Fantasy Baseball Week Eight

What a week to shit the bed.  Jason lost, plus I was playing Ryan. If I won, I could make up some ground on those guys.  Sadly I lost 8-2.  Sunday I was down 10-2, but at one point had come back to 7-4, but then Ryan had a reliever pitch well and his ERA/WHIP edged me out.

I think I made a mistake trading Prince Fielder for Andrew Bailey and Michael Cuddyer.  The saves are nice, but Cuddyer is not really a good substitute for Fielder.  By the end of the week I had dropped him and picked up Denard Span to help me with stolen bases.

Joey Votto has been hurt all week, yet is not on the DL.  Sucks for me.  Should I try to pick up another 1B?  If there was one out there, I would have picked him up by now.  Most of my hitters sucked, most of my pitchers sucked.  Ugh, I am getting frustrated...

This week I am taking on Pat, who is in fifth place behind me.  If my team does not come together and kick a little ass, then it will be time to make some changes.  Jonathan Broxton was about my only stud this week, 3 SVs, .55 WHIP and a 0.00 ERA.  Not too bad.

2-Year-Old Smokes. . . 2 Packs a Day. . . .

Just when I thought I had seen everything there is to see in youth culture. . . .

Sometimes It's Best Not To Get Too Greedy

I'm sure you all caught wind of the big sports story yesterday, the end of a dynasty that had dominated its realm like no other. Yes, that's right, the Northwestern Wildcats' streak of five consecutive NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championships came to a stunning halt in Towson, Maryland yesterday at the hands of the Maryland Terrapins.

Sure, this seems like a less than exciting story for most of you, and true, Women's Lacrosse is not exactly the big money-maker of college sports we Wildcats would like to make it out to be, but at our school it is something special. Northwestern hadn't won a National Championship of any sort in 64 years when the lacrosse team took its first title in 2005. Our last championship was in men's fencing, a sport we no longer have a varsity team for. Winning one was special. Winning two was exciting. Three was almost overwhelming.

Five was gravy.

I don't like being arrogant or cocky in the realm of sports and often don't rest on my laurels simply for the major reason that "there is always tomorrow". I make this very clear on a regular basis. Hubris always pumps up that pride before the fall, and, at least as far as my sports teams go, I always try to keep myself in check. Now, I should point out that doesn't mean I'm happy we lost. That would just be nuts. But perhaps losing a bid for a sixth straight title despite zooming out to a 6-0 and later an 8-3 lead only to watch both of them slip away may serve as a useful check on all of us who don purple.

You know, because at Northwestern we're just so used to winning all the time.

Stanley Cup Finals Preview

Some of you might have noticed that the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals start tonight at 8 p.m. in the United Center. This year's final series will pit two classic franchises with two extensive title droughts, meaning either Philadelphia's 35-year dryspell or Chicago's 49-year stretch will be no more in about two weeks.

Of course, the matchup is a curious one that at the start of the tournament six weeks ago, most would be hard-pressed to have expected. Chicago finished with the second-best record in the West and were widely considered a Championship contender, but the Flyers' road to the Finals was somewhat bumpier and less expected. If you've been following the playoffs at all, you don't need me to recount the improbability of their run, but in case you missed it here we go:

-- The Flyers earned a playoff spot on the final day of the season when journeyman Brian Boucher improbably outdueled Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist in a win-and-you're-in season finale shootout.
-- Philly took out the favored, second-seeded Devils in the first round, though given the Flyers' 5-1 record against New Jersey in the regular season this may have been the least likely step.
-- In a remarkable comeback, the Flyers became the fourth team in professional sports history to rally from a 3-0 series deficit to advance to the conference finals. To boot, Philly rallied from an early 3-0 deficit in Game 7 on the road in Boston. This series also saw Boucher suffer a season ending injury, leaving Michael Leighton, the fifth man to dress for the Flyers in net this year, between the pipes.
-- The Flyers dominated torridly hot Montreal goalie Jaroslav Halak and ousted the Canadiens, themselves on an unlikely run, in five games to make a wholly unexpected Finals appearance.


Of course, if you're a full-fledged Hawks, or a supporter of any stripe like myself, you'll be hoping Philly's dream run ends here. Of course, you might also want that strictly for the integrity of downtown Philadelphia's infrastructure. Either way, my entirely meaningless and uninfluential prediction will give you an only slightly biased idea of where the series is going, but I'll break it down this way.

While the Flyers have potent primary scoring on match with Chicago's the secondary scoring is not there. I'd have to give the Hawks the edge based on their offensive depth. Edge: Hawks.

Chicago's defense has bruisers and puck movers alike, which likely Norris winner Duncan Keith and his pretty new smile in tow. Philly's defense doesn't have the same depth. But it does have Chris Pronger. Edge: Flyers.

Neither goaltender is much to shout about, but I'll give Chicago's Antti Niemi the slight edge because of his tendency to come up big for most of this postseason.

So that leaves us where? Here. Blackhawks in Five. Chicago's secondary scoring puts it over the top. On the regular.

Generally I make a comment here about how I'm certain to be wrong, but, uh, I really hope I'm right this time around. Tune into NBC at 8 to see if I am.

Another Lost Video

This is a video of the opening scene in reverse with an inset of the final scene.  It is actually pretty cool how close they mirror each other.

As Time Goes On, I Realize. . . .

Great friends, bad sound, a band I loved during the 1970s, and some overwhelming realizations. . . that's what last night was all about. Lisa and I ventured down to the local American Music Theater with our friends Duffy and Maggie to see Chicago. And before my young friends join together in mocking laughter, you need to remember some facts: 32 albums. The leading U.S. singles charting group in the 1970s. Over 120 million albums sold worldwide - 22 Gold, 18 Platinum, and 8 Multi-Platinum. Five number 1 albums, and twenty-one top ten hits. Stop your laughing. . .

I had been looking forward to this since, well, when I was in junior high. That's when my music teacher at Huntingdon Junior High School, Miss Margolis, verbalized some principles of music appreciation before blasting the band's new song, "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?", through the Harmon-Kardons that hung on the front wall of the tiered music room. It grabbed me and I was hooked. I spent the better part of the 1970s (high school and college) blasting that stuff on the living room stereo and through the car speakers. But I never got the chance to see them in concert. . . until last night.

Lisa graciously went along in return, I think, for our trip to see U2 last fall in celebration of her birthday. Thanks Lisa.

Now, about last night. They played a non-stop barrage of hits. They even played an old favorite song I had totally forgotten, "Wake Up Sunshine." The problem with the night was the sound, something that I hope wasn't the fault of the band. Vocals were difficult to hear. The mix was horrible. Still, it was great to hear the old songs.

During "Color My World" I looked around the room, thinking seriously about how I'd fill in the blanks after the first six words of the song. I'm still processing it. But here's a sampling of some of the thoughts I had. . .

"As time goes on, I realize. . . .

- that men my age and older should NEVER wear tight pants, or a shirt that's unbuttoned to the belly button and tied beneath it. Oh, if James Pankow had only stuck to playing his trombone. All three of the guys in the horn section were guilty of wardrobe indiscretions for men their age, but Pankow was definitely guilty in the first degree! It was sort of like going to the beach and seeing guys who shouldn't be wearing speedos wearing speedos. . . and I'm not sure any guy should ever wear a speedo. Get the picture? Thanks for the visual warning, James. To the rest of you, if you ever see me dressed like that. . . do something.

