mike

New Movie Friday
The Benchwarmers. I will no way pay to see this in theaters. But you can bet it will be at the top of my Netflix when the DVD comes out. I just love Rob Schneider movies.

Phillies
The Cardinals are supposed to be good, but we had no problem beating them last year. Now all is lost. We’re going to go 0-162. J-Roll will not get another hit all year. Everything at J-Rolls Bakery is going to get stale. Only other winless team in the NL? Pirates are 0-4.

Tonight vs the Dodgers at 7:05. Floyd vs. Tomko.

(Taking Back Sunday – MakeDamnSure)

Phillies
I wasn’t feeling so hot and didn’t finish watching the game. With Extra Innings free this week there were 5 other games on that I did want to watch. I missed things like Bell actually doing something useful, Gordon getting lucky and then still blowing it, and Lieberthal not coming through at the end. I did see Rollins extend his streak, Myers not being able to locate and running a high pitch count, and Pujols hit a ridiculous homer. At least Wagner blew a save and the Mets lost.

Even at 0-2 if they go 152-8 the rest of the way they will win the division. If they struggle and only go 147-13 they’ll still get the wild card. Check out RIOT to see what your team needs to do to clinch. coolstandings is fun too.

They finish the series this afternoon at 3:05 with Lidle going against Marquis.

Sixers
Continued their free fall and fell a half game out of the last playoff spot. I can’t even watch them play its so bad.

Questions of the Day
Did you miss school a lot or do you have a collection of perfect attendance certificates at home?

After greatest hits CDs were mentioned yesterday I thought of my favorite soundtracks. Really, there are only two: D2: The Mighty Ducks and Angus. What are you favorite soundtracks? Don’t be shy if the Aladdin soundtrack is your favorite … its probably around here somewhere.

(Yellowcard – Rough Landing, Holly)

Question of the Day

What CDs can you listen to all the way through without wanting to skip a song? There can be quite a few. Here are the ones I could think of off the top of my head.

Weezer – Weezer (Blue Album)
Green Day – Dookie
Oasis – What’s the Story
Mest – Wasting Time
Better than Ezra – Closer
Brand New – Deja Entendu

Phillies
vs Cardinals, 7:05,ESPN,CN8
Myers vs Mulder

(Something Corporate – iF yoU C Jordan)

Tourney

Congrats to the Florida Gators. They flat out dominated UCLA. I managed to pass out during the second half and didn’t even watch One Shining Moment. You read that correct, I think you’re getting an idea of how I feel. Evan called during the celebration. I got the message this morning. There is so much screaming on the street that the sound kept cutting out. I’ll be looking for videos of Gainesville craziness and hopefully find One Shining Moment, I found the last couple years on YouTube so I’m sure it will be there soon enough.

One article I found

Six Flags

Saturday Janos, Mike, Emily, and I went to Six Flags with our free tickets. We headed to Jersey bright an early to beat the crowds. The park actually opened at 8am, we didn’t even leave until after that. We got into the park around 9:45 and Kingda Ka was opening at 10, so we headed to that. The line was kind of long. We decided we had waited long enough we might as well wait for the front. Unfortunately, it broke down. Nothing moved for 20-30 minutes. There was no entertainment in the line so time could not be gauged. There was a guy behind us who was a coaster nut. I swear he was on Joey. The acting friend they added for the second season to increase diversity. He looked, acted, and sounded just like him. Even after they managed to fix the ride the train would come back and half the restraints wouldn’t pop so people would be stuck on it for a few minutes. We finally got on after 11:30. Wow. So worth the wait. There isn’t all that much to it. They launch you from 0 to 120 in 3.5 seconds 456 feet up and then straight back down. Your skin is hanging onto your face for dear life.

That line took so long we decided to take our lunch break. We found a nice picnic table with an umbrella to shield us from the sun. The sun didn’t stick around very long and it started to rain a little. Then a little more. The umbrella started to drip on my back. Emily abandoned our side of the table. I didn’t until the umbrella dumped a bucket onto my back. At this point the rain was horizontal, the umbrella was meaningless. The water was also flowing on the cement in our direction, and inch or 2 deep. Shoes and socks were soaked. My entire right side was soaked through. Head to toe. Everyone else had been in a little better position and only got wet below the knees. We figured we were already wet enough, might as well go on the log flume. Sadly it wasn’t open yet. We wound up spending some time in the Super Tepee where they have all sorts of things that we had no idea why anyone would buy while at Six Flags.

Next up was Superman. I’ve wanted to go on this one for a while. It could have been better but it was still really cool. After that was the Scream Machine. I had said in the morning that if we were going to skip any I would vote for the Scream Machine. I’m not a fan. There was no line and we were right there so we decided to go on. I got off that ride and my head was pounding. Emily didn’t do so hot either since her head just banged around in the harness. I officially announced my retirement from the Scream Machine. I don’t know what it is about that ride but I can’t come off it without a major headache that ruins the rest of my day. We hit up Batman the Ride after that. I considered skipping it but its so smooth I figured I’d be fine. I was so dizzy when I got off that ride. Mike and Janos went on Skull Mountain while Emily and I took a break. We missed out though. This kid who was probably around 8 came running up to us saying it was the most awesome ride ever.

