Life of Hober

2009-05-04T05:42:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts, but I've moved on.

I've heard through the grapevine that there's still some people that enjoyed checking this blog to find out what I've been up to. Well, for the past couple months I've been enjoying using Facebook, so that's where I've been posting all my pictures and info about what Julie & I have been up to. So if you'd still like to keep up with the Western Slope Hobers, I'd suggest signing up for Facebook, and adding me as a friend. Then you can see my pics from Korea, Morocco, and of our new little puppy, Ditka.

Hope all is well. Maybe I'll come back to this blog, but not any time soon.
-Jeff

2008-12-18T10:30:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

Just thought I'd share a little holiday cheer, and show you the wonderful Christmas Tree we were able to fit in our apartment. Hope everyone's enjoying the holiday season. Julie & I will be spending Christmas around Denver (assuming we can drive through the mountains), and then back in Junction for New Years. And (hopefully) shortly there after we'll be moving into a new house (well, new to us) in January. But we'll keep you posted on that.

2008-11-14T17:06:00.000-08:00

Hola, It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

Yeah, it's a little past Halloween now, but of course as soon as I downloaded pics off my camera, the computer crashed. So they were gone, until we paid to have a guy restore everything that we hadn't had a chance to back up yet. Yadda yadda yadda, here's a pic of Julie & I (and Shiloh) at our friends Celeste & James' Halloween party. For those that can't figure it out, I'm the Peanut Butter Jelly Time dancing banana and Julie's the taco (got the idea from the cell phone comercial where the dad's like, "now mom can quit her other job, Hola!"), and Shiloh's not wearing any costume, cause she's just a puppy.

And of course, I had to include a pic of my sister, Artie, and the twins. Note the super cool croc-type shoes they got on (Cars & Transformers) that match the costumes.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-19T16:12:00.000-07:00

Fall is In the Air

So a week or so ago, while I played in the Colorado Amateur State Disc Golf Championships (that happened to be right here, 20 minutes away), Julie took off on a little road trip to photograph some of the foliage of the Western Slope. When I asked my friends here, where the best area for her to go would be, the answer.....Kebler Pass.

Kebler Pass is a well maintained gravel road, that takes you the back way to Crested Butte. Like many other mountain passes, it is closed for the winter. But as you can see, there's no real snow yet, so no issues for Julie's little road trip.

You'll also notice that this turned out to be about a week or so earlier than what the locals call "Peak Color". Obviously it's still pretty beautiful, especially cause it's all Aspen trees. Which give you a totally different look than the Oaks and Maples of New England.

2008-09-21T14:58:00.000-07:00

I Got Laid by my In-Laws

Obviously you get the joke. Julie & I took a vacation to visit her parents in Maui, and when we got there her parents had a couple beautiful fresh flower lais for us when we got off the plane. Which leads to the biggest reason for our trip, like you really need an excuse to visit a paradise like Hawaii, but it was Larry's 60th birthday. So here's a shot from his birthday party that Joyce threw for him the first day we were there.

So for those of you that didn't know, my in-laws live in a small condo-hotel-apartment in Maui for 6 months out of the year. It's a garden view, but a very short walk across a courtyard to the beach. And so that we didn't have to sleep on a couch or floor, they hooked us up with room of our own. Which the manager surprised us by upgrading us to an ocean-front room, and as you can see from these shots...we could've spent the whole trip just enjoying the view from our balcony.

But we didn't, after Larry's birthday and chilling on the beach on the first day, we got to go scuba diving on the second day. Our trip to us to an area just off the island of the Lanai, called the Cathedrals. It was our first experience diving in the ocean, and not only did we see some cool fish, but we got to go inside one of the underwater caves. The cave has some openings in the ceiling that let in gorgeous natural light, giving it the same effect as a stained glass window in a church. Hence the name, Cathedrals. I did have my underwater camera with me, but found myself not experienced enough at diving to use it underwater. But I do have a couple shots from the boat.

The next day we played some tennis at Kapalua. Kapalua is the resort that Larry & Joyce work at part time. Here's a shot of the Tennis Garden, which is where Joyce primerily works.

We then got to go to one of the most authentic Luau's in the area, at Old Lahaina. We ate pig cooked in the ground, had some island drinks, and watched alot of dancing. Here's a shot of Julie & I that her dad took of us there. And also a shot of the dancers that Julie took playing with the exposure settings on her new camera.

Then Larry & Joyce took me out on short cruise on the America II. It was built as a race boat for the America's Cup, and took 3rd place in 1987. Then was sold off and changed to be a tourist boat. The mast was shortened, and strengthened. A motor was added (cause race boats are towed when not being raced), and the deck was changed to add a couple benches for 12 or so people to ride in it. It was alot of fun, cause as you can tell from the pics, a boat like this in the trade winds runs at like a 45 degree angle, and the chop was splashing all over. (Julie didn't come, cause she was afraid of getting seasick, and she'd already been out on the boat 3 years ago).

The other benefit of working at Kapalua, is the ability to golf on a PGA course. So one day the four of us golfed 18 holes at the Plantation course, which hosts the Mercedes Open in January. And on another day, we did a round on the Bay course, which is hosting an up-coming LPGA tournament this year. Both courses are amazing. The Plantation is a VERY long course, with alot of elevation changes. But even though it's set up the hillside, you still get views of the water from most of the holes. The Bay course isn't quite as long, but it takes you right up to the water, including a par 3 that has you shooting over a cove (see pic below). Surprisingly enough, I didn't put it in the water, I actually cleared the cove, but put it into the bunker right in front of the green. :)

So aside from everything mentioned above, we did alot of shopping, and ate REALLY well. We had seafood like every other day. Including sushi at Sansei, fresh ahi tuna a couple nights, and a night at Mama's Fish House. Mama's is a very high class place, right on the water, with it's own private beach front. And the fish is so fresh that they actually tell you right on the menu who caught your fish, and what boat he was on when he caught it! These shots are from the beach at Mama's.

So that was our trip. It was amazing, and thanks to Larry & Joyce, we got to do everything we planned, and didn't have to take out a loan to afford it either. We can't wait to go back.

2008-07-20T20:26:00.001-07:00

Let's Recap the Last Few Months

Yeah, it's been awhile since I updated this blog, and I don't even know if anyone's checking this anymore, but I figure now that things are settling down out here, I'll get back into this. But before I get into what's going on right now, let me bring you all up to speed about what's happened in my life the past few months.

First off, I flew back to Michigan, and got to see almost all our friends. We had a fantastic turn out at a little going away bbq at our favorite park in Clawson. Of course there was also some volleyball to be played. And lots of little kids around (dang we're getting old). But it was great to see everyone.

Then Julie packed up the house, the movers loaded the truck, and we hit the road to head out to Colorado. It took us a little while to get settled in, especially with my family showing up that week to visit. It was great to show them how cool it is in the Junction. And then we were able to celebrate our nephews' birth-tism (that's a combo 1st birthday & baptism).

After that came my first attempt at a Disc Golf Tournament. I don't care what some people say, the game is fun, and the courses out here are gorgeous. This one was at Snowmass, a ski hill in Aspen, that you actually had to ride a chairlift to get to the course. And even though it was mid-June, there were still people snowboarding up there. And to boot, I was able to take 1st in the Novice division.

Then came 4th of July, and Julie & I decided to take the long road on a road trip to visit her family in Fort Collins. That long road took us through Rocky Mountain National Park, which is gorgeous. Driving up above tree line, seeing a few elk just hanging out, and watching people get into a snowball fight on the fourth of July. Awesome.

Aside from what I've listed above, we've also been playing softball for our company team, going to the gym a few times a week, went to see a movie under the stars at a local volunteer fire department, played more disc golf, drove over Independence Pass (12,050' above sea level), just to name a few things. Well, that's all I got for now. More to come, I promise.

