a "book" while he watches. Plus, he burned his hand pretty badly while he was cooking earlier, and maybe he doesn't feel like typing.

Let the comments begin.

World Series Game 1 Thread

Wake is out. Too bad. I like the guy. Ellsbury plays and Coco sits, nursing his knee. Probably a good thing. Ellsbury has that star power.

Make your comments below. My money is on the Sox. I looked up tickets on Ebay. $1000 to $20000. Yikes.

A Natural Halloween

No petrochemical products from giant multi-national corporations for me! Natural cobwebs only. You might even say they're organic! Click to enlarge.

Baseball Pool Update-Yer not gonna believe this

Who has a lead that is substantial, if not commanding? Yes, The Mom. The same person who, for years, could not understand my fondness for baseball. Who is the only person who can beat her? Yes, the Other Mom, Judi. If the Red Sox win, Mom wins. If the Rockies win, the Other Mom wins. How about that, baseball experts?

For future pools I would make an adjustment in the scoring. In LCSs. I'd subtract TWO points each for the difference in the number of games and for the WS, I'd subtract THREE points each. That would keep more people in it until the end, and place more importance on the number of games played.

Please double check my scoring. I could easily make an error.

The Standings:

Mom 16
Luke 14
Me 12
Laura 11
Caleb 11
Judi 10
Kate 9
Don 9
Claire 8
Jason 7
Michelle 6
Shawn 5

Game Seven-10/21 thread

Well, we got 'em where we want 'em.

Poor Paul Byrd, the latest victim of the witch hunt.

In 1986, Jim Rice could speak english. I wonder what happened.

Post your comments below, baseball fans.

The Road not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood


And sorry I could not travel both
and be one traveler, long I stood


and looked down one as far as I could
to where it bent in the undergrowth;


Then took the other, as just as fair,


and having perhaps the better claim
because it was grassy and wanted wear;


though as for that, the passing there
had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
in leaves no feet had trodden black.


Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.


I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:


Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less travelled by,
and that has made all the difference.

Sachmo

There is a commercial in which Louis Armstrong sings a stanza of "the Saints Go Marching In". Wow. Now that is music. Natural, refreshing, unpretentious. Gotta get some.

Adoption

After years of wondering why he didn't look like his younger sister or brother, Mark finally got up the nerve to ask his mother if he was adopted.

"Yes, you were son," his mother said, as she started to cry softly. "But, it didn't work out and they brought you back."

BASEBALL TONIGHT! Game thread 10/20

Can the Big Lug pull it off? I think he can. And Jacoby Ellsbury takes Coco's place tonight.

I'm PUMPED!

Back to Fenway

Where I'd put the odds of the Red Sox winning two about even with the Indians winning one. It comes down to Shilling and Dice-K. If they are on, the RS will go to the WS.

I have been a fan and supporter of Coco, but he needs to sit. Stick Elsbury in and see what happens. Sorry, Coco, but you look really lost.

Lugo gives me the creeps. He should sit, too. Cora should play in his stead, permanently.

However it goes, I hope both teams make a game of it. Let's see some drama.

Joe Torre, Again

I like Joe as much as the next guy, but I was not impressed by his news conference yesterday, of which I have only seen a segment. He used the Johnny Damon "insult" routine to describe the contract he was offered. Nothing wrong with feeling insulted by a contract that will pay you millions of dollars but don't say it publicly. This is one working stiff who cannot identify. Also, he was just a little too petulant. Not gonna go back to Yankee stadium, etc. Joe, you made tens of millions of dollars over the last twelve years because an organization wanted you. They don't want you anymore, which is their mistake, but, wow, what a run. Don't ruin it by playing the injured party.

I'm great!

Also Excellent!!!! Not to mention "Super!" and A++++++.

Just reading my Ebay feedback.

Game Thread 10/18

BOOM!

YOUK!

Hi Everybody, I'm joe Buck. THAT is Tim McCarver

How weird is that? I mean, exactly that. Not this. That.

So long, Joe.

My anti-Yankees feelings of shadenfreude have been tempered for the last couple of years by my respect, and sympathy, for Joe Torre. Now that he's pretty much shown himself the door (though, c'mon, that was clearly their intention), I think I'll be able to hate them much harder than ever before. And meanwhile, I think I'll be a minor fan of whichever team ends up hiring Joe.

