Congratulations are in order for the Colorado Rockies, who defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-4 last night to sweep the National League Championship Series 4 games to none. The Rockies have earned their first trip to the World Series in only their second playoff run.
The Cleveland Indians are currently up 2 games to 1 on the Boston Red Sox after winning the ealry game last night 4-2. BoSox send up knuckleballer Time Wakefield and soft tossing control man Paul Byrd for the Tribe tonight at 7 pm EST.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Chinese Tyrants Unhappy
The government of China is unhappy with the US and Germany due to both nations honoring the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exhiled spiritual leader. Boo Hoo.
“Such a person who basely splits his motherland and doesn’t even love his motherland has been welcomed by some countries and has even been receiving this or that award,” Tibet’s Communist Party boss, Zhang Qingli, told reporters.“We are furious. If the Dalai Lama can receive such an award, there must be no justice or good people in the world,” Zhang said."
Obviously, the fact that some Communist party hack could even say the Dalai doesn't love his homeland when the fact is that he's devoted his entire life to freeing his homeland from the occupation of the tyrannical oligarchy that this buffoon represents is pretty ironic.
President Bush will be honoring the Dalai with the US congressional Medal of Freedom tomorrow at the White House. China cancelled an annual human rights dialogue with Germany after German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with the Dalai Lama last month.
China brutally invaded Tibet in 1952 (if I recall correctly) and the Dalai Lama led a unseccessful revolt against the communist regime in 1959, after which he escaped to lead the opposition to Chinese rule from exile.
The Dalai has actually lowered himself to enter into negotiations with the Communist dictators of his homeland, but the negotiations "aren't going well", which is probably the understatement of the year in the arena of international relations given the Dalai is still the most outspoken advocate in the world for Tibetan independence.
“Such a person who basely splits his motherland and doesn’t even love his motherland has been welcomed by some countries and has even been receiving this or that award,” Tibet’s Communist Party boss, Zhang Qingli, told reporters.“We are furious. If the Dalai Lama can receive such an award, there must be no justice or good people in the world,” Zhang said."
Obviously, the fact that some Communist party hack could even say the Dalai doesn't love his homeland when the fact is that he's devoted his entire life to freeing his homeland from the occupation of the tyrannical oligarchy that this buffoon represents is pretty ironic.
President Bush will be honoring the Dalai with the US congressional Medal of Freedom tomorrow at the White House. China cancelled an annual human rights dialogue with Germany after German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with the Dalai Lama last month.
China brutally invaded Tibet in 1952 (if I recall correctly) and the Dalai Lama led a unseccessful revolt against the communist regime in 1959, after which he escaped to lead the opposition to Chinese rule from exile.
The Dalai has actually lowered himself to enter into negotiations with the Communist dictators of his homeland, but the negotiations "aren't going well", which is probably the understatement of the year in the arena of international relations given the Dalai is still the most outspoken advocate in the world for Tibetan independence.
Fletch Quote of the Day
I've decided that I like having a daily humor post, and with all the Firefly quotes used up I've decided to reach way back to a classic.....Fletch, starring Chevy Chase.
Fletch: I'm John.
Gail Stanwyk: Ohhhh, John.
[they laugh]
Gail Stanwyk: John who?
Fletch: John Cock... tos... ton.
Gail Stanwyk: That's a beautiful name.
Fletch: Well, it's Scotch/Romanian.
Gail Stanwyk: That's an odd combination.
Fletch: Yeah, well, so were my parents.
Fletch: I'm John.
Gail Stanwyk: Ohhhh, John.
[they laugh]
Gail Stanwyk: John who?
Fletch: John Cock... tos... ton.
Gail Stanwyk: That's a beautiful name.
Fletch: Well, it's Scotch/Romanian.
Gail Stanwyk: That's an odd combination.
Fletch: Yeah, well, so were my parents.
Monday, October 15, 2007
NU AD Peterson is OUT
Steve Peterson has been relieved of his duties as Husker Athleteic Director.