2008-05-08T19:05:00.001-07:00

Nothing new....but stay tuned!

Sorry I haven't updated this recently, but I've been busy getting ready to move Julie out here. So I'm sure that in a couple weeks we'll have lots to post here. About our last weekend with friends in Michigan, the drive out to Grand Junction, then my family coming to town to visit and celebrate our nephews' first birthday and baptism.

So stay tuned! More to come!

2008-04-20T14:41:00.000-07:00

So what do you mean by aquariums?

Since not too much new is going on out here, besides getting ready for the big move to get Julie out here, and all our stuff into a storage unit, I figured I'd take the time to show you all a little bit about my new company. Reynolds Polymer Technologies casts acrylic panels for use in really cool things. It can be used for signage, furniture, architectural uses, and of course, aquariums. Really big aquariums. This blog post will focus on that, cause I think they're really neat.

First off, one of the biggest projects RPT has been involved with, is the AquaDom in Berlin, Germany. It is the biggest cylinder aquarium at 52 feet high, 36 feet in diameter, holds over 2,000 fish, and has a glass elevator riding up through the center of it. It had to be assembled on site, and then crane lifted and lowered into the atrium.

Along those same lines, there is also a project in Lithuania, that's not quite as big. Only two stories tall, as you can tell by the escalator next to it.

Now our panels don't necessarily have to be used for the outside of the aquarium. Like in the dolphin exhibit in Indianapolis, we made an entire room and connecting tunnel that was placed inside an aquarium/pool. Allowing people to walk in, and under the water, to view a dolphin show from a whole new angle....and 360 degree viewing.

Similarly, we've done some tunnels that allow you to walk right through an underwater exhibit, like the one in the Aquarium of the Pacific, in Long Beach, California. This pic really gives you an idea of the size of these tunnels.

And we've also done work zoo's too, like Detroit's Arctic Ring Exhibit. Making a full tunnel from which the polar bears and seals can swim right up to you, as you stand in a tunnel under the water.

Quite a far cry from molding interior car parts, huh?

2008-04-12T16:50:00.000-07:00

Another Reason for Moving out Here

Just wanted to point out the fact that we didn't just pick Colorado to move to cause it's beautiful, the skiings great, the weather's way better than Michigan, or that none of our annoying friends live here. One of the biggest reasons we moved here was to be closer to family.

Almost all of Julie's family has migrated to this state, with her grandparents, aunts, uncle, and cousin up in Fort Collins and her parents in Silverthorne (her other cousin in the pic below is currently living in Missouri). This pic is from this past Christmas, and even includes her Aunt Deb's dog, Bailey. Unfortunately her Aunt Sharon & Uncle Leo's dog Haley wasn't in this pic. Maybe next year.

For my family, my Aunt Diane, & Uncle Jerry have been out this way for a long time now. Long enough that their son, my only cousin, Paul, has lived out here all 21 years of his life (sorry no recent pics to share, even though I've seen you guys over three times in the past 4 months). But of course, I do have pics of my little nephews. The pic at the top of this post is my sister Julie, her husband Artie, and their almost 1 year old twins, Zack & Ryan (from left to right in the pic). And here are a few more shots of them, cause they're oh, so cute. Like when they eat their Speghetios:

Or when we took them to the park for their first ride on the swings:

and of course, when they're tired and just cuddely, like Zack here sleeping on his momma:

(more family pics to come next month when everyone's here for their first birthday & baptism)

2008-04-06T12:44:00.001-07:00

Disc Golf - My New Game

After moving out here, I was looking for a cheap new hobby. Most of the sports I play require other people to play with or against. And as soon as you start signing up for leagues, it gets a little pricey. I already play golf, but greens fees are attroshush (no idea how to spell that). And of course there's skiing in Colorado, but again, very pricey. That's where a co-worker came in and was talking to me about Disc Golf.

Ever since I used to drive by a park with a disc golf course near Julie's old apartment, I've kind of had a craving to try out the game, but just never had. So I was talking to my co-worker, and he brought up the best fact.....it's free. Most of the disc golf courses across the country are free. They're set up in public parks, that are usually well maintained, and don't charge you to use them. Yeah there are some that will charge fees, but those are few and far between, and including gondola rides or the cost is so minimal, it's like $5 or less.

Plus the discs are pretty cheap. I started looking into it, and almost all discs are between $8-$15. And that includes the top of line brands and models. Actually the only time discs start to cost more than that are when they're dyed, or are extremely rare and out of production.

So I hit a local store, bought three discs and a bag (total cost $45), and started hitting the course. For those that don't understand what I'm talking about, a course includes holes like golf, with a tee box and a fairway, however instead of a cup in the middle of a green, there's a metal basket, suspended on a pole about 3 feet off the ground, with a bunch of metal chains loosely hanging above it (see the pics). The chains act like a very forgiving backboard, either catching your disc, or allowing it to fall into the basket. That's it. Pretty simple. The grass just needs to be mowed, not really close. And the better courses include elevation changes, hills, trees, obstacles to throw around (or through). But really that's about it.

The rules are simple, they're alot like ball-golf. You tee off by throwing from the designated tee box. Then you walk up to your disc, stand behind it, and throw your next one (aiming at the basket). The few throws it takes you to get it in the basket the better. And of course, the discs are all designed differently. Some are used for more distance, and they're called drivers. Some for better accuracy, called putters. Others as a combination of the two are called mid-range or approach discs. Then there are ones suited for more trick shots, discs designed to fade to one side or the other, discs designed to roll better, discs designed to turnover in mid air, etc.

Well, that's about it. Just wanted to let everyone know that this is my new game. I don't call it a sport, cause it's not atheletic enough for me to call a sport. But there is alot of walking involved, so it gets me out and walking around. I can play it by myself, and I also signed up for the local club, to get out and play with other people. Now I just gotta get better.

So if anyone wants to come out and play a round, I'll gladly go out with you. It's alot of fun. And of course, the area out here is so scenic for it.

2008-03-30T20:38:00.000-07:00

I'm not single!

I know that may disappoint all the ladies of Grand Junction, but just to remind myself that I'm not a single man, my wife flew in for a visit. She was able to stay for almost a week, checking out the area, celebrating our first anniversary, and going to a couple interviews. It was a great time, and now we can focus on doing the big move, and getting her (and our stuff) out here. This is the reason that I haven't posted in a while. Sorry about that.

So Julie flew in, and on Saturday and on Saturday we celebrated our anniversary by driving through the Colorado National Monument, hitting up the local wineries, and going out to a very classy dinner. The pic above is the two of us at the monument. It was a beautiful day, and of course Julie was constantly mentioning how nice it'll be to have her good cameras out here to photograph the area.

As for the wineries, there are over 13 local wineries in the Grand Junction area, with most focused in Palisade. Palisade is also known for it's fruit orchards, so there are a very broad range of wines to choose from. Standards (Chardonays, Cabs, Merlots, Shiraz, Rieslings, etc) to fruity (Cherry, Peach, Plum, Elderberry, Chokecherry) to even Meads. We only made it to 5 before she started feeling tipsy, "I think I'm getting tipsy. I think I'm getting drunk. I think we should stop now." But in her defense, we did have the equivilent of at least 6 glasses of wine each by that point (aka more than a bottle) and up at altitude you get drunk faster. And of course, we were so focused on the drinking, we got no pics from that day. Guess we gotta go back!

