Perhaps You Notice Something Odd Here

Aaron Durley is 6'8" and is playing in the Little League World Series.

That is the most odd story here, but it isn't the only incredibly odd thing going on here. Let me present to you the Saudi Arabian Little League Team:


That would be Manager James Durley, Coach Tom Timoney, Adam Mascarenhas, Ryan Somogye, Robert Eyvazzadeh, Matt Timoney, Nate Barnett, Daniel Clark, George Luo, Michael Knight, the aforementioned Aaron Durley, Andrew Holden and Ted Fitzmaurice.

Your 2006 Little League World Series Representatives from Saudi Arabia.

If I were a better blogger or an investigative reporter I'd find out why, but I'm not. As such you will only get a somehwat educated guess. I'd guess that these are the children of independent contracters and such working in Saudi Arabia for oil production or some on the down low shit.

Whatever it is, this has to be one hell of a vacation for these kids. Unless this is some deal where these kids live in the U.S. most of the time.

I just hope these kids don't get executed back in Saudi Arabia for seeing a bunch of chicks out of burkhas while they are here.

UPDATE: I could answer my own questions if I read the damn articles I posted first.

Arabian American is a fixture at the World Series, having qualified the last seven years, and 12 of the last 13. The players’ parents primarily work for oil companies in the Middle East.

But It Wasn't Like This In The Movies!?!?!?!

It might sound like a chocoholic's dream, but stepping into a vat of bubbling chocolate became a two-hour nightmare for a 21-year-old man Friday morning.

Oh boy, I should have put on my laughing hat. Whew! give me a bit to recover from this hearty drollery.


















OK, I'm good. Let's continue.

Donovan Garcia, an employee of a company that supplies chocolate ingredients, said he was pushing the chocolate down into the vat at Debelis Corp. because it was stuck. But it became loose and he slid into the hopper.

"It was in my hair, in my ears, my mouth, everywhere," said Garcia, who has worked at the company for two years. "I felt like I weighed 900 pounds. I couldn't move."

We've shifted gears from a real life Willy Wonka accident to a behind the scenes expose of a porno starring the gay love child of Donovan McNabb and Jeff Garcia.

The chocolate was 110 degrees, hotter than a hot tub, said Capt. Greg Sinnen of the Kenosha Fire Department.

Co-workers, police and firefighters tried to free the man but couldn't get him loose until the chocolate was thinned out with cocoa butter.

Man, this story just gets hotter and hotter. Swarthy illegal immgrants in a tub being bathed in cocoa butter. I'm all hot and bothered........ in the pants.

My weiner.

The cock.

"It was pretty thick. It was virtually like quicksand," said police Capt. Randy Berner.

One thing is for sure: this boy's boys can swim.

I was saddened by the lack of oompa loompas, chocolate waterfalls, rotten little jackanapes and criminally negligient parents and legal guardians. Willy Wonka doesn't leave the impression that an escape from a chocolate river would require a team of creepy midwestern firefighters, one of whom is undoubtedly fantasizing licking you clean.

I do appreciate the picture though. Next time I'm enjoying a Reese's I'll think of the rusted garbage cans they cook this shit in. I really hope that isn't a bottle of liquor either.

Shortest.... Retirement..... Ever.....

That didn't take long.

Junior Seau is looking to join the New England Patriots, just three days after the San Diego Chargers threw him a lavish retirement party.

...

"It's pretty easy. When a team doesn't want you or need you, retire, buddy," he told a crowd of about 300 family, friends, players and team executives Monday at Chargers headquarters.

He should have took care of looking for work before he retired. Apparently he didn't need to look hard.

Even as he announced his retirement, Seau said he was healthy and still able to play. Asked if his decision was irreversible, Seau said: "I can't answer that. I really can't.

"What situation can get me out of it? I don't know," he said. "If there's a need team out there, I'm definitely going to look at it. But we're almost halfway through training camp. I'm 37 years old."

Then why did you retire in the first place you attention whore?

"I'm not retiring. I am graduating. Today is my graduation day. Retirement means that you'll just go ahead and live on your laurels and surf all day in Oceanside. It ain't going to happen."

That's just the "deep" was a football player says "I'm looking forward to starring in local car dealership commercials."

Oh but those commercials will have to wait, perhaps only another 48 hours when Seau changes his mind again.