Big game tonight. I'm with Manny, though. It's been a really stellar year already, and if it ends in the next couple days, I'll be OK with that. We've seen: A rookie toss a no-hitter, not one but two Japanese phenoms, the emergence of Jacoby Ellsbury, a ROY bid by Pedroia, a Cy Young bid by Josh Beckett, and Gold Glove bids from Youk, Coco, and possibly others, four home runs in a row, and oh, the AL East championship for the first time in a very long time. Yeah, I'll really be the most broken-up about the fact that I won't be able to watch baseball every day anymore.

Why I Like Manny

It's bizarre how fanatical some get about the Red Sox and winning it all, and blaming managers and players when they don't. I Like Manny's attitude. The normal ebb and flow of baseball makes anything possible, and, as Manny says, Cleveland is hitting and pitching well right now.

So one team out of thirty-two will end up satisfied. That's absurd. If we lose, as they say in France, cess la vie. Root for Cleveland to win the Series. They have a very likable team. And Cleveland can celebrate. Nothing wrong with that.

"Livestock Emissions are NO JOKE"

Like I said, you can't make this stuff up.

Bad News from Iraq

Not enough People Dying. Chimpy McBushitler is putting grave diggers out of work.

Baseball Pool Update

Post Rockies sweep:

Mom/Caleb 11
Judi 10
Luke 8
Me 7
Laura 6
Shawn 5
Kate/Don 4
Claire/Michelle/Jason 2

Yes, Mom is in the lead. Yes, Judi is right behind her. Go figger.

Many of us have the RS for the ACLS. Shawn and Caleb have the Injuns. So Caleb could be well in front before the WS. But. Judi has the Rockies in the WS. Caleb has the Indians. It could be a two-person race if the Red Sox don't mount one of their patented comebacks.

UR Mathematicians Say Wormhole is Possible

http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=3012

Ack, no DSL!

I am posting from work to report that Dad just told me that the DSL at home is down and probably won't be fixed before tomorrow. Therefore, there will probably be no Game Thread emanating from the Murphies' Home Base tonight, nor will there be the usual penetrating, insightful play-by-play commentary you have all come to expect. Somebody else will have to set up the Game Thread and keep the conversation going.

Just didn't want you all worrying about us while we are Off the Grid. Obviously, if they do get it fixed, we will jump in as quickly as possible. Have fun, and call us if there's anything you just can't wait to comment on during the game! (not too late though, natch.)

Game thread 10/15-Ortiz Hit in Crotch!

He appears to be OK. What was he thinking?

I hate watching Matzusaka pitch. Nibble, nibble, nibble.

The Cleveland pitchers seem to be stealing the Red Sox hitters thunder.

You Want Drama?

You got drama. Do we trust our starting pitchers after Beckett? Will they be dumb enough to include Gagne with a spoon on the World Series Roster if we make it that far? Can Manny and David keep up the pace? How can four relief pitchers all be terrible at the same time?

It's gonna be a battle.

More drama? Caleb has the Indians and the Rockies. Mom, Luke, and Laura Have the Red Sox and the Rockies. The rest of us have only one winning possibility in the LCS. It may come down to the wire.

Game Thread 10/13

James Taylor is an odd dude.

It's not gonna be easy to get any runs off of Carmona....

That will be five dollars, please

Boo-yah.

The Utilitarian Blog

Jeremy and I were looking around for the rubber mallet the other day. We couldn't find it anywhere. I said, "You were the last one to use it." He said, "You were the last one to use it." In the end, I used a steel hammer to put the fiberglass posts in the earf. Later, perusing the blog, I found the rubber mallet! "There it is," I said. Five dollars cash to the first person that can find it, Mom/Cassie/Cathy excluded.

Objectivist Views on Environmentalism

I looked up Lowell Ponte, author of The Cooling, because I heard that years after writing that book he came to his senses and denounced all forms of environmental hysteria. Apparently he had this to say:

"But the Leftist press continues to quote bug and flower scientists about global warming - including doomsayers who three decades ago were predicting a fast-approaching, planet-freezing ice age. (I should know, being author of the 1976 Prentice-Hall bestselling climate book The Cooling.)

As you probably recognized, all such Leftist doomsaying - hothouse or ice age, wet or dry, population explosion or drastic decline - calls for the same remedy. We must have bigger government, more political regulation and control, higher taxes, and permit less individual and private sector liberty if we are to survive whatever is this year's fashionable danger."