-when it comes to Chicago fans, I might be one of the youngest. I was 12 or 13 when I started listening to their music. Last night, I was 53. This means that the fans who were 22 to 30 years old back in the day are now 62 to 70 years old. They were out in force last night. This realization hit me hard when a pair of short spinsters that had been sitting to our left excused themselves down our row three songs before the concert ended. As they squeezed through in front of me, I smelled the strong pungent odors of heavily applied old lady perfume that I remember smelling in church during my childhood. The trifecta - older ladies, strong perfume, Chicago - left a strong impression.

-the teenage music fans of the 1970s might have been able to dance back then, but they can't dance now. Which is why I don't even dance when I'm alone. It's too painful to watch. . . even for me.

-that time goes on really fast, that time and gravity are not kind to the human body, and that life on this earth is fleeting. I'm happy for the fact that one day, a new heaven and a new earth will be ushered in, and death, decay and everything else bad will be gone forever. I long for that day of restoration.

Hey, don't get me wrong. It was a fun night. I enjoyed it. I just have to wonder, where did the years between the first time I heard the band and the first time I saw the band go?!?

One more thing. . . at one point I looked around and chuckled as I imagined what my kids would be saying if they had been there with us. I'm glad they weren't. I remember thinking the same about my parents and their music. But sweet revenge will come. Thirty years from now they'll be sitting in the same place listening, clapping, and dancing along to some long-forgotten chart-topper. . . and my grand kids will be laughing their heads off!

Chicago then. . . .



Chicago now. . . in a setting I could never in my wildest dreams begin to imagine. . . or enjoy. . . .



Okay. . . go ahead and laugh!

Girlfriend of the Week

I know you have been wondering where the GOTW has been and well let me tell you:  I have been working on this. This is just about every girl that has ever been on Lost.  There are a few that I just could not find a picture for, but this is just about all of them.  You will notice the old ladies and the young girls are on here as well.  I did not discriminate.

After the jump is a list of every one of these girls.



Alexandra Krosney
Alice Evans
Alicia Rae
Allison Janney
Andrea Gabriel
Andrea Roth
Angelica Perreira
Anne Bedian
April Grace
Ashleigh Ann Wood
Bai Ling
BarbaraVidinha
Beth Broderick
Brittany Perrineau
Brooke Mikey Anderson
Carrie Preston
Cynthia Watros
Diana Scarwid
Elisabeth Blake
Elizabeth Mitchell
Emilie de Ravin
Evangeline Lilly
Faith Fay
Gabrielle Fitzpatrick
Grisel Toledo
Ivana Michele Smith
Jackie Maraya
Jenny Chang
Jenny Gago
Jill Kuramoto
Joanna Bool
Julie Ow
Julie Bowen
June Kyoto Lu
Katey Sagal
Katie Doyle
Kelly Rice
Kiele Sanchez
Kiersten Havelock
Kim Dickens
Kimberly Estrada
Kimberly Joseph
Kristin Richardson
L. Scott Caldwell
Lana Parrilla
Lela Loren
Leslie Ishii
Lillian Hurst
Madeline Carroll
Maggie Grace
Marguerite Moreau
Marsha Thomason
Mary Mara
Mary Ann Taheny
Maya Henssens
Meilinda Soerjoko
Melissa Farman
Michelle Arthur
Michelle Forbes
Michelle Rodriguez
Mira Furlan
Mirelly Taylor
Molly McGivern
Monica Dean
Natasha Goss
Paula Malcomson
Rachel Ticotin
Rebecca Mader
Reiko Aylesworth
Robin Weigert
Roxanne Day
Roxanne Sarhangi
Sabrina Carlye
Sally Strecker
Samantha Mathis
Sandra Le Bat
Sarah Farooqui
Sheila Kelley
Sonya Walger
Sora Jung
Starletta Dupois
Sung Hi Lee
Susan Gibney
Susan Duerden
Susse Budde
Suzanne Krull
Suzanne Turner
Swoosie Kurtz
Tamara Taylor
Tania Kahale
Tania Raymonde
Terasa Livingstone
Tess Yong
Thekla Reuten
Tomiko Lee
Tracy Middendorf
Vanessa Branch
Veronica Hamel
Wendy Braun
Wendy Pearson
Yunjin Kim
Zoe Bell
Zuleikha Robinson

That is a long list.  Hope ya enjoy...

He Loved Kids. . . And We Loved Him. . . .

Even though I'm 53 years old and long removed from my childhood, it still hurts a little when one of the beloved icons of your childhood dies, maybe because you used to think that these guys would live forever. That's happened to me twice this week. First on Sunday, with the death of Wee Willie Webber, a local Philly TV personality. Yesterday, it was Art Linkletter. Both of these guys made after school memories for kids my age. Webber did it with the cartoon shows he hosted. Linkletter did it with his nationally televised daily shows, House Party and People Are Funny.

Art Linkletter was one of my favorites. When he died yesterday at the age of 97, I couldn't help but chuckle as I remembered the way he made me laugh, even when I was a little kid. Linkletter had quite a life. 97 years is a long time to live. His deep faith in God sustained him during years that were filled with both great joy and great heartache. His heartache started at a young age, when he was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan (believe it or not I've spent a lot of time in that little prairie town over the years), and then quickly abandoned by his family. By God's grace, he was adopted by a pastor and raised in a Christian home. He was married for over 74 years, an accomplishment that many view as astounding in today's world, but more than likely something Linkletter believed to be the way things should be. A father of five, perhaps the greatest tragedies in his life came through the deaths of three of his children. A son was killed in a car accident. Another son succumbed to lymphoma. The most hard-hitting of all was the death of his 20-year-old daughter to suicide in 1969.

I loved two things about Art Linkletter. First, there was his voice. It was gentle and smooth. To this day, I think of him as the kind of guy that you'd love to sit at your bedside to read you stories as you fall asleep. Second, was his love for kids. He was an effective communicator with kids because he had the great ability to move to their level, ask good questions, and then listen intently. He did that each and every day on House Party in a segment called "Kids Say the Darndest Things." He not only modeled great communication skills in those interviews, but he could really make us laugh. He'd masterfully use a progression from great question, to a kid's answer, to his follow-up interaction with viewers through the camera and a simple look of wonder and surprise. . . and it was brilliant.



Art Linkletter has a lot to teach us about living a life of faithful presence in the seductive world of media. He has a lot to teach us about communicating not just with kids, but with people of all ages. Art Linkletter loved kids, and we loved him back.

Unanswered Questions

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Watch this video and just laugh at all the funny questions that were never answered during Lost.  Like I said, further proof that they had no clue where thing were going and were just making shit up as they went along. 

Are We Winning?

As most of you know, I read a good amount of books.  Mainly fiction, but every once in awhile I will read something nonfiction.  Rarely do I read sports books.  Which I think is weird, since I love sports.  Some of you also know that I am a huge fan of Deadspin, especially the Will Leitch days.  Well, he has a new book out, called Are We Winning?  Fathers and Sons in the New Golden Age of Baseball.  I decided to pick it up last week and pretty much could not put it down once I started it.