And You Think OUR Media Is Bad

Everytime I think how rotten and crummy our news media is I read a story like this and realize how relatively lucky we are.

A group of Indian television journalists gave a man matches and diesel to help him commit suicide in order to get dramatic footage which was later broadcast on the news, police said on Thursday.

The man died from severe burns to his body in hospital in Gaya town in the eastern state of Bihar on Aug. 15, India's Independence Day.

Footage of the man, screaming and writhing in pain as he ran with his back on fire, was aired on several television channels. Police identified the man as Manoj Mishra.

"We have seized footage clearly showing a group of journalists handing over matches and some inflammable substance -- which we later verified to be diesel -- to the victim," acting Gaya police chief P.K. Sinha told Reuters by telephone.

Mishra, who worked as a delivery man, was upset over what he said was a large sum of money owed to him by a state-run dairy farm whose milk he transported to customers, police said.

"We have prepared charges for abetment against the journalists. There were five to six of them who were conspirators in this suicide attempt which is a criminal offence," Sinha said, adding that arrests were expected shortly.

The question needs to be asked: Is there footage of ANOTHER news crew convincing this news crew to got through with this? And if so, can they be prosecuted too?

Oh, but it gets BETTER.

The TV crews left the scene without aiding Mishra who suffered burns to over 70 percent of his body, Sinha said.

You gotta love that the news crew reacted to this exactly like children who just lit a fire. But at least kids aren't intentionally lighting people on fire.

God Allows Terrell Owens To Practice

I originally thought that the Cowboys would get one headache free year out of the human cancer, but that is becoming less and less likely.

"I just prayed about it, right before I got out here. That's the God's honest truth," Owens said. "I feel like a lot of people have been speculating with me sitting on the bike every day. ... I'm not going to let anybody, as far as media-wise, coaching-wise, speculate as far as my health is concerned. I feel like I've got nothing to prove to anybody."

"I don't want to have any friction with anybody," he said. "But I feel like at some time, when someone starts to question my heart or my injury, it does get under your skin a little bit."

OK.

For the first time in two weeks, Owens practised with the Cowboys, even though he says he's still not 100 per cent recovered from a hamstring problem. "The most important thing is my health. I know what is the big picture. This is practice," Owens said. "I don't think anybody can complain about practice better than Allen Iverson. I don't want to get into his speech. I've always wanted to be out here."

You can say what you want about T.O., but never say he isn't man enough to cowardly say but not say what someone else said about something he's pissed about.

The one event last year where T.O. got some sympathy was his fight with Hugh Douglas. Douglas questioned whether T.O. was faking a hamstring injury he had been battling for weeks. Sound familiar? Too bad the Cowboys aren't paying Charles Haley to hang around the team for no apparent reason.

This is the best thing these YES announcers have been involved in. In fact, they should stick to the commercials.

But why did they have Michael Kay hit a home run? Why have Michael Kay in it at all? Why?

Jeffrey Loria: Worst Owner In Sports

We all knew this, but Loria is ceaseless in efforts to remind us.

Florida Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria had to be talked out of firing manager Joe Girardi after a loss last Sunday, the Palm Beach Post reported Saturday, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the situation.

According to the newspaper report, Loria had made the decision and only reversed it after a postgame meeting with Girardi and other front-office officials. Girardi, for his part, apologized to Loria in front of a subsequent team meeting, the newspaper reported.

For those who haven't followed the story, the reason Loria almost fired the man who took his team with his 79 cent payroll and made it a fringe wild card contender is because he had the gall to tell him to shut up. During last Sunday's game with the Dodgers Loria was screaming at the umpire for some perceived bad calls and Girardi told him, "Just stay out of it. I'm the manager." Reportedly there was some profanity in there as well.

Loria took in the situation and decided that this perceived insult warranted the ultimate penalty. Damn the season, damn the progress, damn the players. If Mr. Jeffrey Loria can't go around feeling like he's packing a 12-incher then no one will be seeing a competitive baseball team.

I wish he had fired Girardi. Any other organization in MLB is more worthy of his services, and any with an opening would immediately scramble for them.

This is just the latest example of Loria's indiffeence to baseball. He ruined baseball in Montreal, and he's in the process of ruining baseball in south Florida. If he moves the team, he'll ruin baseball wherever he goes. He's like the anti-Steinbrenner: all the dictatorial tendencies without even the slightest interest in winning.