Anyway, I stumbled across an objectivist wikipedia! The websites opening paragraph on environmentalism just hit the nail on head so hard I couldn't believe it:

"The basic principle driving the environmentalist movement is the belief that "nature" has inherent moral value, and therefore the influence of man, and especially that of industrial civilization, is evil. Politically, this means the advocacy of various limits on industrial civilization, since all productive human activity has some kind of byproduct. While few (but alarmingly many) advocates of environmentalism recognize it as such, the ultimate goal of the environmentalist movement is the total destruction of industrial civilization, and the vast majority of the human race whose existence is made possible by it."

Reminds me of a shirt I saw the other day that said something like, "the Earth does not belong to mankind, mankind belongs to the Earth." How can any serious person actually believe that? The Earth is an inanimate object. No person or thing has EVER belonged to an inanimate object and never will. Value comes from us. We decide what is valuable and what is not. Without life, the Earth is literally worthless. I love nature too, but only because of the value that it brings to me, not because of some mystical, moral value that it contains. Anyway the objectist wiki thread on environmentalism has a lot of good info.

Game Thread 10/12

Two strikeouts and a home run for Beckett in the first. Not a good ratio.

Manny! Manny is IN THE ZONE! GO RED SOX!!!!!

Kitten for sale/rent

I've got a really cute kitten for sale or rent (rooms to let, fifty cents). If anybody's interested, I'll post pictures. It's one of those marbly ones. What's it called? Calico? It really likes milk replacer.

More Poetry>

I remembered this after a surprise visit from Scott while Mom and I were having coffee. It hung in the dining room of 296 Bridge Road for a long time a long time ago.

Good Bread.
Good Meat.
Good gosh.
Let's eat!

Cowboy Up!

After all, we're playing the Indians!

Bwahahahahahahahaha!

Al Gore: Nobel Prize Laureate

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21262661/

We live in a world that worships and praises fools, idiots, and con-men. Truly intelligent and individual thinkers are dubbed "controversial." As H.L. Mencken wrote, "The most costly of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind."

Luckily there are still people like Julian Simon out there. It's a bit old but it still mostly applies to the current situation.

Eat Kangaroo. Save the world.

You just can't make this stuff up. I like the part about hoofed animals damaging the soil. Where do they find these "scientists"? "Damaged" soil? "Hey! This soil is broken!" What about hoofed-animal rights?

Speaking of which, thank goodness we slaughtered all those buffalo. Can you imagine how hot it would be if they had been emiting greenhouse gasses all these years? Boy!

It's fall in Chenango County.

Time for misty mornings, the corn harvest, pumpkins at the farm stands, and of course, the annual fall migration of flocks of exotic fauna. The careful observer will spot rare, precious specimens resting briefly along the river, to be seen only for a few short October weeks before they fly onward. Watch with special care for a rewarding glimpse of Inflatabilius Halloweenicus:

Variant species also appear.

Happy naturalists travel to Chenango from all over the Northeast to study our temporary residents.


The October ecosystem includes insects, too.


Look carefully while you have the chance. All too soon they'll be gone -- to be replaced in a few short weeks by their red, green, and white cousins from the North Pole, Inflatabilius Santaclausicus.

No baseball. . .

. . . but there are still baseball fans. Seen in Sherburne:


And in Norwich:


This house is directly across the street. I wonder if they speak to one another:

No Baseball. Sigh.

So it's poetry time.

Ol' hounddog's a-howlin', so forlorn.

He's the laziest dog that ever was born.

He's a-howlin', cuz he's a-settin' on a thorn

and he's just too tired to move over.

Leader Board

Caleb 7
Dad/Tom 7
Mom 6
Judi 5
Shawn 5
Kate 4
Luke 4
Don(Ret.) 4
Laura 3
Michelle 2
Claire 2
Jason 2

Caleb, Laura, and Mom are the only ones with two viable teams in the LCSs. No one has no viable teams. Anything can happen.

Yankees/Indians 10/8

Deja-vu all over again. A-rod struck out with runners on first and second in the first. Ouch.

What made Joe Torre think that after a sub-par performance in the first game Wang would be better after only three days rest? I don't have all his information, but I can't understand why he didn't start Mussina.

Did the ball hit Shoppach's hand on the bunt?

Anyway, it's only 4-0 after an inning and a half. Against the Yankees, it's nothin'. Just makes 'em mad.

Yankees Not Dead Yet

Fear the Yankees, Red Soxers. Fear them.