And there was much rejoicing throughout the land.
Cancellor Perlman will have a 4 pm press conference.
Film at 11.
And there was much rejoicing throughout the land.
Cancellor Perlman will have a 4 pm press conference.
Film at 11.
Difference Between Legal & Illegal Immigration
Doug Bandow has a great article at The American Spectator on the benefits legal immigrants bring to our shores, as opposed to the costs imposed to our society by the illegal crowd, and the issues this raises regarding our offical immigration policy. First the benefits:
"Researchers at Duke, Harvard, and New York University have been studying the impact of immigration on economic competitiveness. They discovered that between 1995 and 2005 immigrants founded one in four engineering and technology firms, which in 2006 generated $52 billion in revenues and employed 450,000 people. The largest number of entrepreneurial immigrants came from India; United Kingdom, China, Taiwan, and Japan followed as sources of productive immigrants.
The latest study by the same researchers found that immigrants "were named as inventors or co-inventors in 25.6 percent of international patent applications filed from the United States in 2006. This represents an increase from 7.6 percent in 1998." The rate of increase has been rising, growing fastest since 2004."
Next, the issue with the official policy's limitations.
"Yet for all of these benefits, the U.S., a nation of more than 300 million people, awards only 120,000 employment-based visas for permanent residence every year. Moreover, fewer than 10,000 are available for any one country, even those, such as India and the United Kingdom, which provide so many talented entrepreneurs. Yet there are about 560,000 principals and 620,000 family members, for almost 1.2 million overall, in employment-based categories awaiting visas."
Overall, the wait time to get a visa application approved is approximately 4 1/2 years. The primary issue is the low number of visas, which needs to be increased (how much is certainly debatable). The second is the horrible wait times in processing the applications, and the solution might be to turn it over to a private firm (IMO). Certainly something has to be doen when up to 1/3 of those waiting are considering dropping out of the process entirely and returning home.
Long story short, we have to make distinctions on who is allowed to both enter the country and who is to remain, and the better we can control this entire process, the btter off we will be.
"Researchers at Duke, Harvard, and New York University have been studying the impact of immigration on economic competitiveness. They discovered that between 1995 and 2005 immigrants founded one in four engineering and technology firms, which in 2006 generated $52 billion in revenues and employed 450,000 people. The largest number of entrepreneurial immigrants came from India; United Kingdom, China, Taiwan, and Japan followed as sources of productive immigrants.
The latest study by the same researchers found that immigrants "were named as inventors or co-inventors in 25.6 percent of international patent applications filed from the United States in 2006. This represents an increase from 7.6 percent in 1998." The rate of increase has been rising, growing fastest since 2004."
Next, the issue with the official policy's limitations.
"Yet for all of these benefits, the U.S., a nation of more than 300 million people, awards only 120,000 employment-based visas for permanent residence every year. Moreover, fewer than 10,000 are available for any one country, even those, such as India and the United Kingdom, which provide so many talented entrepreneurs. Yet there are about 560,000 principals and 620,000 family members, for almost 1.2 million overall, in employment-based categories awaiting visas."
Overall, the wait time to get a visa application approved is approximately 4 1/2 years. The primary issue is the low number of visas, which needs to be increased (how much is certainly debatable). The second is the horrible wait times in processing the applications, and the solution might be to turn it over to a private firm (IMO). Certainly something has to be doen when up to 1/3 of those waiting are considering dropping out of the process entirely and returning home.
Long story short, we have to make distinctions on who is allowed to both enter the country and who is to remain, and the better we can control this entire process, the btter off we will be.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Picture Says It All
They say a picture is worth a thousand words - this one might be worth a million.
I never thought I'd live to see this day.
I never thought I'd live to see this day.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Firefly Quote for the Weekend
Mal: Looks can be deceiving.
Jayne: Not as deceiving as a low down, dirty... deceiver.
Mal: Well said. Wasn't that well said, Zoe?
Zoë: It had a kinda poetry to it.