Sunday we went skiing (see pic above). We decided that with all the travelling Julie's doing, we'd hit the closest hill to GJ...Powderhorn. It's a little place with only 3 lifts, but plenty of blue cruisers and few fun black runs. Seeing how the weather was wonderfully spring-like, we pretty much stuck to the cruisers and just enjoyed the day. Powderhorn is 45 minutes from our apartment here in GJ, door to door, with free parking, nice small parking lots close to the lifts (again see pic above), and very little crowds. I'll finish with another shot of us from the parking lot showing the beautiful view from the Mesa (Powderhorn is on the Grand Mesa). Of course the pic hardly does it justice, and if you don't believe me, you'll just have to come visit.

2008-03-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

Happy Paint Satricks Day!

Just cause I'm out here by myself, doesn't mean I can't cook up a traditional boiled dinner to celebrate the national holiday of beer, corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and some Saint that did something for Ireland.

No I didn't cook up 50 lbs of meat this year. No I didn't have a band rockin the night away. And no I didn't get married or have a good excuse like that. But even in a down year, I still boil up a sweet dinner, polished off a couple Guinni, and watched Boondock Saints.

I mean some traditions can not be broken.

Slainte!

2008-03-15T16:29:00.000-07:00

Since I live here, I might as well go skiing

Whether it's to make my friends jealous, or to apease those looking for pictures, or just cause I like the sport, I finally went skiing again out here. I say again, cause Julie & I did get in a few days during our Christmas visit. But we didn't use two of the tickets for Arapahoe Basin (known as just A-basin) so that's where I went. It's up near Silverthorne, so about 2 1/2 hours from Grand Junction. But when I've already paid for the tickets, it's worth the drive. Especially since my in-laws were willing to put me up for the night, and they live 10 minutes from the hill.

So last Saturday, I got up really early, drove up to Summit County, had breakfast with the inlaws, picked up my ski gear, and hit the mountain. The day was overcast, so pretty flat lighting, but conditions were otherwise excellent as they have been getting dumped on on a weekly basis with fresh snow. For those of you that have been to Abasin before, let me tell you, you need to go back. About a month ago they just opened up this new backside called the Montezuma bowl. It added about 80% to their skiable acre-age. And it's sweet. All blue, black , & double black. Here's a shot from the lift of the double black section on day one, just calling my name.

Obviously you can see how grey the sky was on that day. So take the flat lighting, add in that you have to do a 5 minute hike to get over there, and I wimped out on hitting those runs....on day 1. But I did spend the whole day on the back side, as the other runs back there are awesome.

Day 2: after enjoying a wonderful homecooked dinner sat night, and another nice breakfast sun morning, I was back on the slopes again. Staying so close, I got a nice early start. And the weather was amazing. Here's a shot of most of the Montezuma bowl from the top.

You can't really see the sky there, for how nice the day was, so here are some more shots. First up is that ridge that I said you have to hike to. And yes, on day 2 I did it. Hiked up, skiied along the ridge, dropped in where other skiers were (there's gotta be something like safety in numbers, right?), and made my way down it. It was pretty sweet. If I was in better shape I would've done it more than just once (both the hike with ski gear, and the actually skiing down the steeps takes alot out of you...and I ski with a camelback backpack). You can also see two other ski hills off in the distance: Breckenridge, and Keystone.

OK, so here's another cool shot. I wasn't even trying to do this as a panoramic shot, but I just realized here at home that I could combine these two shots to show you the other side of the Montezuma bowl, and how beautiful the scenery is. Yes I skiied this ridge too. Actually about 3 or 4 times (there was no hiking involved), and you could drop into some wide blues, or ride the ridge all the way to the trees, which some get pretty tight and steep too, but it was all fun.

And the other cool thing about Abasin is the altitude. More than half of the mountain is above tree line. And if you've never skied above treeline, you really should. It's so neat, as it feels like you could ski anywhere. And you probably could, cause there's no trees to define the runs. They groom a few paths, as suggestions of where to ski, but they're just suggestions, as the good snow is off the beaten path (so to speak). And here in the states, everything in bounds is still labeled pretty well, warning you where there's little snow cover (aka rocks sticking out) or where the easy way down is. So I'll close this post with a nice shot of the front side of A basin. Where I did ski for the last hour or so of Day 2 before heading back to the Junction.

So who's coming out to visit next ski season?

2008-03-02T20:47:00.000-08:00

The Arches of Utah

So 30 miles west of Grand Junction on I-70 is Utah. You'd think that with the olympics only 6 years ago, the sign would look newer, but maybe they like it that way. So what's there to do in Utah besides skiing? Well, offroading, and looking at cool geological things in national parks. So I'll save teh offroading for this summer, and start out by hitting Utah's most well known park (that happens to be the closest to me)....the Arches National Park.

I get into the park, grab a map, and drive off. Ignoring a number of scenic view points, cause I wanna see these arches. I mean this whole state is full of scenic views. But I do pull over for something that's not an arch. It's called Balanced Rock. And if you wanna see what a 3500 ton boulder standing on it's end 500 feet off the ground. Well, it's pretty cool.

And it's also pretty cool that you park right there (pretty much from where this picture was taken), and can walk right up to it, around it, hope it doesn't fall on you, whatever. So I'm diggin' this park. Bring on the arches. The first ones you come to, are the windows. And you have to notice the people standing in these pictures, just to get some perspective of their size. They're huge. And once again, you can see them from your car, walk right up to and around them. It's really neat.

So I'm totally into this right? Next up, the Delicate Arch. That's the biggest deal here. It's the one on the sign when you enter the state. It's on their license plates for cryin out loud. But I got my choice, park and hike a mile up to it (and a mile back, obviously), or park at the "viewing area". Well you know me, less walking the better. So I pick the viewing area, which has two viewing areas. And after mis-reading a map, I walk up a path of stairs, almost half a mile, climbing 200 ft of vertical to get to a spot that I look across a valley at the arch. And you know what, it's ok. Yeah, it's all delicate, and unbalanced looking, but it's not as ginormous as the others. Maybe next time I'll actually hike up to it, and be blown away, but until then, I'm not as impressed as the others.

So back to the car and I drive on. I get to the end of the road, and there's the area called Devil's Garden. My first thought, wow these rocks all look like something out of the Flintstones or something. So I gotta get out and see some more. There's a trail map, and at first says: "Total Trail Length = 7 miles". Hell no! But then I see it's labeled green, blue, and red (for difficulty). And I decide that today, I can do the green. And I do, but again, next time I'll come prepared to do some hiking and get to see the rest.

Well, the other purpose of this trip was to do some more cool driving. So one of my coworkers told me of a few roads to try, and let me tell you, I wasn't disappointed. On one road I did have to dodge about 1200 bicyclists, celebrating Moab's Skinny Tire Festival (FYI, Arches Park is right next to Moab). But it was a sweet twisty curvy road along cavern walls on my way to the park. Here's a cool shot of all the turns up ahead, and the cop just waiting for an idiot to floor it and take out a group of bikes.

And then on my way back, I took a different route. Around the La Sal mountain, zipping along in the middle of no where, down a 9% slope (which as a frame of reference, for those of you that have driven I-70 up to Summit County, like Breck, and Vail, those roads only get up to 5 & 6% slopes). Into 15 mph corners (taken at about 40 in the zoom-zoom) with no guard rails, and steep drops. Pretty freakin cool and fun to drive. And then as it flattens out into the valleys, I start seeing these signs that I don't understand. "Cattle Guard", hmmm, well, I figured out that those signs marked where a fence that holds in cows has to have a break in the fence as it crosses the road. How well does a fence work, if it has a break in it? And then the sign, "Open Range". Well, as you can guess after you cross a Cattle Guard, you're pretty much driving down a road with a cow pasture on either side of the road, and no fence. And I'll tell you what, as you cruise at the posted speed limit of 65 mph, a site like this kinda takes you by surprise.