Next up was Nitro. I went on it the year it opened and wasn’t really a fan. It just didn’t excite me. I still wasn’t recovered enough so I sat it out. It seemed like they were in line for that for an hour and a half. It was really only about 30 minutes but for some reason the Nitro line had a DJ. He was awful. Really really bad. He insulted everyone, had stuff thrown at him, and every impression sounded like Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. I started to feel better just from sitting out, but he was making me stupider. It also started to get a little chilly, which was fantastic with my wet clothes. After warming up we finally got over to Medusa, which had some troubles and wasn’t running the first two times we went over. Medusa is my favorite coaster at Six Flags (well, before I went on Kingda Ka). It was pretty awesome. Going on it didn’t make me feel any worse.

On the way out Janos wanted to play one of the carnival games. It was a moving tap and moving pitcher you had to fill with water. Some other people sat down so Janos and Emily played and Mike and I bet dinner on who would win. He took Janos, so I got stuck with Emily. Needless to say, I bought dinner.

Since we were in Jersey Janos said we should go to White Castle. So on the way out we asked a worker in the parking lot where the closest one was. It only took about 15 minutes to get there. Janos wanted to order 30 burgers. Important to note that Emily wasn’t even eating. We talked him down to 20 burgers and 4 fries. This turned out to be a little much. About half way through my first burger I knew I wasn’t going to make my quota. I finished with 2 burgers and about a half a box of fries. Mike finished off 3 burgers. Janos ate 7 burgers and almost a box of fries. We wound up throwing away more food than we felt comfortable doing. Really there isn’t that much meat on each of those burgers. I figured if you added up all the meat it was only about a cow’s toenail worth. I was not making any sense. Most random thing at White Castle was a large group of people came in wearing suits. They looked almost frightened by the fact that they were in a White Castle. Turned out they were missionaries. From what I could see they weren’t trying to save anyone but White Castle might be one of the first stops I would make. We really need some White Castles around here. Even to just go and see what happens because for some reason strange stuff goes on in White Castles.

Even though the Scream Machine killed my afternoon it was still an awesome day. You can’t beat free tickets. People watching at an amusement park also can’t be beat.

Phillies

Most days I will try and have a Phillies update. However, after that 13-5 debacle I don’t have a whole lot to say. We listened to the beginning here on a radio Travis brought in. During my walk to my car the Cardinals managed to score 8 runs so the game didn’t have my full attention the rest of the way. I did have it on though because I wanted to see all of Rollins’ at bats. He managed to extend his hitting streak to 37 games. Wheeler for some reason needs to mention that it’s a new streak because last season ended. I used to like Chris Wheeler, I really did. I think after this season it might be time to clear out the booth and start over. They are off today.

Yesterday

Top Ballpark Giveaways
1. Magnetic schedule (30)
2. Baseball cap (26)
3. Bobblehead (21)
4. T-shirt (18)
5. Baseball card (16)
6. Calendar (16)
7. Jersey (14)
8. Figurine (12)
9. Lapel pin (10)
10. Baseball glove (10)

Question of the Day

On the Sirius Christian Rock station, are they allowed to play Matisyahu? You might say … Mike, what are you doing listening to the Christian Rock station? Janos had it as one of his presets, I forgot I had told him about it in the fall. When it first got added I checked it out and they played MxPx, that’s enough for me. It really sounds just like any other rock station, I just haven’t heard of a lot of the bands for whatever reason. Very few of the songs talk about religion. Later this morning Thousand Foot Krutch was played on the same station. I think they should play Rawkfist at church.

Links

http://www.kaalagolf.com/index.htm
If it only had a seat and could drive you around. Now that’s a good idea.

http://www.tvsquad.com/2006/04/03/doh-they-got-me/
I saw this yesterday before I watched it. If I had Tivo this would have been scary and hilarious.

http://www.bertmonroy.com/fineart/text/fineart_damen.htm
Mike sent me this yesterday. Its all digital, made in Illustrator and Photoshop.

For some reason yesterday there was a lot of zombie stuff online:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400049628/002-3883470-6815229
http://www.lifehacker.com/software/zombies/use-google-maps-to-track-z…

http://homepage.mac.com/pete.boardman/24hourclock/
During lunch yesterday I wondered where I could buy a 24 hour analog clock. I figured someone had to make them.

(New Found Glory – Hit or Miss)

Happy Opening Day!

The Six Flags report will come tomorrow. There are more time sensitive things to cover today.