This most likely is the end of an era as I don't think I have any further quotes, but I'll double check on Monday.
Jayne: Not as deceiving as a low down, dirty... deceiver.
Mal: Well said. Wasn't that well said, Zoe?
Zoë: It had a kinda poetry to it.
This most likely is the end of an era as I don't think I have any further quotes, but I'll double check on Monday.
Firefly Quote of the Day
(to Inara) Mal: How about I keep out of your whoring and you keep out of my thieving?
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Our Old Friend Bo Pellini
Great article on our old friend former Husker defensive coordinator Bo Pellini, now at LSU. Oh, what might have been, had a certain athletic director been a little wiser. Pellini is on many school's short list for a likely head coach, possibly as soon as next year. Former NU linebacker great Barrett Ruud, now with Tampa in the NFL, said he was actually surprised it hadn't happened already. Speculation is that Texas A & M might be a school that could be interested in him given the current issue surrounding current head man Dennis Franchione. Pellini was the NU head man for the Alamo Bowl game against Michigan St. after the ouster of Frank Solich, with NU winning 17-3.
"Pelini said Nebraska athletic director Steve Pederson "stopped talking" to him in the days leading up to the bowl game and, following the victory, Pederson didn't fly back to Lincoln with the team.
Pederson eventually spoke with Pelini about the opening, but Pelini said it was clear he had no chance of landing the job.
"It was just a token interview," Pelini said. " (Pederson) brought me in because he had to bring me in. He told me I was being considered, but I don't think I ever was. He wanted to hire a name guy. He would've hired anybody that had a big name." "
Pellini's Tiger D have the third rated pass defense in the country, are number four in rush defense and are allowing a scant 9.3 points per game for the top rated team in the nation. Tiger HC Les Miles first noticed Pellini when Miles was the head man at Oklahoma St and faced NU's Pellini, who came out with a completely different defensive scheme than Miles had expected and threw the Cowboys for a loop. Miles hired Pellini away from Oklahoma after the 2004 season.
"Pelini said Nebraska athletic director Steve Pederson "stopped talking" to him in the days leading up to the bowl game and, following the victory, Pederson didn't fly back to Lincoln with the team.
Pederson eventually spoke with Pelini about the opening, but Pelini said it was clear he had no chance of landing the job.
"It was just a token interview," Pelini said. " (Pederson) brought me in because he had to bring me in. He told me I was being considered, but I don't think I ever was. He wanted to hire a name guy. He would've hired anybody that had a big name." "
Pellini's Tiger D have the third rated pass defense in the country, are number four in rush defense and are allowing a scant 9.3 points per game for the top rated team in the nation. Tiger HC Les Miles first noticed Pellini when Miles was the head man at Oklahoma St and faced NU's Pellini, who came out with a completely different defensive scheme than Miles had expected and threw the Cowboys for a loop. Miles hired Pellini away from Oklahoma after the 2004 season.
Baseball Playoffs, Todd Helton
Baseball playoffs resume tonight in Arizona with the Stone's ace Jeff Francis facing off against the Snake's top dog Brandon Webb, a former NL Cy Young winner.
Nice story at the link about long time Stones firstbaseman Todd Helton, one of my favorite players. Helton suffered for a long time before playing for a winner, and had contemplated about asking for a possible trade, potentially to the Evil Sox. Helton is thrilled with the surrounding young talent like Brad Hawpe, Matt Halliday, Garrett Atkins, Troy Tulowitski and could now wind up staying for the forseeable future despite an enormous contract.
"For 1,578 games, Helton's lone view of the postseason came from the television. When the Rockies beat San Diego in a one-game playoff to capture the NL wild card, the champagne bottles Helton popped served as an apropos metaphor for himself.
"I don't think you can put it into words," Helton said. "It's kind of like somebody asking you, 'Well, how'd you feel when your first child was born?' You can throw any adjective you want out there and it's really not going to do it justice."