The book is about a trip to the Cardinals/Cubs game in '08 when the Cubs clinched the division.  Leitch attends the game with his father and a friend (a hated Cubs fan).  Actually this is just the backdrop of the book.  Leitch is writing the book to his nonexistent son.  It is broken up into chapters by inning.  He explains modern baseball and how it is doing just fine, but also his own relationship with his father.

My favorite part of the book can be read here.  He discusses Steve Bartman and how that could have been any diehard baseball fan.  Anyone could have reached for that foul ball and ended up being blamed for ruining a season.  Utterly ridiculous the way Bartman was treated.

The book also made me think of the relationship with my own father.  In fact, so much of Leitch's description of his dad, reminded me of my dad.  Playing catch and my dad being able to launch flyballs into the stratosphere, or being able to throw the length of our field without much effort always amazed me.

If you are a fan of baseball or just want to read about father/son relationships, this is definitely a book you should check out. 

24: 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

I have to say that this series finale was kind of a letdown.  The last few episodes have been pretty damn awesome, but this one was a bit boring.

-Jack putting the gun to Jason's head in the back of the car was pretty great.  I bet Jason crapped his pants.  Actually after Jack made him suture his wound, then had him get on his knees, I guarantee Jason soiled himself.  Nice to see Jack knock him out and have that look of complete irritation that he could not bring himself to kill Jason.

-President Taylor threatening Dalia was actually pretty cool.  I wish she could have went through with it instead of having a moment of conscience.

-Jack's plan seems pretty lame.  Chloe will get the proof out there by shooting Jack in the arm?  Nothing could possibly go wrong.  How hard would it be for them to just email this to a bunch of newspapers, or hell, upload it to YouTube?  You could do this from a phone.

-It ends with the President admitting everything, her telling Jack to run for it.  Now Jack is escaping the country (set up for a movie?) and that is that.  I would have preferred either Jack dying, maybe Jack doing something insane, like killing the Russian President and maybe even President Taylor.  That way he could go from the hero to the villain.  This ending just seemed weak, like they had done it before...maybe back when Jack faked his death, sound familiar?

Ugh.  Here is a decent review of the finale.

Fantasy Baseball Week Seven

I barely beat Gideon, 7-5.  It was 6-6 going into the Yankees/Mets game Sunday night.  I figured I was done, since I had no one playing and I think he had three guys.  Not sure what happened, but I ended up with another category and won the week. 

Honestly, I was not really paying too much attention this week.  Mainly because of my stupid work schedule and the tendency to get up fifteen minutes before I had to leave.  Then getting home, I would fall asleep before I got the chance to do any real research.  Needless to say, it showed.  Fortunately I will do better this week because my schedule changes and I will have more time to endlessly browse fangraphs articles about players.  Believe me, that site helps a fantasy guy out.

Both of our teams played pretty well to be honest.  Gideon's line was one of those that is usually good enough to win, and mine was the kind that is just good enough to lose.  Oddly enough, it worked out the other way.  That is the kind of season Gideon seems to be having though.

I refuse to mention a Red Sox player as my big gun for the week, so instead I will lie and say it was Joey Votto.  Woo-hoo, go Votto!

This week I take on Ryan, who is in third place and I am in fourth place.  I made a trade with Imler that may have been a mistake, or it may have been huge.  I will discuss it next week though, since it went into effect today. 

Lost: The End

I am not going to sit here and tell you what happened during the series finale.  You watched it, you should know.  Instead I am just going to tell you what I thought about it.  But first, allow me to explain how I started watching the show.

The end of the summer after it aired I was at Best Buy and saw the box set on sale for $25 or something.  I had heard about the show through Wizard Magazine, and knew that it was something that most geeks were claiming was awesome. 

Kacie and I started watching it and we buzzed through five or six episodes in a row.  Hell, when she went to work I would keep watching episodes and then watch them again when she came home and pretend I was surprised.  It was that good.

Unfortunately, by the time we finished, season two had already started and we decided to avoid and by the DVD when it came out.  Which is what we did, and again it was the same thing, us pulling a marathon of Lost. 

Season three is when I finally started watching it on television.  This is also when I started writing about the show.  Most people think that I must be some kind of die-hard Lostie, who thinks the show is the greatest thing ever.  And that is simply not the case.  Do not get me wrong, I love the show, but I see that it has flaws.  However, I see past those flaws and see the inner-beauty of the show.  Now if only I did that with girls.

Despite what the creators have side, I do not believe they ever had a clue where the show was going after season two.  Hence the reason the DHARMA stuff was introduced and the whole fertility on the island stories.  I think as they went on they decided that it was a little more fantasy than science-fiction.  There is nothing wrong with changing a story in the middle.  Unfortunately there are people out there who cannot accept this, they need to know why there were polar bears on the island.  How can it be moved?  What was the deal with Walt?

These are questions that will never be answered, or have already been answered and people just did not hear them.  The polar bears were on the island because the DHARMA initiative was doing experiments on them.  Sawyer learned how to get their treats, remember?  That is what the creators would tell you.

Other questions, well those are questions that you must answer for yourself.  And that is what I will now attempt to do.  Answer my own questions.

What Happened
If you saw the ending, you know that it ended the way it began:  with Jack's eye.  There will be multiple articles written on what people think this means, aside from the obvious:  he is dead.  The parts in the church reminded me of the Inn in Sandman where everyone waits out a storm.  They are not truly dead yet.  And apparently the Island was the most important thing to happen to them.  It helped shape their lives. 

The show is called Lost.  I am sure you never realized this, and I am sure I have also said this before.  The title does not just refer to the characters being lost on an island in the middle of the ocean.  The first thing we learned from seeing all the flashbacks early on was that these characters were lost as people. 
-Jack:  problems with his dad, cannot accept defeat, control-freak, we could really go on forever.
-Kate:  running from the law and from her past
-Sawyer:  seeking revenge, being an all around jerk

I think that illustrates my point (interesting that the main characters all had some kind of father issue).  These characters were not perfect.  I could really could go on with more examples, but you get the drift (I hope). 

Once on the Island we see that these characters begin to overcome those issues in their own ways.  Kate returns to LA and stops running.  She becomes a mother, we see that even on the island though, she is always very protective of the group.  Sawyer settles down with Juliet, he stops being such a jerk to everyone.

And then there is Jack.  While on the island, Jack becomes a strong leader to the group.  Unfortunately off the island, he falls apart.  Jack knows that his destiny is on the island.  He then chooses to accept that destiny.  He drinks from the cup, he takes over the role of Jacob and he defeats Locke.

From the beginning, we had to assume that it would always come down to Locke vs. Jack.  Remember early on?  Locke believed the island was special and that they belonged there.  Jack thought he was insane.  They fought over so many things back in the early days.  Later, SmokeLocke told us that Locke was an idiot and never got anything right.  That is not the truth, he did get something right:  it was destiny that brought them to the island, and the island did have a purpose for them.  Unfortunately, that person was Jack and not Locke.