And if you look real closely, there's an honest to goodness cowboy, rustlin up this cattle. He just tips his hat at me as I drive by, maybe cause he's friendly, or he could tell that I slowed down to like 20 mph and had a look of fear on my face, thinking I might need to get out and do some Crocodile Dundee mind trick to get one out of my way. And later in my drive, I did come across two more herds (I have a hard time calling less than 10 cows a herd, but I guess that's what they're called) and neither of them had anybody near them. And one cow was actually crossing the road in front of me. I'm too much of a city boy for this.

2008-02-27T20:08:00.000-08:00

Why I need to get my Porsche out here

Check that out. That's the road up ahead. No gaurd rail, shear cliff off to the right. Drops you down into the National Monument Canyon. Just an amazing road, with plenty of twisty turns to keep your attention as you take in the scenery.

Am I the only one that thinks of that scene in Cars with Lightning chasing the Porsche when I see these roads? I'm just so amazed that this is Colorado, and not Arizona. I mean there are some pretty snowy roads out here too. Like Highway 50 to Gunnison. Still rock walls along the road, but a river on the other side makes it look pretty too.

And just to show you the different climates out here, the picture above was taken the same day (within a couple hours actually) as these two shots. About 60 miles away on the road up to the Grand Mesa. An amazing stretch of highway, that winds around these huge cavern walls.

Hopefully I'm doing another drive this weekend, over to Moab in Utah (remember Grand Junction is only 30 miles from the Utah border, so it's not that far). And maybe to Arches National Park . Should be pretty cool. More pictures to come.

2008-02-27T19:19:00.000-08:00

The Black Canyon

Sounds kinda spooky, doesn't it. "The Black Canyon" Well, it's not really spooky, but it is pretty cool. Not too much is open in the winter, but there were two spots that I could still get to. This was on my drive from a week and a half ago, but I'm just getting around to posting again. The Black Canyon Park is between Grand Junction and Gunnison (which is really close to Crested Butte). So about an hour or so from me. I'll definitely go back in the summer when you can go down into the canyon.

And these are my friends from the side of the road. Not in the park. Just along the side of Highway 50 on the way to Gunnison. (yes they were that close. I don't have an optical zoom on this camera. They were just chillin about 10 feet off the side of the road.)

2008-02-17T18:59:00.000-08:00

My first weekend: The Colorado National Monument

Well, seeing as how this National Monument of a park is basically right in Grand Junction, I figure I'll start there for checking out the area. Obviously, it's beautiful. Kinda like a baby Grand Canyon that overlooks the town. You can hike, camp, and picnic there. But seeing as it's winter time, I'll just drive around it, enjoy the beauty & granduer, and take some pics to show all of you.

Of course with drop offs like that, they've got some fences to hold you back. Right? Well, there are some, but you'd think that it wouldn't be so easy to get around them...

There are also some really cool splines, towers, and mesas in this canyon.

And just as an explanation of how close this canyon is to Grand Junction, let's look at the next pic. Off in the distance is the mountain range known as the Bookcliffs. The Bookcliffs and Grand Mesa form one side of the Mesa Valley, while the National Monument forms the other. So in this next pic, the town you see between the canyon and the Bookcliffs is part of Grand Junction. Yes, it is that close. And just to prove these are all my shots....here's the zoom zoom.

2008-02-11T16:37:00.000-08:00

Kinfolk said, "Jeff move away from there."

Said Colorado is the place you ought to be, so I packed up the car and moved to.....Grand Junction.

Yup, after getting laid off back in October, Julie & I decided that now is the time to start our transition to get out of Michigan and move to Colorado. So I got a job at Reynolds Polymer Technologies, designing large aquarium structures out of clear plastic acrylic. When I say large, I'm talking tunnels that people walk through under polar bear exhibits (RPT did the Detroit Zoo one), or the 50' tall 36'diameter cylindrical aquarium suspended 29' off the ground that an elevator runs through (DomAquaree, Berlin, Germany). They also do weird/neat not so huge projects, like David Blaine's sphere that he spent a week in, or the Sky Spas at the Palms Hotel in Vegas (6 jacuzzi's that look like balconies overlooking the strip). Pretty cool, huh? Well that's my thinking.

So I piled what I could into the little zoom-zoom.

And started my drive out through Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and into Nebraska. That was day one. Now remember, this is February, so of course, there was snow on the road and it was extremely windy, but I survived, and managed to stay mostly in my lane through to Omaha, Nebraska. Then day two I headed out of Omaha, and drove past Besy's favorite covered bridge, for no apparent reason, so they call it a museum.

No, I didn't stop at the covered bridge. Sorry, it just didn't seem cool enough. So I continue on, through Nebraska, and into Colorado. After talking to my Summit County Weather Authority (aka in-laws that live up there), I make the decision to drive straight through to Grand Junction, and pass up visiting with my 8 month old twin nephews (I'll hopefully see them in two weeks). Now just north of Denver I run into another issue: traffic completely stopped on I-76, and truckers standing on the side of the road talking about how if they were in a car, they'd turn around on the highway and find another way around the flipped over semi-truck that's blocking both lanes up ahead.

So that's what I did, didn't get a ticket, and only added about 20 minutes to my drive time. So it's through Denver, and up into the mountains. One more picture for Besy, and any other Transformers fan out there.

Drove through the mountains, where it was snowing lightly, but not too bad. (Glad my wife made me get those new tires though) And made it into Grand Junction Wednesday night. Good thing too, cause they closed I-70 on Thursday into Friday. So I was able to apartment hunt, find a little one bedroom that's furnished, get moved in, and the power turned on by the weekend. Then spent all weekend getting whatever supplies couldn't fit in the Mazda. The apartment is not too much to look at, but here's a shot of complex, and the mountains of Mesa Valley all around it. Of course, they look better in person, but this is just a taste of what it's like here. Now it's time to start working again, but I'll have more posts as I start to explore the area on the weekends to come.

2007-10-21T21:07:00.000-07:00

WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO SOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It comes down to Game 7, the biggest bats are somewhat quiet (well Papi at least), so leave it in the hands of the rookies. Dice K goes 5 innings, gives up 2. Not too bad. Oki goes 2 innings, gives up 1. Not too bad. But Jacoby, the CF of the future for this team, huge game, especially getting on in front of DP and his 2 run shot. Four huge contributions from Four big time rookies. And of course, Pap, not a rookie, but still pretty young, doing what he does. Not much in the K department but effective none the less.

So the Tribe, first gets screwed on the call of Manny throwin out Lofton at 2nd. Then the 3rd base coach holding up Lofton when he coulda been the tieing run. Then all the errors in shallow left. Seems like a little inexperience.

So this year its' all about the youth. And we party tonight, cause come Wed it's back to work.

Beckett Wed, Schilling Thurs, Dice Saturday, Wake Sunday....wind it up cause there's one more series to go....THE series. The World Series.

GO SOX!!!

2007-10-19T08:42:00.000-07:00

Yeah, that's what Josh Beckett needed, to get MORE fired up for last night's game.

About the only thing the Tribe coulda done is drop their bat when they think it's ball 4.

Seriously though, for those that didn't hear, Cleveland had their National Anthem singer cancel, and replaced her with an Ex-girlfriend of Boston's starting pitcher. And then mid-game Beckett & Lofton had a bench clearing arguement. But what I care about, is that the Sox are still alive. The bats heated up last night. The pitchers are fired up. And this is an exciting series as it heads back to Fenway.

Go Sox!

2007-10-08T07:33:00.000-07:00

What a little pressure from the boss will do

Here's a little update to the post that I made only a matter of hours ago, now Torre's pulling up his Ace on short rest for game 4 tonight.