Nice story at the link about long time Stones firstbaseman Todd Helton, one of my favorite players. Helton suffered for a long time before playing for a winner, and had contemplated about asking for a possible trade, potentially to the Evil Sox. Helton is thrilled with the surrounding young talent like Brad Hawpe, Matt Halliday, Garrett Atkins, Troy Tulowitski and could now wind up staying for the forseeable future despite an enormous contract.
"For 1,578 games, Helton's lone view of the postseason came from the television. When the Rockies beat San Diego in a one-game playoff to capture the NL wild card, the champagne bottles Helton popped served as an apropos metaphor for himself.
"I don't think you can put it into words," Helton said. "It's kind of like somebody asking you, 'Well, how'd you feel when your first child was born?' You can throw any adjective you want out there and it's really not going to do it justice."
Firefly Quote of the Day
Jayne: [Jayne, himself a tough guy, describing a mobster's goons] These are stone killers. They ain't cuddly like me.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Republican Debate
Byron York at NRO has a good rundown of the Republican debate yesterday in Michigan. I watched much of it myself, although not every minute. It was the most notable debate so far due to the presence of Fred Thompson (yes, I'm a supporter). It was Fred's first debate, and the general consensus around the blogs and MSM appears to be that he did pretty well after a slow start. The debate was focused almost squarely on economic issues, so there was not a great deal of disagreement on the Republican mantra of lower taxes, free trade, spending restraint and a moderate regulatory environment, although with some exceptions from the fringe guys.
Moderator Chris Matthews went after Fred on a couple of times, and Fred showed that he couldn't be pushed around. Matthews pressed him to name Candian PM Steve Harper, which he did, and then Matthews spouted off on Thompson's answer about whether the govenrment should intevene in the case of an auto strike - Thompson said no, paused a bit to gather his thoughts for a more thorough response and delivered that the economy and national security consideration should be given to such a situation, but that it should not really involve government outside those parameters. Matthews voiced his opinion Fred should have stopped at "no" and Thompson countered by stating "that's your opinion, Christopher", which I thought was an excellent counter to Matthews' bluster.
Rudy and Mitt went after each other's respective records on taxing and budget issues, and there were several mentions and critiques of Hillary Clinton. John Henke of QandO fame is Fred's online outreach guy and live blogged the event here. Ed Morrissey also has reaction at CQ here.
I thought Fred did very well myself, along with Rudy and John McCain. I thought it was interesting how Fred responded to a Social Security question. When asked what he would do to fix the entitlement issue, he responded that he would change the growth in payments for younger workers (not anyone in retirement or near it) to be indexed to the inflation rate rather than the wage rate (which would lower benefit payments) but also form personal accounts for these younger workers, which is a trade off I would heartily endorse with enthusiasm. It was one of the more detailed responses from any of the candidates on any issue, but I expect someone or another to try to beat him up with it, but I'm pretty sure given his performance that he will be able to handle it pretty deftly.
Moderator Chris Matthews went after Fred on a couple of times, and Fred showed that he couldn't be pushed around. Matthews pressed him to name Candian PM Steve Harper, which he did, and then Matthews spouted off on Thompson's answer about whether the govenrment should intevene in the case of an auto strike - Thompson said no, paused a bit to gather his thoughts for a more thorough response and delivered that the economy and national security consideration should be given to such a situation, but that it should not really involve government outside those parameters. Matthews voiced his opinion Fred should have stopped at "no" and Thompson countered by stating "that's your opinion, Christopher", which I thought was an excellent counter to Matthews' bluster.
Rudy and Mitt went after each other's respective records on taxing and budget issues, and there were several mentions and critiques of Hillary Clinton. John Henke of QandO fame is Fred's online outreach guy and live blogged the event here. Ed Morrissey also has reaction at CQ here.