What is the Island?
I do believe Jacob when he told Richard that the Island is the cork that keeps evil from escaping into the world.  The Light is the source, maybe where our soul comes from, who knows.  I guess it depends on what you believe in.  The Light is what keeps the world going, if the Light goes out, Darkness will sweep the land and all shall be doomed.

Fortunately, Hurley is now the protector of the island (I loved his conversation with Ben outside the church, where Hurley says how he was a great number two, implying that they had a good time on the island) and as Ben tells him, maybe he does not need to play by Jacob's rules, he can make his own.

No more sucking people to the island in order to play a chess match with a Man in Black over human nature.  Maybe Hurley just let the Island be, hung out with Rose and Bernard, let them live for a long time and then called it quits.  He then had Vincent drink from the cup.  Vincent is now the protector of the Island (in the far away future that is).

Did I enjoy it?
Yes.  I had to think about it for a good bit though.  I am sure that I will watch it again at some point.  Actually, I would love to watch the entire series again.  My initial thought was that it was a little bit too much like C.S. Lewis.   It worked for the show though.  I feel bad for most of the actors though, fans of the show will never be able to watch them on something and not think of them as their characters. 

Except for Locke and Ben.  If they do a show together (I have heard they pitched a cop show to networks), that would be awesome.

Anyways, what did you think of it?  What are some of your favorite moments from the series?

Yeah, That Was A Pretty Good Day

A few years ago, I started obnoxiously coining the phrase "Hat Trick Day" while scanning the sporting events around the office TVs. No, I'm probably not the first person to develop this concept, but I may be the most irritating at bandying it about. Essentially, a Hat Trick Day is when three different teams you follow all win in the same day, and yesterday was a Hat Trick Day of momentous proportions.

Let's start with exhibit A: the one none of you probably know, or almost certainly care the least about, which involved Northwestern's Women's Lacrosse team trouncing Duke to the tune of 18-8 in the National Quarterfinals. Some of you may understand why I think this is noteworthy, but women's lacrosse is big business in my collegiate hamlet of Evanston, Illinois. Northwestern hadn't won a National Championship in any sport in more than six decades before the WoLaxers took the title in 2005 -- in only the fourth year of the program's existence. Not only was the campus taken by storm at the time, but it continues to be taken by storm as the program now sits just two wins away from its sixth consecutive National Title.

This one of course came fairly early in the day and with minimal stress. For one, I wasn't watching it, just following it on an online scoretracker. But perhaps more notably, Northwestern pounced early, taking a sizeable 11-point lead by halftime, making the Wildcats coast to victory fairly easy.

Now if only all things could be that easy.

The Cats now move on to the National Semifinals, which will be played this coming weekend in Towson, Maryland where they'll face North Carolina, the only team to beat them this season before possibly reaching the final on Sunday afternoon. If they get that far, I just may be tempted to make the trip down south if someone else will be crazy enough to go with me.


Of course, that particular event paled in comparison to the next big win of the afternoon, which was easily the biggest, and probably the most angst inducing. The Chicago Blackhawks, I've noted on more than one occasion, hold a special place in my heart after I worked for them in college. They're not the Devils, who hold the pre-eminent place in my hockey heart, but they're also not the Devils in that while I grew up watching the Devils win three championships in nine years, the Hawks were stumbling through the obscurity of mediocre, decades removed from the franchise's traditional grandeur.

The Hawks spent most of the late 90s wallowing outside of the playoff picture, and enduring a seven year stretch without a postseason berth this decade before finally returning to spring last year. Yesterday the team with possibly the greatest jersey in sports, and almost certainly one of the best fight songs, rallied from two goals down to polish off a sweep of San Jose and reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 18 years.

If that seems like a long drought, the last time Chicago hoisted the Cup was in 1961.

With the Hawks to be pitted against Montreal or, at this point, more likely Philadelphia, they're just four wins away from ending the longest current Championship drought in the League, with 49 years of shortfalls in their rear view mirror. If they pull it off, it'll be an awfully nice spring in Chicago, and that longest title-drought mantel will get shifted north to the Maple Leafs, who haven't won the Cup since 1967.

Last on the day's docket, beyond that TV Show everyone was so excited about, was the conclusion to the first round of the 2010 Subway Series, where my utterly hapless Mets actually stood a chance at taking the rubber match at Citi Field against the Yankees. While the game was billed as a pitcher's duel between aces Johan Santana and C.C. Sabathia, Sabathia didn't keep up his end of the bargain, as the Mets jumped on him for four runs early, which including an awfully surprising two home runs by Jason Bay.

Of course, the bullpen did its effort to make it interesting before K-Rod finally struck out A-Rod in an epic battle where the latter had come to the plate as the potential go-ahead run. It never does come easy for the Amazins. But either way, taking the subway series' first round and conquering the Empire State Building was a fitting capper on the day. Particularly since I hadn't had a Hat Trick Night in a while.

So yeah. It was a pretty good day. They can't all be like this, of course, but I'll hold out hope that the next one isn't so far away. If the Hawks can seal up a Championship, well, I may not have to wait too long.

Losing My Religion. . . .

If we were playing Jeopardy and the title of this blog was the answer, what would the question be? Based on the research - both anecdotal and quantitative - it might read, "What song title best describes the college experience for our Christian kids?" Observant youth workers and concerned parents know this to be the case - not for everyone - but for too many. Who's to blame?


As with any social trend or reality, there are a multiplicity of causes. The family and church have combined to fail to build a strong theological foundation on which kids can make good decisions during college. . . or for the rest of their lives. As they get older, we fail to help them prepare for the realities of campus life, thereby making their transition that much more difficult and that much less deliberately God-centered. And then there are our kids themselves, who sometimes head off to school to allow themselves to get swept up in the pressures of college life. It's all this stuff and more that led us here at CPYU to establish our College Transition Initiative six years ago.

Last Saturday I took the time to attend the CPYU College Transition Seminar that Derek Melleby - our CTI Director -
led locally here in our area. It was a joy to see the room filled with a healthy mix of high school students, parents, and youth workers. You see, this is an issue that is best addressed not by the students themselves, but by the students and the supporting "village" that can and must surround them long before, all the time during, and for the rest of their lives after the day they first set foot on the college campus.

What impresses me most about our College Transition Initiative here at CPYU is a combination of careful research on the issue, application of that research to real life, and an interactive presentation style the engages people in ways that lead to the adoption of healthy resolutions before they arrive on campus or sit down to take notes at that first lecture. Not only that, but the tone and flavor is far different from what we usually give our kids in the church. Rather than talking about college in negative and alarmist terms, Derek masterfully communicates a positive and realistic message that encourages students to embrace college for what God intends it to be. I saw that happen once again on Saturday. . . and I was (humbly) proud.

After the seminar Derek received some great feedback. A couple of comments he shared with me stand out. First, there was the group of youth workers who were responsible enough to come and check out the seminar and its content before making it available to the people in their church. (I don't think we do that enough.) At the end, they told Derek how happy they were with the fact that the content was God-centered. Could there be any greater compliment paid for anything we do here at CPYU? Second, there was the attendee who told Derek that the seminar reminded him of a Pixar film. Hmmmm. What does that mean? He explained that while the seminar targets and reaches a younger audience composed of those heading off to college, there was lots of valable insight and takeaway for the older people who have been called to walk the journey with them. Again, what a great compliment!