Phillies

Something strange happened the end of last week. The local news started to get excited about the Phillies season. I haven’t seen this sort of optimism for the Phillies, ever. Its usually cautious optimism. I think what happened was that our expectations were really low and we expected nothing out of the starting rotation. Turns out the whole staff had an excellent spring and now people are starting to think we could win. I’ll admit I’ve gotten excited as well. As soon as Floyd was put into the rotation I got excited for the season to start and at the potential of this team. It was more that someone was actually thinking and doing what made sense for a change. Ed Wade is gone.

There are a few issues that may cause problems. The back end of the bullpen has an average age of 75. If Ryan Franklin can adjust to working out of the bullpen then things should be alright. There is also the black hole at the bottom of the lineup. With any luck Abraham Nunez will split time with David Bell and Mike Lieberthal will realize that he still wants to play baseball after this season. It’s a contract year, which usually means big numbers for Liebe. I think the pitching staff will really miss Todd Pratt, even though Charlie Manual didn’t know how to use him last year. I’m not sure about Sal Fasano, with that facial hair, I don’t trust him. However if Liebe goes down and Fasano has a ridiculous year … I don’t think I have to tell you what’s going to be in style. I think Coste should have made the team if only because he can catch and play 3rd, two areas we can’t do any worse with. So why not give someone a chance who really wants it.

As for the good stuff. Rollins seems to have learned how to hit and all it took was a change in his stance. It shouldn’t have taken as long as it did to figure out. I’m really excited about Rowand. I know he can hit well enough but I’m really excited about his defense. Our outfield last year was atrocious. Last year we may have had the best fielding percentage in the league as a team, but that’s only because you can’t make an error if you don’t get to the ball. Abreu had plenty of time off to finally get out of whatever habit he picked up during the home run derby. Plus, he’s a Gold Glove outfielder (I still don’t believe it, who’s voting on that?). I don’t even know where to start with Chutley. He’s being mentioned by some people as a potential MVP. If he hits cleanup, lookout, he might be the smallest cleanup hitter in baseball. I still say I was the only person who was really excited when we drafted him, likely because no one else pays attention to the June draft. I think last season for Burrell was exactly what we should expect from him. He’s got his stikeouts down to an acceptable level, I think he’ll be 6th in the lineup soon enough. Ryan Howard, good god. He might have the first triple digit home run season. The way he swung in the spring if he hit the ball fair it was gone. Bell should only play against lefties. Nunez should be in against righties and hitting 2nd. I have low expectations for Lieberthal. If he is up with a runner on first and less than two outs he should not be allowed to swing, maybe let him bunt.

I’m really happy with this rotation. Except for Lidle. We just need to survive him every five days. He really isn’t that terrible, I just think the other guys have potential to have #1 stuff on occasion, I don’t see that out of Lidle. Also don’t forget Randy Wolf. He could be huge at the end of the season. Still, who knows about this bullpen. I’ve learned not to use the previous year’s performance to gauge how the next year will go. Everyone seems to get good for a year, we trust him, then we get let down. See Rheal Cormier. Hopefully Fultz and Geary don’t fall into that and Cormier figures things out or we get rid of him very quickly.

I think this team can win 90 games this year. Still, that might not be enough to make the playoffs. I’m hoping the makeup of this team will not let things fall apart for weeks at a time like in previous seasons. Last year we only played well when we were just about out of it, then we’d fight all the way back only to fall apart again.

Links

http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/video/sub_122.shtml
Have they been doing this for more than the past week? I didn’t realize there were so many of them. High potential for laughing out loud at your desk.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tommybear/sets/72057594093761486/
Easy Button

http://burjdubai.flipcorp.com/content/thetower.asp
Do they do anything here besides build really cool buildings?

http://www.economist.com/science/displayStory.cfm?story_id=6740040
I want a pet dragon. Now!

Flickr
I don’t bother people about Flickr enough. And I bug them about it a lot. Its by far the best online photo site I’ve found. Even if you don’t pay for it I think its worth it. Someone will have to come up with something as good as this for free. So far I haven’t found anything half as good.

Friday’s Email

Friday was one of my favorite email days since the Showbed. I am still hungry for a hot dog. We almost went to Nathan’s at Six Flags but instead tried to find a White Castle for dinner. Let me tell you, that was some great adventure. I’m thinking about writing a movie about our experience.

Questions of the Day

Another Top 10 from ESPN The Magazine. What are the most common giveaways at baseball stadiums this year? From what I can guess each item is counted once per team. Meaning if a team has 2 bobblehead nights, they are only counted as 1 for purposes of this ranking. If you have answers feel free to respond to the group.

A question from the weekend, Mike came up with this one. If you were going to be forced to listen to one song over and over, what song would you least want to hear? Which would be the most painful? I had trouble thinking of one on Saturday but this morning someone mentioned Proud to be an American, which made me remember this question. Right now, that’s my choice.

Please eat crackers responsibly.

(Yellowcard – Lights & Sounds)