J-E-T-S

So the New York Jets preseason starts tonight, playing in Tampa Bay.

Curtis Martin? Physically unable to perform and rumored to retire.

Kevin Mawae? Gone.

Wayne Chrebet? Retired. Thanks for everything, Wayne. We'll see you in a few years when your number is retired.

Chad Pennington? His arm is being held together with velcro, duct tape, and prayer. I'm expecting him to fall apart like Simon in "Airplane! 2".


If the team is 6-10... I'm happy.

Yankees-White Sox Series Review

That the Yankees were only able to take one of three at the White Sox and still pick up a game on the Red Sox is amazing, but still a huge missed opportunity. The Red Sox will not continue to play this bad. I'd even bet money they don't get swept by anyone else for the rest of the year. The Yanks could have stretched out their lead to 4 or 5, and with how the series went, they should have. Robinson Cano returned from injury this series and was unquestionably the Yankee player of the series batting 7-14 with 4 doubles and a HR.

Game 1 was unfortunate. When you take a lead into the ninth and hand it to Mariano Rivera, you think you have done enough to win and accept the results. The results that night were the incredible exception. Bad execution led to missed opportunites to score both before and after the ninth. More than once they failed to bring a runner home from third with less than two outs. They should have had this game, and can't afford to have many of these games down the stretch.

The other notable thing about Game 1 was Chien-Ming Wang. He was coming off an incredible hot streak, and it had be assumed that a stinker was coming. This was it. Four runs in only five innings, but the significant thing was the only 5IP. Wang struggled with his control and the White Sox worked the counts hardcore, making him throw a ton of pithces and not allowing him to eat up his usual 7-8 innings. That led to everyone in the bullpen except Sidney Ponson seeing action in this game, which would have an effect on the rest of the series.

Game 2 should have been a blow out, but the White Sox proved too tenacious. The Yanks headed into the 7th inning with a 7-0 lead and a no-hitter, but Randy Johnson lost his stuff, gave up two runs and Ron Villone had to come in and face men on second and third with no outs. He proceeded to walk his first batter but find his way out of the bases loaded no outs jam without giving up any runs by way of two infield pop ups followed by a fly out.

Kyle Farnsworth came in the next inning. Like Wang he had been shutting down opposing batters for the past month, striking out 9 in a row at one point, and seemed due for a crappy outing. He also isn't as effective as normal when pitching one a second consecutive day. The bullpen merry-go-round the night before was coming back around. A combination of some bad luck and a slower fastball led two home runs by Jermaine Dye and Tadahito Iguchi and the 7-2 lead turned 7-6. It also forced Mariano Rivera to get 4 outs. Rivera held on after a shaky ninth with help from a nice defensive play by Robinson Cano to save the game.

Johnny Damon had to leave the game early with a sore groin, and from then until the eighth Bobby Abreu played center. In the ninth Joe Torre had a stroke (not of brilliance, just a stroke) and decided to put his DH Bernie Williams in center field. This may have been the first time in the history of Major League Baseball that the worst fielder on a team was brought in as a "defensive replacement." Bernie then proceeded to take the only ball hit to him, a lazy fly ball in short center and turn it into a single. That forced Mariano to face Jim Thome with men on first and third and forced Cano to make a difficult play to end the game. If the game were tied, relievers would have to bat in extra innings. Complete idiocy.

Game 3 seemed lost by two errors in a 4 four run second inning. Either A-Rod or Melky Cabrera don't make their error and the Yanks have a much better chance to win the game or at least send it to extras. But as it turned out the game was really lost in the sixth inning when Mike Mussina gave up a double and a single with two outs and the game winning run in the process.

Bigger than the errors or the last run is the 24 men left on base. The Yanks consistently got men on base and failed to get them in. Last night's game was essentially played by the 2005 Yankees. They couldn't get hits with RISP and the only runs they scored were on home runs. It was a very badly played game by the Yankees on all levels and they only lost by one. There is some solace in that.

So now comes a 4 game series at home with the Angels. Series with the Angels are always fun.

....
....
....
....
....