Each of us knows at least one person who will be walking across the commencement stage in the coming days and weeks. Are we sending them off? Or, are we sending them off prepared? As you consider those questions, I want to challenge you to consider looking for ways to play a more significant and proactive role in these young lives by tapping into the College Transition stuff we're doing here at CPYU.

First, check out the College Transition portion of our website. Derek has made this a great place for you to learn more about the issue and how you can support and encourage the transitioning kids you know and love.

Second, get some resources into the hands of the kids you know who are graduating from high school. To make this doable, we've put together an affordable little gift pack that includes Derek Melleby and Don Opitz's great book, The Outrageous Idea of Academic Faithfulness.

Third, get to know the issues related to College Transition now! Don't wait until the kids you know receive their acceptance letters. By knowing the issues now, the home and church can work together to build a strong foundation while the kids are growing up, something that will serve them well all through their teen and young adult years.

Finally, think now about scheduling our College Transition Seminar during the fall, winter, or spring of next year. You can lean more here.

Ouch! . . . Win Big. . . .

Fun stuff for the weekend. Take a look at this amazing photo from a couple of nights ago at Citizens Bank Park. Lisa, Chris, and myself went down to the game with our CPYU researcher Doug West. Doug has an amazing camera that he's been using to take some equally amazing photos. So, when Carlos Ruiz took one in the ribs . . . ouch! Just take a look at the ball on his side. Nice work Doug!

We love the photo so much that we're running a little caption contest over the weekend. Be creative and just leave your caption as a comment here on the blog. We'll be choosing the winning comment on Monday. The prize will be a nice one.

If you want to check out more of Doug's Phillies photos and some great nature shots, visit him on Facebook.

Tell-All

T

Tell-All is the newest book by one of my favorite authors, Chuck Palahniuk.  If you remember last year's review of Pygmy, I said that I did not like how the book started out because of the style of writing.  Well this book was kind of the same for me.

It actually took me about four days to get to about page 42.  Then from there, I read the rest of the book in about two hours.  Obviously it gets pretty good, but for some reason the beginning was extremely dull.

The book is about a movie star, it is set back in the 60s (I am guessing, it's actually hard to tell).  The narrator is the actresses "friend", Hazie Coogan, who is kind of a maid/friend/caretaker. 

The plot revolves Hazie trying to help Katherine (the star) prevent Katherine's new boyfriend from murdering her to help him sell his unfinished tell all novel.  Like any ChuckP, there are plenty of twists and turns.

The part of this book that I would like to complain about, is the style of making it seem like a tabloid paper.  All of the name-dropping becomes a little hard to follow at times.  Especially with so many different actors from that time being mentioned (I had to wikipedia a few before saying screw it).

Without giving away the ending, let me just say that if you are a fan of ChuckP's books, then you will expect this one.  I do not know if it is because I expect it, but his twists do not surprise me anymore.  Unfortunately, that could be because I am always looking for it (kind of like M.Night Shamalamawhatever movies).

Anyways, it was a good book.  Nothing crazy, and nothing really extraordinary, but a decent read once you get past the beginning and get used to the style.

Back in New York

Yes, this handsome fellow here to the right might just be my favorite memory from my quick swoop down to Atlanta this week. I'd hardly claim that he was indicative of the general class of people in the stadium -- in fact, he was ejected from the grounds after arguing with a security guard who made him turn his shirt inside out -- but he was probably my favorite. The remarkable thing about him is less that he wore this delightful homemade shirt, but that he a) was fairly friendly and congenial and b) apparently used to be in a swim club with my freshman year college roommate Sam, who did not recognize him.

Of course, there was more to my trip to Atlanta than that. Turner Field lacks in some of the snazzier amenities of the newer parks you'll see -- it's 15 years old, after all -- but it is still a wonderful place to watch a baseball game. Good sightlines, an interesting Braves Hall of Fame Museum, and that absolutely delightful Atlanta night time weather. I will get into more detail on the trip when I actually sit down and force myself to write a full length, cohesive chapter on it, but suffice it to say, I enjoyed my time, saw an new stadium, saw an awesome aquarium, drank way too much coca-cola and had a pretty good grasp of the Atlanta mass rail system by the time I took Marta to the airport Wednesday morning.

I'd often heard jokes that Marta was lacking, but after researching the public transit in Indianapolis, which I will be heading to in September for the Giants-Colts game, it looks like paradise. Apparently, people there don't need buses and don't stay out after 9 p.m., which could be tricky for an 8:30 p.m. start.

But I digress.

What I can best say about Atlanta is that, if you ever have a chance to go, you absolutely must make a trip to The World of Coca-Cola. If you're lucky like me, you'll get to fight the pangs of stomach pains when you try all 60 international varieties of coca-cola in the tasting room at the end of the tour. When you're done you don't feel good, but you still feel like you've accomplished something.

And what could be more meaningful than a rushed consumption of 60 ounces of different carbonated soft drinks?

Nothing, that's what.

Moreover, the abundance of coca-cola memorabilia is certainly more pleasant to look at than the overwhelmingly disturbing tomahawk-chopping cow that Chik-fil-a has put up above. Turner Field's left field stands. I was initially incredibly amused by this, but after seeing how the picture I took came out, with the low, subterranean lighting, I'm more scared than anything.

If you have a chance to stop at the Aquarium, which is right next door to the World of Coca-Cola, that, too, is worth the trip, though be prepared to have difficulty walking through if you just finished the Coke tasting room. Seriously, it takes a bite out of you.

So now that I'm back, it's taking me a little while to get up to speed, unlike Floyd Landis for whom it doesn't take long (heyoooo!). There's oodles of hockey I need to get my mind set for (Did you really think the Blackhawks would take both games in San Jose?), Hanley Ramirez is evidently a massive jerk and apparently the NBA Playoffs are still happening, and it's starting to look like we'll have to sit through Lakers-Celtics again.

How pedestrian.

If any of you are concerned, don't be, it won't take me too long to be back in the swing of things. Hell, I've already been to work since I've come home. It would have been nice to stay to stay a little longer, but I'm glad I had the time I did. Of course, it helps that the Mets won the game I attended, ironic since Turner Field is always such a house of horrors. That may not sound like too much to ask of them, but remember, this is the team that lost a game yesterday in which their starting center fielder had an inside-the-park home run and initiated a triple play. It was a lot to ask of them.

The Mets might figure it out soon (ha), but even if they don't, I still got to enjoy my trip. If only my comment to another Mets fan that we got our one win of the week didn't look so plausible all of the sudden....

Life Sucks. . . God Is. . .

Right now I'm at the point in my yearly cycle of things where the travel is winding down and I'm looking forward to a summer of decompression. It's also a time to look back at the busy months that have passed since last summer ended. I think about lots of things. What I think about most are the face-to-face conversations I've had with people during my travels. The conversations I think about most are the ones where I've simply listened while the person across from me tells a story of deep pain and brokenness. Sometimes it's a watery-eyed parent. At times, it's a confused and hurting kid. They're all pretty beat up. Entering into the endless string of these stories at the most basic level of simply listening is like jumping into the ring for a 12-round fight. Each story is a new blow that piles up on previous punches to slowly wear you down. I'm old enough now to realize that this is life. . . that this stuff is inevitable. . . that - as I've heard a number of my young friends say it with blatant honesty - "life sucks." My own story has enough of this stuff woven in and through it, but my unique personal version isn't nearly as bad as most of what I hear.