I thought Fred did very well myself, along with Rudy and John McCain. I thought it was interesting how Fred responded to a Social Security question. When asked what he would do to fix the entitlement issue, he responded that he would change the growth in payments for younger workers (not anyone in retirement or near it) to be indexed to the inflation rate rather than the wage rate (which would lower benefit payments) but also form personal accounts for these younger workers, which is a trade off I would heartily endorse with enthusiasm. It was one of the more detailed responses from any of the candidates on any issue, but I expect someone or another to try to beat him up with it, but I'm pretty sure given his performance that he will be able to handle it pretty deftly.
Blackshirts?
Obviously, the team missed the shootout memo I issued from last week. Egad. OWH and LJS both ran articles yesterday on the woes of the Blackshirts. OWH had a nice chart whose info I've copied here.
Defensive struggles
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nebraska ranks near the bottom of several Big 12 defensive categories.
Category Avg. Rank
Pass defense 25.1 yds/gm 9
Rush defense 190.5 yds/gm 12
Total defense 441.5 yds/gm 12
Opponent 1st downs 136 12
Sacks 6 T-11
Red zone def.
(% pts. allowed) 88.5% 10
In addition, the LJS/Husker Extra article I linked gave the historical backdrop to the defensive breakdown. NU has given up more than 40 point in three games this half of a season so far - the last time this happened at NU, it was over the course of the full 1943 season. Huskers did not allow 40 point in a game in the entire decade of the 70s and only twice in the 80s.
The yardage mark above (441) would be the most yards given up by a Husker team in the history of the program. Previous high was 379, given up in by a 1948 team that wnet 2-8. The 32 first downs given up Saturday were the most ever in a game, and the defense is on a pace to give up more points and yardage than any team in the history of the program as well.
The question is, will it get any better? While I certainly hope so, Oklahoma State has an offensive club ranking #14 in total offense, but the Huskers have historically always played well at home, even in the Callaghan era, so I'm calling this one for NU, 30-28 in a nail biter.
Defensive struggles
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nebraska ranks near the bottom of several Big 12 defensive categories.
Category Avg. Rank
Pass defense 25.1 yds/gm 9
Rush defense 190.5 yds/gm 12
Total defense 441.5 yds/gm 12
Opponent 1st downs 136 12
Sacks 6 T-11
Red zone def.
(% pts. allowed) 88.5% 10
In addition, the LJS/Husker Extra article I linked gave the historical backdrop to the defensive breakdown. NU has given up more than 40 point in three games this half of a season so far - the last time this happened at NU, it was over the course of the full 1943 season. Huskers did not allow 40 point in a game in the entire decade of the 70s and only twice in the 80s.
The yardage mark above (441) would be the most yards given up by a Husker team in the history of the program. Previous high was 379, given up in by a 1948 team that wnet 2-8. The 32 first downs given up Saturday were the most ever in a game, and the defense is on a pace to give up more points and yardage than any team in the history of the program as well.
The question is, will it get any better? While I certainly hope so, Oklahoma State has an offensive club ranking #14 in total offense, but the Huskers have historically always played well at home, even in the Callaghan era, so I'm calling this one for NU, 30-28 in a nail biter.
Scientist Excited by New Telescopes
Nice article at MSNBC about the new generation of space science instruments that are planned or coming on line over the next decade. They could unlock mysteries such as how galaxies form, how solar system formed, and discover terrestrial type planets orbiting other stars.
"Instruments such as the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), the Expanded Very Large Array, the European Extremely Large Telescope and the Giant Segmented Mirror Telescope could answer these questions and raise new ones, scientists said at the "Astrophysics in the Next Decade" conference in Tucson, Arizona, last month.
The instrument many scientists are most excited about, however, is NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), hailed as the successor to Hubble and set to launch in 2013."
The current findings about the beginning of the universe are missing a few pages between the era immediately after the Big Bang when the universe was around a million years old and the formation of the first galaxies when the universe was about a billion years of age. The new instruments, particularly the Webb, might shed light on the formation of these primordial galaxies and determine their chemical composition, perhaps even mapping their early movements.