Leader Board

Caleb 5
Judi 5
Luke 4
Mom 4
Don 4
Me 4
Laura 3
Michelle2
Jason 2
Claire 2
Kate 2
Shawn 2

Games Thread 10/7

Manny and David. You can small ball your runs in, or you just have these two slug 'em out.

A Sweet Ride

A little teeny-tiny mini-tractor. After a couple of New Hollands, it's like a little porsche. Smooth, slick. Time will tell as to its durability. NH's was less than stellar. It's amazing what one of these little teeny-tiny mini-tractors costs.

How can you tell they're Married?

They don't share a last name. Whaddaya name the kids? Well, maybe you don't have kids, these days.

I like the idea of a wife-carrying competition, though. I'd carry my wife anywhere, not in small part because she had the courage to take my last name.

Cubs lose!

And Uncle Don wins!

Current scores:
Don - 2
Judi & Me - 1

The rest of you schmucks - 0

(If all these series end in sweeps, it's gonna be a long week until the ALCS.)

Manny!

So glad I stayed up for that one. Disappointing game for Daisuke, but everyone else was great, including Francona.

And how about the plague of locusts that descended on Joba Chamberlain? Never seen anything like it.

Despite my picks, I'm pulling for the Phillies today. A sweep would further destroy the psyches of Philadelphia fans. And plus, if all three series end in 3 games, it's gonna be a long wait for the Championship Series. I'm hoping for four or five out of the Indians and Yankees too.

Games thread 10/5

This is the place for your daily comments on the playoff games. Kinda like SOSH. Only less vulgar and more intelligent.

Me? I thinks the Yanks will be doing well to come out of Cleveland 1-1. If they can, they have a chance. If they can't , I'd wager that it's over for them. And does A-Rod seiZe up when it comes to the playoffs or what? C'mon, you're the greatest player in the game! Relax! Ahahahahaha.

When the Roof is Down...

And it lies.

On the ra-a-afters,

and the collar ties.

Don't you want some concrete to pour?

Don't you need some concrete to pour?

Wouldn't you love some concrete to pour?

You better find some concrete to pour.

Of course, as you know, the roofing never lies on the collar ties. Poetic license.

Coco!

Watching Coco play centerfield is a thrill. Read about him here.

Baseball Violence

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2007/10/red_sox_fan_ass.html

I'm sure we've had this discussion before, but I don't know how to make hyperlinks.

I'm not even going to chalk this up to crazy yankee fans, cause stuff like this goes on on both sides of the rivalry.

I'm going to chalk this up to crazy people.

TBS?Red Sox/Angels/Youk

OK. TBS can't make it back to the game in time for the first out. Lugo was blatantly deprived of a steal by the second base umpire and they couldn't find the time to go back to it. It wasn't even close. Commercials are running 30-60 seconds longer than regular season NESN commercials. Thank God for DVRs.

Youk is back.

It's weird to hear Orsillo broadcasting a non-Red Sox game. OOPS! One of the announcers was just proclaiming Manny's base-running acumen. AHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.!!! Where do they find these guys?

Two-bandana Panda

Or is it bandanit?

Baseball Playoff Contest

I should've thought of this earlier, but if I did, it didn't come to the surface.



What you need to do: Pick the winners of all four division series and the number of games each series will last. Pick the winners of the two championship series and the number of games. Pick the winner of the world Series and the number of games.

When you need to do it: By Thursday 3 PM. It's kinda messy because a few games will be played today, but, as I said, I wasn't on the ball. Use them to your advantage.

Scoring: For each division series, pick the winner and get three points. Minus the difference in games played. You pick Rockies in 5 and it's Rockies in 3, you get one point.
For the championship series, pick the winner and get six points. Minus the difference in games played. For the World Series, pick the winner and get 12 points. Minus the difference in ganes played.

Entry fee; 5$. Cash, no checks. Stick 5 dollars in an envelope and send it t o the winner within 48 hrs. of the end of the contest. Easy. OR send or give me $5 and I'll get it to the winner.

Matchups are:
Yankees/Indians
Redsox/Angels
Cubs/Diamondbacks
Rockies/Phillies

Make your entries in the comment section. they can be edited until 3PM tomorrow. Your entry will have seven lines and look like this:

Yankees in5
RedSox in 4
Cubs in 3
Rockies in5
Redsox in 6
Cubs in7
Redsox in 7

Tell your friends. All are welcome. The more the merrier.