The other day I received a little package in the mail from the publicity folks at Multnomah. Inside were a couple of booklets featuring text from some of the publisher's newer releases. One of them grabbed my attention quickly. The title on the cover asks the question so many of ask as we live a world where the reality that "life sucks" continues to unfold around us and in us. If God is Good Why Do We Hurt? The title is from Randy Alcorn's larger new book, If God is Good. . . Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil. I've developed a real appreciation for Alcorn while reading his wonderful book, Heaven.

In the Intro to this little booklet, Alcorn says something to readers that presents us all with a watershed moment of decision that will deeply effect our response to the reality of life's sometimes horrific and debilitating difficulties: "I frequently quote Scripture in these pages. As you read along, I urge you not to let your feelings - real as they are - invalidate your need to let the truth of God's words guide your thinking. Remember that the path to your heart travels through your mind. Truth matters."

Read that one more time. Those three sentences capture a reality and offer a challenge that will shape our entire lives. I've always believed this to be the case. In recent years I've come to know myself better - most always as a result of life's difficulties - and I know how important and necessary Alcorn's challenge really is.

A few weeks ago I read another book that addressed this same reality. Joshua Harris - the author most-known for a book I really didn't like, I Kissed Dating Goodbye - has penned a vulnerable and autobiographial challenge to a contemporary American church suffering from self-inflicted truth-starvation, Dug Down Deep - Unearthing What I Believe and Why It Matters. Harris describes the book as an invitation for Christians to jump into the pool of orthodoxy and doctrine, and then to move from the shallow end to the deep end. Why? So that in the midst of living in what many of my young friends describe as a "life sucks" reality we can rest on the solid rock of sound doctrine. Harris is right.

I've got a hope and a hunch that the next wave of emphasis in youth ministry and ministry in general will be a wave that answers the deep hunger we all have to go deep, to live deep lives, and to know that God is. It's nothing new. It's simply the long-overdue recovery and rediscovery of the most basic stuff that's been long forgotten. If we continue to forget, we're in big trouble.

Lost: Episode 616

Let me explain something to all of my avid readers (there are three):  the creators of this show did not have this thing planned from the beginning.  I am guessing they started to figure this stuff out around the fourth season, maybe the third, but definitely not during the first two seasons.

Now that we have that out of the way, let me also say that there will be many questions left unanswered.  Last week I pondered the idea of Jacob and MiB being from the Bible (Jacob and Esau).  Now though, I seriously doubt they will ever tell us his name. 

I also believe that the island will never truly be explained.  People will write books about their theories and whatnot.  Some writers will probably expand the Lost-universe through comics and novels.  Trust me, this is not the end.

On the Island
Jack, Hurley, Sawyer, and Kate decide to head to the well to find Desmond.  Hurley runs into the little kid, who takes the ashes of Jacob and gives them to adult Jacob.  Hurley gets the rest of the group and they can all see Jacob.  They sit around a fire and have themselves a little palaver (as my hero Roland would say).

Jacob explains that one of them must volunteer to become the protector of the island.  Kate asks why her name was crossed out on the cave wall, Jacob responds that it was only a line of chalk through a name.  He did not want her because she had become a mother.  Much to no one's surprise, Jack volunteers.  Actually it was pretty cool the way there was no discussion, no thought.  He just stood up and said that he would do it.  I also loved when he makes the comment about what he is there for, Jacob asks if it is a question and Jack says nope...very cool.

Jacob has Jack drink from a cup and says some weird incantations and then when he is done, he tells Jack that he is like him now.  He gives him directions to the light source and says that he must protect it from the Monster.

Speaking of SmokeLocke...
Widmore and his girl meet up with Ben, Richard, and Miles.  They find out that SmokeLocke is coming to Ben's house, so Ben offers to hide them.  Miles runs away and Richard goes to talk to SmokeLocke.  That goes well for Richard.  He gets tossed aside by the Smoke Monster. 

Ben tells SmokeLocke where Widmore is hiding.  They go inside and SmokeLocke slits the girl's throat.  Widmore starts to tell SmokeLocke why he brought Desmond to the Island, because SmokeLocke promises to allow Penny to live.  Ben shoots Widmore and says that his daughter does not deserve to live.

SmokeLocke and Ben head to the well, but Desmond is not there.  SmokeLocke is glad that Sayid did not shoot him.  Apparently because of his resistance to electromagnetism, he can help SmokeLocke destroy the Island.

Flashsideways
I will sum this up quick.  Everything is starting to tie together.  Desmond is the key, he seems to understand everything.  He helps Kate and Sayid escape jail with the help of Hurley.  He convinces Locke to get the surgery (which he agrees to) and he lies to Jack that Oceanic has his father's body.  He is trying to get the group together for something...

Theories/Thoughts
-I really have none at this point.  I think that Desmond will somehow go into the light, yet he shall come out.  The good guys will win, the bad guys will lose.  I am excited to see how it ends, but I am not really going to spend too much time thinking about it until then.

-It is funny though how some characters are just redundant at this point.  What the hell is Kate even around for?  I mean, she is hot, yet has she really done anything in the last six episodes?  Same with Miles. 

-Jack's tattoo pretty much comes true.  Well that is good, right?

-I am sure people are really over-thinking the Light.  Jacob's mother told us what it is, kind of the heart of the world, everyone has a little bit of it.  Whatever you want to call it.  This is another one of those things that people are probably freaking out over, trying to decide what exactly it is.  What are the properties/rules/whatever else you can think of concerning some light...

Anyways, the episode was very good.  I am super pumped for the finale.

I Had A Dream!

Over the past two week, I have had two pretty cool zombie dreams.  Normally I would not want to share a dream, mainly because they are usually so stupid that no one would ever want to hear about it, but come on, two zombie dreams?  I have to share.

Dream One
This one started out with work stuff.  Basically zombies begin devouring everyone during Mother's Day.  A few of us escape work (due to me pushing the one overweight coworker into the zombie horde) and use my car to escape.  Apparently my car has secret compartments full of guns.  For some reason we end up in North Dakota playing a game of softball.  Yep, not a scary dream, kind of like Shaun of the Dead.

Hell, I can even tell you what the dream probably meant.  The fact that Mother's Day was going to be busy probably was weighing on my mind, it would feel like a horde of monsters attacking us.  My car having compartments, well when I was changing my tire I found that every part for the spare is hidden in some secret compartment.  This dream was not really that mind blowing.  But, I woke up from it laughing.

The next dream was not so cool.

Dream Two
Last night I watched Diary of the Dead (it pretty much sucked) and then went to sleep.  The dream that happened caused me to wake up in a cold sweat.  It was pretty intense.