With all the media saying, "Steinbrenner should keep his mouth shut" "Do you really think they played harder cause Torre's jobs on the line".....here's the bottom line. The Yankees are scared. This amazing comeback of a season was based on them putting up monster scores, and their pitching stepping up from horrible to above average. Now it's October, and for at least a third consecutive year their hitting has fallen off big time. So the normally arogant Yankees are grasping at straws and switching to a 3 man rotation on short rest. Sounds like a desperate team to me. On the other side of the field, you got the Indians saying, "we're not desperate, we've got some good depth on the mound, so you're gonna see our #4 tonight".

This will make tonights game even more interesting. As Wang got racked in game 1, can the Tribe do it again, this time in NY? How will Wang throw on short rest? How quick will Torre be with the hook, if the game turns ugly?

Then let's look ahead, if the Wang idea works, you got Pettite/CC for the deciding Wed night match. THAT will be exciting! And as the Sox have already clinched, we're allowed to look farther and say, that if the Yanks pull it out with Wang & Pettite gone, that sets them up for Clemens (or Hughes) game 1 on Friday, Wang on 4 days rest Saturday, Pettite on 4 days Monday, and Mussina (who hasn't ptiched in a month) on Tuesday?

On the Tribe side, if they pull it off tonight with Byrd, then CC & Fausto will walk into Fenway this weekend. Not something I'd wanna look forward to. So as a true Sox fan, can you possibly root for NY tonight? I don't think I can do that.

2007-10-07T20:39:00.000-07:00

3 Down 7 To Go

We all know the mission: Division Champs (check), Win the ALDS (check), Win the ALCS, and then the World Series. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The Sox are rollin. The pitching's been solid. Not perfect, but pretty darn solid. Even Gagme only let up one run in the last win.

But it's the post-season, and it's all about the pitching. So now they've got 5 days off, so how's the rotation gonna look? Beckett Friday (duh). Then do you keep it Dice then Schill? Will Wake be ready to be #4, or is it Lester's turn to shine?

Most interestingly, who will be coming to Fenway on Friday? And who will be on the mound? It all depends on tomorrow night's game. Mussina vs Byrd. If the Tribe closes it tomorrow, CC will be leading it off Friday. If they go to game 5, the Sox'll get either Fausto or Pettite. Either way, Friday will be a great game. Hopefully Beckett will be firing on all cylinders once again, and the bullpen will be ready to back him up. With a 7 game series, I don't think we'll be seeing any more complete games.

Go Sox! (and between now and Friday, go tribe, take down the spankees)

2007-10-02T08:16:00.001-07:00

IT'S ON!!!

October rolls in, the Pats are rollin, and the Sox are entering the playoffs hoping to do the same.

Apparently Tito didn't share my opinion of which ALDS scheduling option to choose, and has announced that he's going Beckett Wednesday, Dice Friday, and Schill Sunday. I obviously don't have a place to argue with only manager to ever take the Sox into 3 postseasons, so let's just get pumped, get behind the team, and hope to see some great games.

Tito did announce that this will move Wake into the pen, but they haven't officially released the rest of the line-ups to see what other pitchers will be there. Most intriguing will be Clay & Lester. The numbers being tossed around are 10 or 11 pitchers, so my guess would be: Beckett, Dice, Schill, Pap, Oki, Gagne, Timlin, Javy, MannyD, and Wake for sure. Then you gotta pick between 1-2 out of Corey, Snyder, Tavarez, Lester, or Clay. Tough choice, and I'm still probably forgetting someone. But I guess it's good to just be in the situation that you're deep enough to have a tough call to make.

Woo Hoo! I can feel it in the air. Time to live at the bar on week nights. And hopefully watch the guys play all month long.

Go Sox!

2007-09-28T06:20:00.000-07:00

OK Sox fans, what would you take if you had your choice, schedule option A or B?

Right now, as of mid-day Friday Boston & Cleveland sit tied with the AL's best record. And everyone's been talking about how deep the Sox's pitching staff goes, and how Cleveland would really want Option B so they could throw out CC & Faust twice in the opening series. But I'm not satisfied with that answer. I think it's a little short-sighted. So let's look into this a little deeper.

If you're so concerned about the ALDS and making sure that your two biggest guns get out there if the series goes to the limit, what happens if that works? Now you walk into the ALCS going #3, #1, #2 (in that order) all on 4 days rest. Then you need to use a #4, before you're back into #1, #3, #2 (in that order) . And if all that goes well, you get into the World Series with your #1 on 6 days rest. And during the series #1, #2, & #3 will all pitch on 4 days rest.

Now if option A was the choice, starting on Thursday, you roll through the ALDS using 4 pitchers, and everyone's got extra rest. Then you look ahead to the ALCS, and if you wanna use 1,2, & 3 twice each, only #1 will be going on 4 days rest twice. Then in the WS similarly to the other scenerio, 1,2, & 3 will all pitch on 4 days rest at some point.

That said, I personally feel that Option A is still the answer. The depth of the rotation is good enough, everyone's got good rest for the first series (which has been huge this year for Dice & Schill), and it sets up better for the ALCS. Plus, why not force your opponent to go to a #4 starter. And best reason yet....why not give the Indians some help against the Spankmes?

And on another note, anyone that has ever paid attention to Townienews.com make sure you check out Fitzy now on ESPN.com under their video section with his Monday Night Mania's. They're hysterical, and now he's finally getting the national recognition he deserves. Can't wait to see him going nuts in Cinci this week.

So no more losses, go Sox, take the East, and roll into October.

2007-09-20T13:19:00.000-07:00

One More Week....will the Sox Survive?

I'm really not sure. Yeah, the Tigers are 7 games behind, and the Mariners 8 games back in the Wild Card. But dropping 5 of the last 6 ain't too promising. Yeah the line-up's a bit off, when you see an outfield of Ellsbury, Moss, & Kielty, but the pitching just hasn't been there either. Especially the bullpen. Is the superstar pen finally showing it's cracks? Or does the team just have a case of the shanks, ala Tin Cup?

I hope it's the latter. And I hope that Tito can play the Cheech role and cure 'em pretty quick, cause he's only gotta week and a half to do it.

Whether they get the Wild Card or the Division, the bottom line is they gotta get hot. And do it NOW! What do the 06 Cards, 05 ChiSox, 04 BoSox, etc all have in common? They got hot down the stretch. Who's hot right now? (that's rhetorical, we all know the division rival who's 13-4 for this month) Lucky for us, we can't play them in round one (assuming we get there). And we should have the starting pitching depth to not need the bonus day off gift, like the Tribe would love to have (and at 13-5 are also pretty hot this month). The only playoff bound team that's also been cold this month is the Angels (however they just swept the dRays), but I wouldn't want to have to play the coast-to-coast 5 game series with them. Especially how good they've been at home this year.

Bottom line, we need some wins. We need our starting lineup back and healthy. And let the match ups fall where they may. If I had my choice, I'd take the Tribe with the single day of rest between games, and throw Beckett, Dice, Schill, and Lester (who's got a 2.70 ERA for Sept). So let's get some wins from Tampa, Oakland, and Minnesota, and get rolling for October.

Go Sox!

2007-09-07T12:46:00.001-07:00

Another Week, Another Roller Coaster

Sub-title: This week's Sox update

So Clay comes out and tosses a No-No. Awesome. But now it's up to Tito to guide the boys down this stretch run. Swept by the Spankees. Horrible. Chances of seeing them again in October. Huge. So the team's gotta get it together, and not just against the teams they've been beating. How weird is this, A-rod has become clutch, and the Sox can only perform against mediocre teams. What a twist.