The Webb telescope would also be capable of finding planets transiting in front of their parent stars, and will be designed to be sensitive enough to see smaller earth type planets and measure their atmospheric composition, temperatures and more accurately determine their mass than current instruments. Webb and the ALMA will also be able to closely examine many of our own system's distant Kyper Belt objects outside the oribit of the planet Neptune, which could help us determine how our own system was formed.
Definitely a good time to be starting out as a young astronomer.
"Instruments such as the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), the Expanded Very Large Array, the European Extremely Large Telescope and the Giant Segmented Mirror Telescope could answer these questions and raise new ones, scientists said at the "Astrophysics in the Next Decade" conference in Tucson, Arizona, last month.
The instrument many scientists are most excited about, however, is NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), hailed as the successor to Hubble and set to launch in 2013."
The current findings about the beginning of the universe are missing a few pages between the era immediately after the Big Bang when the universe was around a million years old and the formation of the first galaxies when the universe was about a billion years of age. The new instruments, particularly the Webb, might shed light on the formation of these primordial galaxies and determine their chemical composition, perhaps even mapping their early movements.
The Webb telescope would also be capable of finding planets transiting in front of their parent stars, and will be designed to be sensitive enough to see smaller earth type planets and measure their atmospheric composition, temperatures and more accurately determine their mass than current instruments. Webb and the ALMA will also be able to closely examine many of our own system's distant Kyper Belt objects outside the oribit of the planet Neptune, which could help us determine how our own system was formed.
Definitely a good time to be starting out as a young astronomer.
Firefly Quote of the Day
Mal: You are very much lacking in imagination.
Zoë: I imagine that's so, sir.
Zoë: I imagine that's so, sir.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Climate Change Caused Human Migration From Africa
via ScienceDaily.com
New evidence has been uncovered that suggest the primary reason for the migration of early human populations from Africa between 135,000 and 90,000 years ago was a series of severe and unprecedented droughts in Eastern Africa. Core samples from southeastern Africa's Lake Malawi, one of the world's deepest lakes, dropped almost 600 meters over the drought period. These samples show that the amount of vegetation and animal life much reduced from both earlier periods and their current diversity.
Present day Africa's lush vegetation and wildlife returned to the area around 70,000 years ago, and the lake refilled at that time to near its current level of 700 meters. University of Arizona researcher Steven Cohen compared the rainfall patterns area around the lake today to the southeastern United States, but during the drought period 100,000 years ago, these precipitation patterns would have been much more like the southwestern US's Sonora Desert region around the city of Tucson, AZ.
New evidence has been uncovered that suggest the primary reason for the migration of early human populations from Africa between 135,000 and 90,000 years ago was a series of severe and unprecedented droughts in Eastern Africa. Core samples from southeastern Africa's Lake Malawi, one of the world's deepest lakes, dropped almost 600 meters over the drought period. These samples show that the amount of vegetation and animal life much reduced from both earlier periods and their current diversity.
Present day Africa's lush vegetation and wildlife returned to the area around 70,000 years ago, and the lake refilled at that time to near its current level of 700 meters. University of Arizona researcher Steven Cohen compared the rainfall patterns area around the lake today to the southeastern United States, but during the drought period 100,000 years ago, these precipitation patterns would have been much more like the southwestern US's Sonora Desert region around the city of Tucson, AZ.
Firefly Quote of the Day
Zoë: [about Serenity, on first seeing her] You paid money for this, sir? On purpose?
Monday, October 08, 2007
Baseball Playoffs
Three of the four playoff division series were decided this weekend, and I was actually on hand to witness one of them, which was pretty cool.
In the American League, the Evil Stockings stuck it to the Halos last night behind Curt Schilling, to conclude their series sweep. Meanwhile, the Yanks stay alive for another game tonight beating the Tribe 8-4. Johnny Damon's 3 run dinger put the cap on a four run 5th to put NY ahead after they fell behind 3-0 due to an ineffective Rocket. Rookies Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain stepped up to shut down the Tribe after the nicked up Rocket (battling a bad hammy) was lifted in the third. Paul Byrd faces Ching Ming Wang tonight for Game 4.