I am not sure if I was in the dream or if I was somehow watching it like a movie.  It took place in an office building, like a huge skyscraper.  We were being chased by zombies.  These were at first your typical zombies:  slow, dumb, easy to defeat with a shot to the head.  Then something caused them to change.  Somehow their brains shifted to someplace else in their body (I have no idea how this happens) and caused them to be smarter and to be incredibly difficult to kill.

They also gained some speed and agility.  They have us trapped on the tenth floor.  The one female in our group was bitten and failed to mention that to any of us (there is always one of these jerks in the group).  She turns and begins terrorizing us.

I do not know how the dream ended, I am guessing I was about to be eaten.  I just know that the closing shot of my dream needs to be put into a movie (Hollywood, feel free to use this scene).  The office building had one of those giant, glass elevators in the center of the building.  For some reason there was an elephant and his keeper inside the elevator.

I have no idea why there was an elevator inside the building.  Maybe there was some kind of convention or some shit.  Anyways, the elevator is going up slowly and the zombies are throwing themselves at the glass.  Other zombies are using them as a kind of zombie-ladder.  As the elevator struggles to go up, the zombies are now level with the elephant and they are beating on the glass.  This causes the elephant to rear up and try to smash them with its feet.  The glass cracks and the zombies begin to crawl over the glass and start savagely tearing into the flesh of the elephant.

I do not know if you can see how terrifying that scene would be, but trust me, it was terrifyingly awesome!

24: 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

I am now officially scared (and in awe) of Jack Bauer.  This entire episode was awesome.  Jack kidnaps President Logan, threatens to kill him, then takes out the Russian ambassador...with what looks like a fireplace poker. 

-Jack dressed in full body armor and wearing a mask might be have been the coolest thing ever.  Very effective as well, as Logan screams out "Did you hear what I said?  That's Jack Bauer!"  That guy should win an award because I was convinced that he was actually shitting his pants.

-To make the scene better, he stands on the hood of the limo and shoots at the windshield until it cracks, then drops in some tear gas and then covers the hole with his foot.  Honestly, the way that scene was shot was just super cool.

-Did everyone else get upset that they did not show how Jack killed everyone at the Russian place?  It was probably the best way of showing that scene though.  Just a bunch of dead bodies and the ambassador lying there with a poker sticking out of his guts.  Again, very cool.

-I guess Meredith's editor is some kind of moron.  He is going to call the Justice Department regarding a Presidential cover up?  Remember what happened when Jack went to Secretary of Defense Heller (Jack's girlfriend's dad) about President Logan's involvement?  Heller wanted to use it to blackmail the President.  Why would this be any different?  She should have just been like "Oh, the FBI is there?  I will go to the NY Times, or CNN, or any other media outlet."  Hell TMZ would work just fine.

-I really, really thought that Chloe was going to bring in Tony Almeida.  The way she said that there was one person who could go to Ricker, I just assumed she meant Tony, not Cole.

-Speaking of Cole, I am still not sure how I feel about him at the moment.  This whole "I do not agree with Jack's revenge, but I also want to expose the cover up" thing is pretty lame.  I hope Jack just shoots him at some point. 

-The ending with Jack listening in to Logan and Subarov's (I am way too lazy to look up how to spell his name) phone call was awesome.  Even at a point where Jack is now just a homicidal maniac, he still has the foresight to plant a bug on Logan.

Needless to say, I am excited about the finale.  Way more excited for the finale this season than I have been in years for a 24 finale.

Fantasy Baseball Week Six

Ugh, this was definitely not a good week for my team.  Almost every single one of my players decided to just not show up.  That is not an exaggeration either.  I got smacked around 8-2 by a team that is not nearly as good as mine.  Pretty ridiculous. 

The worst had to be Ryan Braun, who hurt his elbow and then missed a few games.  His line this week was atrocious.  All zeroes and a .143 average.  Not a good week for my number one player.  I cannot even explain how crappy everyone else played.

The only positive spot was Ricky Romero who had 12 Ks, a win, 0.00 ERA and a .67 WHIP.  I am still in fourth place with a 37-30-5 record and just 10.5 games out of first place, which is owned by Imler.  I am taking on Gideon this week.  I hope this week some of my guys decide to show up.

In the other league, I dropped from first place to fifth place after Sunday.  What happened Sunday?  My team had two hits!  Two fucking hits.  2/42!!!  That means a .048 batting average.  That is by far super crappy.  Ugh.

Madness. . . .

Last summer a young friend asked me if I had ever watched the critically-acclaimed AMC series "Mad Men." My simple "no" was followed by a list of reasons for never tuning in, not the least of which is that I really don't have the time or interest in getting hooked on something that would require my attention on a regular basis. I've been down that road with "24." My "no" wasn't enough, so he proceeded to excitedly tell me about how the show reveals what life was like in the early 1960s, along with the development of the ad industry and Madison Avenue. I'm not sure what he said that eventually caught my interest, but I think it was when he described the old days as lacking seat-belts, while being filled with things like cigarette smoke and lots of alcohol. His descriptor sparked enough memories of life in my 1960s suburban-Philly neighborhood that I made a mental note to someday give "Mad Men" a shot.

A few weeks ago, after recalling that conversation, I sent the "Mad Men" Season 1 DVDs to the top of my Netflix Queue and we started watching. I got hooked. . . for several reasons. The writing's great. Numerous moments have taken me back to life as a child. Blink, and you'll miss a host of subtle visual and scripted cultural references that are sometimes just plain funny. There's the not-so-funny elements of excessive tobacco-use, alcohol abuse, philandering, and work-place sexual harassment. While still present in today's world, those things worked themselves out in different ways back then. And while the story sometimes feels like a soap opera, it does capture the realities of the human condition, our brokenness, and our deep yearning for redemption. Lead character Donald Draper is a tragic figure who knows that's the case.

As a youth culture watcher, "Mad Men" has grabbed me because of the way it documents the rise of consumer culture and marketing. For the most part, we have no clue at all how pervasive and compelling the marketing soup that we swim in everyday really is. Watching "Mad Men" is like taking a step-back away from the soup to see what the original marketing-chefs were doing when they were creating the recipe. We not only see the universal human longing for wholeness - something that can only come through Christ - but the ways in which marketing makes redemptive promises it can never fulfill. . . over, and over, and over again.

When watching a string of episodes of any show on DVD, one is tempted to fast-forward through the opening credits and theme. If you're going to watch "Mad Men," don't do that. Instead, give it a look every time. Over the course of Season 1 my repeated viewing of the opening sequence became somewhat haunting. Give it a look. The abyss that so easily swallows so many is filled with empty promises that we keep on believing. And the more we keep believing, the further we fall.

Georgia On My Mind

In approximately nine hours I will be airborne from Laguardia to Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport for my first trip to the state of Georgia. I have been there once before, a delightful two-hour sojourn as I switched planes on my way to Kansas City last October, but I've never actually been to Atlanta and left the airport.

This will be a new experience.

The reason for this trip? Well, if you've been reading here you already know, so, in all likelihood, you don't know, but if you know me you can probably guess. I'll be meeting up with a few friends, one of whom was my freshman year college roommate, as I see the Amazin just-got-swept-by-the-Marlins Mets visit the Atlanta Braves in their former house of horrors, Turner Field.