Yeah, this post is kinda random thoughts, but that's what it feels like as the team does well, and then not, and then back on, and round we go. Wake has an off night, and Tito brings Clay from the pen for some good stuff. Anyone else getting excited to see if they do stuff like that in October? Well not the Wake being off part, but come on, talk about a bullpen: Pap, Oki, Gagne, Clay, Javi, Manny-Del, Julian, and for good measure...Wake too. I mean why not. You only rotate 4 starters in post-season, right? So go Beckett, Dice, Schill, and Lester. I'm thinking Wake's better out of the pen than Jon. And if they go three starter rotation, then we go 3 righties. And that pen's got plenty of long relief help. Now the bats just gotta stay hot to pair with those pitchers, and look out. Hopefully ManRam's relaxing, and getting back to full power, and JD gets hot again. But I guess you ask for the moon right?

So one more week, and we got the O's & Rays. Then it's revenge time. Oh how sweet would that knock out punch be, if the Sox can take the pinstripes out of the Wild Card. But let's not get too greedy.

Go Sox!

2007-08-27T09:43:00.000-07:00

It's Showdown Week - (Weekly Sox Report)

So the boys won most of the games they were supposed to win over the past week. That's a sweep of the other sox, and only dropped one game in Tampa. While the Spankees have dropped 2 to the Angels, and 2 to Detroit (with one more game to go tonight). Plus, Mr. Gagne has calmed down a little, 5 k's, 4 hits, and 0 ER over his last 4 outings.

Now we're prepped and ready to go into Yankee stadium. The Sox haven't been there since May 23rd, and haven't even seen the Yanks since June 3. But they've felt 'em breathing down their necks for the past month, that's for sure. So we go into this 3 game set with about a 7 game lead in the East. Tito's set up the rotation so we get Dice, Beck, & Schill. Torre's bringing Petite, Clemens, & Wang. This is gonna be big. Especially with Seatle turning it on as of late, people are starting to notice that the Wild Card might not come from the AL East, or the Central either. So we gotta win the division. And that means winning the series this week.

Emotions will be high. We'll see some of the best pitchers & hitters in the game. Let's just make sure the Sox prove why they still got the best record in Major League Baseball. Game on.

Go Sox!

2007-08-20T06:32:00.000-07:00

Weekly Sox Update - Setting up the stage

So Tito's starting to play some games here. The Sox were up by 5 games in the division, sitting with the best record in baseball, and are setting up the rotation like it's the end of September.

However it's really only the end of the August, but the boys in red are preparring for next week's series against the pin stripes like the playoffs depend on it (which they might). For those that don't know what I'm talking about, the Sox pulled up Clay Bucholtz on Friday for one of the double header games, in order to not mess with the usual starters schedules. OK, I like it, let's see Clay, he gets to pitch at home, and it keeps everything normal. Then comes Sunday, and who strolls out to the mound...Julian Tavarez. Is someone injured? Nope. Tito's making the call that he wants to go DiceK, Beckett, Schilling against the Yankees....which is over a week away. However I do like JT showing OC what happens when you try to steal our signs.

Talk about making a stand. Another interesting twist, Wily Mo is gone. He complained that he didn't wanna play Centerfield, when they needed someone to, and he really wasn't performing. So in comes Jacoby....but he didn't even last the weekend!?!? Next comes Bobby Kielty. Nothing against him, but I'm just wondering why make the two moves? If only JD could live up to half of his salary, this wouldn't be an issue at all. And is it just me, or on Sunday, the games on the line, runners on base, 2-outs, Kielty's got 2 hits already....let's ph Drew so he can whiff the game away. Come on.

And of course, the bad news, with Dougie Mirabelli getting injured. Now they had to bring in a new catcher, Cash. This could be huge. We'll find out tonight how well he handles the knuckler.

The Sox got two VERY important series here over this week, that can't be taken lightly. The Drays and ChiSox give us a huge chance to open the lead against the Spankme's before next week's series. I mean, New York's coming off battling Detroit to take 3 of 4, are going out to LA for the Angels, and then go into Detroit who'll be looking for revenge. That's a tough stretch, so Boston needs to take care of business, while they're battling on the road.

Go Sox!

2007-08-13T06:35:00.000-07:00

Another weekly Sox Update

Here we sit with the Sox still on top of the entire league with 72 wins. They've been on this perch now for what seems like an eternity. So why am I so nervous?

A couple weeks ago, Theo goes out and snags the best reliever on the market, and adds him to the best bullpen in baseball. So how does that bullpen give up gameS to the Orioles? The 15 1/2 games back, more Sox fans in the crowd than O's fans, home away from home Orioles! I'm not about to say picking up Gagme was a mistake, but the job of a bullpen is to be lights out, and he's got a month and a half to prove that he is. Hopefully he'll prove it sooner than later, so that we don't get passed by the Yanks and M's and miss out on the playoffs.

Most important for the Sox right now is to take more than 2 of 3 from the Drays (and other similar teams). We got 28 games left against TB, BAL, TOR, OAK, and the Whitesox, and need to win at least 20+ of them. Add that with 10 games left against the Angels and Yankees that we need to split (ie get 5 of them), and the team will be in good shape for October. (Yeah, I'm ignoring the Twins series to finish out the season, cause that all depends on how the races are at that point, they could mean nothing, or they could lock the Sox in, or they could lock Minnisota in the Central. Who knows.)

Now as we look at the manually updated out of town scores on the green monster, let's pay extra special attention to that team from the Bronx over the next couple of weeks. 14 games with one day off against Detroit, Angels, Detroit, and Boston. That's a tough stretch for the hottest team in baseball (of course, Sept looks a little different with 6 games against Seatle and Boston, and 21 against TB, KC, TOR, & BAL). As well, we should keep the other eye on Detroit & Cleveland. They've got 6 more games against each other, 6 more games each against Minn, and 3 each against Seatle. But here's where it differs, Detroit gets the 8 games vs NY while Cleveland just has 3 vs the Angels. Advantage Cleveland.

Ahhh yes, the season is heating up pretty good right now. And our boys need to stay on top.

2007-08-10T09:08:00.000-07:00

Harry Potter - My thoughts

Spoiler warning, if you have not yet read book 7, Deathly Hallows, do not read this post!

OK, so I just finished the last of the Harry Potter series, Book 7, Deathly Hallows. Add that to a few comments by fellow bloggers knocking the series, and that lead me to thinking that I need to express my thoughts on the series of books & movies, and hopefully start up a good discussion. So let's start at the most recent and work backwards:

Book 7 - Initial reaction: Great book. I flew through it, hoping that nobody I knew or online would spoil the end before I got there. And no one did. However, upon finishing the book I realized why....no big surprise. JK Rowling did such a great job with this series, keeping it good for pre-teens and adults alike, but starting with book 4 had been building the death toll up with every book. Yeah, this one was a bloodbath, but when you get to the end, Harry lives. And not only does he live, but she pulls the whole near-death experience tease. And then when the real final battle happens, she lets him defeat Voldemort, basically, with his own spell turned on himself. I mean, couldn't she let Harry try the killing curse just like he started using crucio? Nope, she keeps Harry as the patron saint.

The Epilogue - How do you take 7 books, over 4000 pages, and try to give you an idea of what happens after the battles in a few pages of an epilogue. You already finished the battle on the safe, cutesy, high-note. Harry wins. Evil is conquered. Everyone laughs and drinks at a banquet. The only thing missing was one more appearance by Harry's favorite dead relatives telling him the force was strong in him, and a few dancing Ewoks. No, JK thought that she'd continue the love-fest with a look 19 years later, everyone's happily married with kids, all going to Hogwarts starting the cycle all over again similar to Harry in book 1. And she keeps is so short, that she hardly covers what happened over those 19 years. I mean, what about the first couple post-war years? Why focus so much on what Harry, Ron, & Hermy will do for careers after school, only to lightly touch on it? What about the fact that the big 3 took a year off, shouldn't there be a year 8 as they go back to actually finish their schooling, or did that whole school thing lose it's importance? And JK did such a wonderful job creating SO many different characters in this wizarding world, yet the epilogue covers only a handful of the main ones.