In the National League, the Snakes sent the Little Bears home on Saturday 5-1 behind Livan Hernandez and the power of three dingers, including Chris Young's on the first first pitch, his second of the series. Steven Drew batted .500 for the series and also hit 2 bombs, including one on Saturday as well. Eric Byrnes also homered.
The Snakes are set to meet up with the division rival Stones on Thursday. I was on hand for Colorado's first playoff series victory in franchise history, and the citizens of the Mile High City were elated with their club. Rookie P Umaldo Jimenez threw 6 1/3 strong innings, then turned it over to the bullpen which continued to effectively close things out behind Brian Fuentes and Manny Corpas, who's saved 21 of 22 chances.
The Stupid's castoff 2B Kaz Matsui was the big series hero with 6 RBI, including a RBI triple in the fifth of the deciding Game 3. After Philly tied it up on Shane Victorino's 7th inning bomb to right, Stones Manager Clint Hurdle played yet another hunch and sent reserve 1B/OF Jeff Baker to the plate in the eigth with two men on and he responded with a clean single to score 3B Garrett Atkins for the eventual game winner.
It was the first game Colorado had won at home while scoring 2 runs or less since July 9, 2005. A very poignant moment came before the game, when the two sons of deceased AA coach Mike Coolbaugh, ages 5 and 3, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Coolbaugh was killed by a line drive to the neck on July 22nd of this year. The team has voted his pregnant widow Amanda a full share from the team's playoff bonuses.
In the American League, the Evil Stockings stuck it to the Halos last night behind Curt Schilling, to conclude their series sweep. Meanwhile, the Yanks stay alive for another game tonight beating the Tribe 8-4. Johnny Damon's 3 run dinger put the cap on a four run 5th to put NY ahead after they fell behind 3-0 due to an ineffective Rocket. Rookies Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain stepped up to shut down the Tribe after the nicked up Rocket (battling a bad hammy) was lifted in the third. Paul Byrd faces Ching Ming Wang tonight for Game 4.
In the National League, the Snakes sent the Little Bears home on Saturday 5-1 behind Livan Hernandez and the power of three dingers, including Chris Young's on the first first pitch, his second of the series. Steven Drew batted .500 for the series and also hit 2 bombs, including one on Saturday as well. Eric Byrnes also homered.
The Snakes are set to meet up with the division rival Stones on Thursday. I was on hand for Colorado's first playoff series victory in franchise history, and the citizens of the Mile High City were elated with their club. Rookie P Umaldo Jimenez threw 6 1/3 strong innings, then turned it over to the bullpen which continued to effectively close things out behind Brian Fuentes and Manny Corpas, who's saved 21 of 22 chances.
The Stupid's castoff 2B Kaz Matsui was the big series hero with 6 RBI, including a RBI triple in the fifth of the deciding Game 3. After Philly tied it up on Shane Victorino's 7th inning bomb to right, Stones Manager Clint Hurdle played yet another hunch and sent reserve 1B/OF Jeff Baker to the plate in the eigth with two men on and he responded with a clean single to score 3B Garrett Atkins for the eventual game winner.
It was the first game Colorado had won at home while scoring 2 runs or less since July 9, 2005. A very poignant moment came before the game, when the two sons of deceased AA coach Mike Coolbaugh, ages 5 and 3, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Coolbaugh was killed by a line drive to the neck on July 22nd of this year. The team has voted his pregnant widow Amanda a full share from the team's playoff bonuses.
Firefly Quote of the Day
Kaylee: Don't you just love this party? Everything's so fancy, and there's some kind of hot cheese over there.
Friday, October 05, 2007
Firefly Quote for the Weekend
Simon: Captain, why did you come back for us?
Mal: You're on my crew
Simon: Yeah, but you don't even like me. Why'd you come back?
Mal: You're on my crew. Why are we still talking about this?
Mal: You're on my crew
Simon: Yeah, but you don't even like me. Why'd you come back?
Mal: You're on my crew. Why are we still talking about this?
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