This will be team No. 32 for me, meaning I'm almost out of the 90s in that ever-shrinking category of "Teams remaining". I doubt I'll be attending any debutante balls or touring antebellum mansions, but I'm pretty excited for my first trip to the deep south -- assuming you don't count my trip to New Orleans nine years ago. I'm going to try my best to squeeze in a stop at the Coca-Cola Museum and/or the aquarium, but failing that the baseball will do just fine.

Rest assured, you will all have a full report at some point in the future.

Meanwhilst, the trip to Atlanta will provide me with a brief break from the Stanley Cup playoffs, which had one result expected and one result surprising in the first game of the Western and Eastern Conference Finals yesterday. While Chicago's victory in San Jose is not necessarily the assumed outcome, the hard-fought back-and-forth game put on by what very well may have been the two best teams in the League this year was just what a hockey fan would have imagined it to be.

Montrealers, however, might have to wait a little while before doing their best Philadelaphia Phillies impression after seeing the Habs drop Game 1 to the Flyers Sunday. A shutout could have been foreseen in Game 1, but Philly's little-played Michael Leighton pulling off the clean sheet and not Montreal's blazing hot Jaroslav Halak caused a bit of a double take, particularly considering Halak's disastrous showing. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Canadiens get back on track in Game 2, after all, the Flyers are supposed to defend their home ice. The Habs just need to win there once.

But more than anything else, Sunday may have showed that the more competitive, and better played game in the West, features this year's likely champ. Philadelphia and Montreal are both riding remarkable momentum, but neither stands a chance against a San Jose or Chicago team if its running on full cylinders.

That's all for today, kids. See you in the Peach State.

And It's Time For The Conference Finals

I don't have a whole lot of time today to talk to you about how mind-numbingly bizarre it is that the Flyers are the seven seed and yet they have home ice in the Conference Finals....

But with two hours before the West Finals kick off between the Sharks and my (sort of) Blackhawks, I'll give you some rudimentary and hopefully right but probably wrong predictions.

Eastern Conference Final
Montreal over Philadelphia in 7

Western Conference Final
Chicago over San Jose in 6

It should be noted that in the West I'm rooting for the Hawks and in the East, with no palatable champion left for me, I'm rooting for an earthquake.

World Record. . . Nate!

Something fun today. Nate, our 17-year-old, came home last night as a world-record holder. How'd that happen? His senior class took their class trip to Baltimore's Inner Harbor yesterday. Nate and some of his buddies happened to be in the right place at the right time. They were recruited by some Baltimore locals who were in the process of launching a new tourism campaign for the city, which by the way, is a great place. After begin given some orange ponchos and some instructions, they became part of the world's largest human smiley face. . . a Guinness world record! Funny stuff.

Here's the video. . . Nate's second from the right side of the video in the front row. We're so proud of Nate. . . he didn't even need to practice!

 

Elliot Mast

No Girlfriend of the Week.  Sorry, instead I thought I would post something a little different.  This is a link to Elliot Mast's blog.  He has dedicated his entire baseball season to the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.  And no, he is not some major league player or anything, he is just a normal 11 year old kid.  Anyways, head over to his blog and check out his challenge.  Sometimes even an evil bastard like myself can feel his heart grow three times...

Hockey In Queens?

Recent scientific studies have shown that there is apparently a third NHL team that plays in the New York metropolitan area. In addition to the preeminent Rangers and perennially contending New Jersey Devils, there is apparently another team called the "New York Islanders", which plays in a rundown shack in Uniondale, New York called the "Nassau Coliseum".

I know, I was shocked, too, but apparently these "Islanders" have been around for more than three decades, and evidently have some history to their credit. One of the oft-forgotten dynasties of North American sports are the Isles of the early 1980s, who won four consecutive Stanley Cups from 1980-1983. In fact, they very nearly had a fifth one in 1984 until they ran into the Edmonton Oilers, who had some young buck named "Wayne Gretzky" (whatever happened to him?). The Islanders are now terrible, having not won a playoff series since 1993, but they still bring joy to the dozens of fans who show up at the Coliseum 41 times a year.

Who knew?

Ok, I knew. I've always known the Islanders existed, I'm very aware of the exploits of Mike Bossy and Bobby Nystrom, I know of their celebrity fans, which include Christie Brinkley and E from Entourage, and I actually own one of their jerseys -- but only because it's the most ridiculous sports uniform known to man. I especially dig the cheesy lighthouse logo on the shoulders. Those jerseys are so reviled by the 40 or so fans the Islanders still have that the team was forced to switch back to their old logo midway through the season.

I bring this up because yesterday brought a particularly interesting revelation as the Islanders sift through a long, and difficult process to upgrade the Coliseum or find a new stadium. Team owner Charles Wang has spent several years bickering with Nassau County officials over financing for a proposed renovation project that he favors called "The Lighthouse", which has a totally awesome website.

Unfortunately for Wang, the project has stalled over recent months, and while the Islanders' current lease doesn't run out until 2015 or so, time is beginning to run short on the crumbling Nassau Coliseum and Wang would like to know sooner rather than later if he's going to be able to keep the Isles in New York or move them to a plumb stadium deal elsewhere, such as Kansas City, which has the brand new Sprint Center waiting for a tenant. So while there had been rumors for a while that the Isles were considering moving into the yet to be built Barclays Center in Brooklyn or a new arena in Queens, no real progress had been made on either front or even been of discussion in public.

Until yesterday.

Yesterday, word broke that Mets owner Jeff Wilpon has been in discussions with Wang over moving the Islanders into a new arena that would sit next to the Mets' Citi Field. The idea would be to level the chop shops behind Citi Field, which theoretically could be claimed by eminent domain, and build the arena over that territory, a plan which, to me, sounds awesome. There are any number of reasons why the Mets might be interested in partnering with what has looked like a moribund franchise for quite some time.

-- For one, the Isles and Mets share a generally common fan base, with the Mets drawing much of their market share from Nassau and Suffolk counties.
-- The acquisition of a hockey team could help improve Wilpon's prospects for landing a future Winter Classic at Citi Field, something he has publicly mentioned as a possibility.
-- The Islanders arena would increase the real estate value of the area and thus the value of both franchises.
-- The Islanders could provide Wilpon with winter programming for SNY, which spends most of November through March talking about how badly it wishes it were baseball season already.



I find this prospect pretty exciting, though it would mean we'd unfortunately never get to hear this again, because it would mean all three of the area's hockey teams would be easily reachable by train, heightening attendance and rivalries for all of them. Nassau Coliseum is notoriously hard to reach via public transportation, to the point that I, a 20-year area resident, have never even been to a game there.

Now, given how much time the Islanders have left in their current lease, any move or new arena is still several years off at best, but the prospect of having them play in a world class, accessible arena without leaving the immediate area is so exciting I get giddy at the prospect of wearing my Devils jersey out there on the 7 Train.

Maybe if we try hard enough, they'll bring back the Fisherman logo, too. Of course, we can't have everything. Besides, I think Gorton's might have some copyright issues to discuss in regards to that. Either way, having the Islanders in my home borough is an exciting prospect even if it's a ways away. I won't actually root for the Isles, but I will be watching. And you might want to, too.

Stay tuned on this one.