OK, enough negativity, I thought it was a good book, so let's get into that:

"On with the bodycount!" - Here's something I really like. In my opinion any story loses credibility if no one dies. So in Book 4 a well liked student dies. A great example of how the dark Lord is back, and people are gonna start dying, most likely right under Harry's nose. Book 5 it's Harry's godfather. Now it's even more personal, there's more fighting going on, and of course some lives will be lost. One of those happens to be the only member left of Harry's Wizarding family. Book 6 it's Dumbledore. Now we're talking. If you're not gonna kill one of the kids, take out the next most loved character in the series, who also happens to be the most powerful. This of course shows that nobody's safe, and keeps readers on their toes. Cause anyone can die. Book 7, there are quite a few here. Every battle in this book has some sort of death or dismemberment. I mean, it is a war, right? And if you want to claim that people are risking their lives, you gotta show that they really are. And this time, there are a lot of battles, not just a big one at the end. Instead we get one every other chapter. Hence so many deaths and injuries. Good stuff.

A different storyline - For the first time really, in 7 books, JK varies from the typical Potter storyline: Life with the Dursleys, hint at trouble, Diagon Alley, back to school, minor issues at school, character development, further explanation of the trouble, Quidditch, love interests, everyone bails on Harry, then they come back just in time for the final battle, Harry defeats evil with a little help from his friends, they leave school. Yeah book 4 mixed it up a little bit with the world cup and tri-wizard tourney, which made it one of my favorite books, but that was about all it ventured from the formula. Book 5 added more at the beginning before school, but then back to the formula. Book 6 was excellent, but followed the formula to a T. Then comes 7. Totally different. Starts out the same, and then you realize they're not going back to school. And the big 3 go on their journey that takes half the book, and is unlike anything in the series to date. This is really what makes this book stand out.

More background story - Book 7 was all about tying it all together. Although Dumbly was dead, we really get a good look into his past here. And learn more about the type of person he was, and his really connection to Harry above and beyond his headmaster role. While book 6 was more about Voldemort's back story, this one was really more about Dumbledore's.

The final battle - Although I do feel that some things in Book 7 happened too fast (like how quickly the coup took over the ministry), the build up to the final battle really had to happen that quickly. With wizards that can just disapparate and fly from place to place, mobilizing forces should really happen that quickly. And how appropriate, staging the biggest battle of the series on the grounds of Hogwarts. The best part, of course, is seeing Neville as the leader of the student underground. The one that shares the same birthday as Harry, that could've been who the prophet was written about, gets to play a vital role in organizing people, defying the death eaters at the school, and then taking out the last Horcrux. By him doing that, does that mean that he really killed the dark Lord? I'll get into that in a minute. The final battle was described pretty well. With everyone getting involved, and so much going on whichever way you looked, and of course, so many casualties, it was pretty good. And best of all, when compared to other great movie final battles, at least this one didn't have the two sides lined up, and the main character give the Braveheart speech "Voldemort will never take...our FREEDOM!!!"

Who really killed Voldemort - For those of you not keeping count, Voldemort split his soul up 6 (or 7) times. So in order to truly kill him, you have to kill all of the pieces of his soul. So in order: Harry killed the diary of Tom Riddle; Dumbledore killed the ring of Marvolo Gaunt; Ron killed the locket of Merope Gaunt; Hermione killed the cup of Hufflepuff; Crabbe killed the Diadem of Ravenclaw; Neville killed the snake Nagini. So that's 6 Horcruxes, leaving the 7th piece of Voldemort's soul in him, and the 8th piece in Harry. Both of which were technically killed by Voldemort himself. So you tell me, who really killed him?

OK, that was alot there, but now I feel better, like I just talked with a psychiatrist. Hopefully I'll get some comments here, and get into a discussion. Then I'll break down the other books and movies as well.

2007-08-05T08:13:00.000-07:00

Let's Try This Weekly Update Again

Yeah, I know I said I'd do this weekly, but I got a little absent minded, now I really will do it weekly. Especially as the season keeps on chugging. I can't say it's heating up, cause it has been pretty hot since the Sox's (is that correct grammar?) slight slump a month ago. But this week, I am gonna venture a little off baseball too, cause it's truly a fantastic time to be a Boston sports fan.

Sox - Lesson I learned last week, never get in a fantasy league with Theo. Am I upset with Kason getting shipped out to Texas, a little. After starting off all bitter that he pitched the game I was at instead of Schill, I warmed up to Gabbard. He did a good job, and got rewarded with a move to the black hole of Texas. He is a very emotional pitcher, and I doubt he'll ever get that fire built up in the non-challance of AL-west basement dwellers. But we did get Gagne. At first I was totally pumped to see him in Boston. Even if he is just a rent-a-player. Now he's gone out a couple times and what have we noticed, he's not as lights out as we would've hoped. But he just got here, so let's give him a little time to get in a groove. Only issue could come up, is that he's been talking how he would only get traded to a team he could be the closer on. Then the Sox came calling, and he said he would "close" the 8th, and the nights that Pap's not available or resting. That's cool. Until a month from now we find out that Oki is actually more lights out than Mr. Cy Young. Hmmm, how's he gonna take that, when Tito's calling Hideki's number more often or in more critical situations than Gagne? If he can really be a team player, he'll get alot of love bringing the heat out of the pen in Fenway, and can be part of the most feared 3-man bullpen combo in baseball.

Celts - KG, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce. A little bit of improvement over the last few years, huh? As long as the guys stay healthy I see a top 4 finish in the East, and a legit shot at challenging Cleveland, Miami, and Chicago. However, I still fear that Detroit has too complete of a team from 1-6 (yeah, I'm including a 6th man off the bench) that this new big 3 can't hang with. However if the experiment works, and they can sign KG to some sort of an extension, then it's just a matter of filling the holes with younger guys. For those Boston fans that aren't 100% familiar with KG, he's still the ONLY player in the NBA that can honestly play every position on the floor 1-5. He's big enough for Center, and can dribble well enough to bring the ball up if necessary. His talent is amazing, as long as he's not falling off due to age. The Celts are now relevant, and will be alot of fun to watch with these guys.

Pats - Speaking of new faces in town, and guys I wouldn't wanna be in a fantasy league with. Hello, Scott Piolli! How do you take a team that was only a couple plays from yet another Superbowl, and bring in the kind of talent that they did this offseason. Who did the lose? Dillon, Banta-Kane, and possible Asante. Who did they gain? The best LB on the market (Adalius), arguably the best WR (Randy), a solid #2 wide-out (Donte), and a stud slot/returner (Wes). My only fear is that the receiving core from last year, who are ALL still on the team, don't getting pissy that they're all on the bench at the start of the game. Yeah, they'll cycle through some plays as Bill goes 5-wide, but honestly, if this crew does well this year. Look for Reche to be beggin for a trade in the offseason, and Troy to look towards retirement. Which is too bad, cause they're both solid guys, especially the way that Troy Brown was willing to go both ways, and do whatever was ever asked of him. He's the man.

Bruins - Uhhh, they need some help. And need to stop trading away the best players in the league when they have them. But how 'bout them Celts!

Till next week.

2007-06-25T05:38:00.000-07:00

This Week's Baseball Talk

I'm gonna try to do a baseball post every Monday. Even though the Sox & Yankees own baseball (see earlier post) it might actually be about other teams, but regardless we'll see how it goes. Enjoy.

First off Mark Buehrle. So the Chi-sox are starting to see what they can get for the 28 year old Lefty that already has a World Series and a no hitter, and one year left on his contract. The next thing is, they say the Red Sox are the front runners!?!?! If the BoSox pull this off, I hope to Gawd they've already started talking about a long term deal. When you're #1 in the league, have some depth at pitching waiting to break into the majors (ie Jon Lester), and are not filling a hole due to injury, you don't go after the half year rental player. It was different 3 years ago, when Theo played fantasy ball changing Nomar in for 3 starters. That took the Sox from just out of it, to Wild Card winners, etc. But when you're at the top, you don't mess with the chemistry if it's just for the short term.

Second opinion: if Buehrle to Boston happens, and they sign him to a contract extension right away.....DAMN. This year's rotation of Beckett, Schilling, Buehrle, Dice-K, Wakefield. Then after Big Schill walks for more money to pitch a Clemens-like half-season fashion elsewhere, Lester steps in for 4 under 30-year old starters that could be the ace on half the staffs in the league. And Wake's not too shabby either, as most knucklers throw into their late 40's.

Speaking of Clemens, did anyone else notice the Yankees use him in one inning of relief on Sunday, in a losing effort against the Giants? Let's recap the one inning: K, 5-pitch walk of Barry Bonds, single pushes Bonds to 3rd, Sac-fly scores Barry, fly-out. 16 pitches, 1 ER, 1H, 1BB, 1K. Are the Yankees really that desperate with their pitching staff? Or did they just wanna see the circus of Barry vs The Rocket? Which obviously didn't quite live up to any hype.

And Sammy Sosa. 600 Home Runs. Joins the club of Ruth, Mays, Aaron, and Bonds. Does he take his corked bat and size 9 3/4 hat into the hall of fame? Who's gonna get in first, Mac, Bonds, or Sammy? Now that's a good question.

Out.

2007-06-22T16:03:00.000-07:00

Yankees vs Red Sox Officially Owns Baseball

Which came first, chicken or the egg, or sports networks covering the Sox/Yankees as if they're the only teams in baseball?

The excuse of course is, the networks give the people what they want. So are these two teams what most of the nation want to see? Does 100% of the country want to see the teams that represent 16% of the population? Or did the networks take a look at the recent merchandise boom and are riding the wave?

As soon as the Sox won the world series in 2004, they doubled their nationwide merchandise sales. And that pushed those two teams over the 50% of all MLB merchandise. However the interesting part, is that out of the 15 best selling jerseys, only 5 are from Yankees and Sox. So it's more team support than individual players. And their overall revenue is only 10% of the league revenue. So it's not like they're the only ones pulling in money. And even though their payrolls are the highest, they're only paying their players 12% of the league's payroll.

Player-wise, half the AL voted on line-up has been from these two teams for the past 3 years. So the fans are speaking that more of the best players come from these two teams. And in a recent article depicting the most "irritating" players, half of them were from these teams, and a couple others used to play for them. And by the way, maybe they're just "irritating" cause the media talks to and about them more than any other team. Ever think about that?

So what's the final answer? The world may never know. But the end result is that the best rivalry in sports is what the people wanna see, what they wanna pay for, and what the networks are gonna cover. So rather than complain about the extra coverage, why don't ya kick back and enjoy some of the best baseball going. Reg season games played like their post-season. Rockin' stadiums full of fans that know when cheer, understand the intricacies of the game, and don't need fountains, amusement rides, or give-aways to draw a crowd. Whether home or away, the nation comes out to support these teams. And it's that surge in support that's kept baseball from falling to the depths of pro sports (ala hockey).

So let's thank the networks for giving the people what they want to see.

2007-06-18T10:08:00.000-07:00

The Spurs are the NBA's Patriots

I heard a comment reffering to the Spurs as NBA's equivilent to the New England Patriots in the NFL. This got me thinking, so let's break it down:

Coach
Popoavich - Old School, has a tree of current coaches that were his assistants, Defensive guru that mixes up strategies more often than Lohan goes to rehab.
Belichek - Old School, has a tree, defensive guru....yup, pretty close, but Bill dresses better.

Leader
Duncan - Fundamentally sound, not overly flashy game play, gets everyone involved, is cool under pressure, proven leader with multiple rings
Brady - Same, same, same, same, same....same kinda player, however Tom's obviously the better "playah" off the field. I mean, his girls even make Justin Timberlake jealous.

Defense
Spurs - "Bend but don't break" style keeping them in every game, pester opponents out on the perimeter with borderline-legal hand checks, thuggishly keep the other team looking over their shoulder for the big hit by Horry or Bowen
Pats - "Bend don't break", CB's hand check at the line of scrimmage, and they're always looking out for Harrison

Special Teams
Horry - Can always be counted on for those late 4th quarter nail in the coffin big shots
Vinitieri (yeah I know he's a Colt now, but he was part of their 3 championship teams) - Could always be counted on for those late 4th quarter nail in the coffin big kicks

Officiating
Spurs - Getting the better end of the Horry elbow and riding the wave into the finals.
Pats - Getting the better end of the "Tuck Rule" call and riding the wave into the Superbowl

Close enough for me. Now if the Spurs win their 4th, that means that NE's got another one coming, right?

2007-06-18T09:55:00.000-07:00

Is A-rod the greatest cheapest player of all time?

Obviously when you're paid more other teams entire payroll, you're gonna be put under a microscope. But when you're part of a classy organization (Sox fans can hate on the pinstripes, but they are usually a class act) and you're arguably one of the greatest players of all time, every move you do is going to be documented and analyzed. So when you screw up, everyone will talk about it. Question is, of the following examples, is A-rod screwing up, or is he by nature just a cheap player?

#1 - Knocking the ball out of Arroyo's glove. When you're running to first, and about to be tagged out by the pitcher, half-way up the basepath, not even close to the bag, what should you do? Do you A) Try to run your hardest, and maybe beat out the tag. B) Suck it up, get tagged out, and next time try to hit the ball out of the infield. C) Take a swing at the pitcher, as if the ump won't notice you physically knocking the ball out of his glove. Kobe got suspended a game for that kind of junk.

#2 - Sliding into Pedroia, elbow first. It's one thing to slide hard into second to try to break up a double play. It's another to come up with the People's Elbow to the sternum of a rookie 2nd baseman three feet away from the bag. Question here is, if A-rod was still playing short, would he still do this, or might he actually realize that what goes around comes around?

#3 - Yelling to distract the Blue Jays 3rd baseman. Once again, A-rod's picking on a rookie. Whether he said, "Mine" or "I got it" or whatever, bottom line is it's cheap. Is it against the rules? Not really. So why doesn't everyone do it? They got more class than this guy. Would this be news if it was anyone other than A-rod? Probably not. And that's the whole point.

So when looking at this freak of homerun-hitting, base-stealing nature, and discussing his hall of fame credentials, take a look at the whole picture. He's that spoiled rotten kid who can show off when he's winning (and rarely comes through in the clutch outside of contract years), doesn't get along well with others (as evident by virtually none of his teamates defending his cheap shots or PR nightmares he creates for himself), and worst of all, will resort to ANYTHING, no matter how cheap it is, to try to win. Whatever happened to the Yankees that just know that they're better than you? That just go out there and perform better than you on the field? And when they're having an off day, take the loss, shine their championship rings, and come back the next day to spank you? Is A-rod one of those Yankees? Or is he just a cheap spoiled brat that doesn't deserve to be in the pinstripes, and taking part in the greatest sports rivalry ever? Maybe next year will be better, when he can make the playoffs with a .500 record for Sweet Lou in the JV NL. And the Yankees will just reload at third base with someone that respects the game.