Yeah. Anyway, what the Yanks desperately need tonight or tomorrow is a starter to go deep intot he game, get at least 7 innings. Jaret Wright pitches tomorrow which means that what the Yankees desperately need is for Cory Lidle to pitch at least 7 innings or else.

With the series loss to the White Sox the Yankees could use a win here, but that will be incredibly tough. The Angels have some serious pitching, and will be trotting out two talented rookies that the Yanks have never seen before, Joe Saunders and Jered Weaver, with 1.29 and 2.20 ERAs respectively. The Yanks rarely fare well against pithcers they have never seen before. Beside them will be Kelvim Escobar and John Lackey. I'm realistically hoping for a split.

Here are the pitching matchups:

Cory Lidle (9-7, 4.59) vs. Joe Saunders (3-0, 1.29)
Jaret Wright (8-6, 4.39) vs. Kelvim Escobar (8-9, 3.73)
Chien-Ming Wang (13-4, 3.69) vs. Jered Weaver (7-0, 2.29)
Randy Johnson (12-9, 5.03) vs. John Lackey (10-8, 3.33)

Why are the Angels only 3 games over .500 with pitching like that? Hopefully we find out.

Whoops

Always remember to spell check fellas. Check it out while you can.

UPDATE: You missed your chance. Enjoy the pic regardless.

I Am Sorry For This

So so so sorry. But you deserve it. And you know it.

Groundbreaking On New Yankee Stadium Aug. 16th

We're a step closer to being a step closer to the new Yankee Stadium.


And I couldn't be happier. I know Yankee Stadium is full of history, "aura," "mystique," "ghosts," "baseball Gods," "voodoo huju" and whatever, but the place is a filthy dump. Unfortunately the area it is located in won't change, but hopefully the crappy seats, filthy walkways, dank bathrooms, and left field bleachers located on Ellis Island will all see dramatic improvements, along with relief of not having to worry about pieces of steel beams falling on your head.


Because really, besides Monument Park, is there any reason to want to go there? The facility itself is old, dirty and awful. And I know I'm in the minority, but I can't wait for the new stadium and couldn't care less.


But I'm sure the new ticket prices will dampen my enthusiasm.

Take me home... Country Roads

Shut up, you're gonna ROOOOOOON it!!

I was hoping/praying/begging that nobody would notice West Virginia in the college football preseason... but unfortunately, the hype machine has collected the Mountaineers and it's kicked into full gear.

First, there's a major error in the ESPN article. The last time the Mountaineers were in the position for a National Championship run, it was in 1993. Major Harris not withstanding, Jake the Snake Kelchner was the QB for the undefeated Mountaineers who led them into a Sugar Bowl game, and the MAIN REASON that West Virginia wasn't more highly touted that year was because Lee (fucking) Corso is a crusty old man who led the national media in giving WVU zero respect. Because of that, a demoralized WVU played Florida in the Sugar Bowl and got blown out.

Head coach Rich Rodriguez has done an admirable job taking over for Don Nehlen. The fake punt that he called late in the 4th quarter during this year's Sugar Bowl was probably one of the ballsiest calls I've ever seen in my years of watching football.

Pat (Not) White and Steve Slaton are an incredible 1-2 combination.

I'm still trying to convince a co-author of this blog for a December 2nd road trip.

One last thing while we're discussing all things West Virginia...

This turns my stomach. I feel like Wayne in the church at the end of Wayne's World 2. "Oh, God, no..."

Bell Named Broncos #1 RB

That's right, Mike Bell.

You see what I did there?

Broncos rookie running back Mike Bell was told to see Mike Shanahan in his office Sunday evening.

As Bell nervously climbed the stairs, different scenarios raced through his head.

All of them negative.

"I was shaking," Bell said.

I imagine Shanahan acted just like Jack Palance in Batman when he relayed this development.

"You.......... (heavy breathing) are my number one........... (more heavy breathing, violently squezzing Bell's shoulders) guy."

To think I was feeling embarrassed about an undrafted free agent wide receiver starting for the Eagles in their first preseason game. At least he's not number one, and may not even be number two come opening day.

But I'm not going to mock. These guys pull running backs out of their ass every single year. I'm already expecting 1200 and 10.

It Was Duane Starks Fault

Willie McGinest bravely places the guilt of last year's Patriots' shortcomings at the appropriate feet.

[Last year] We had injuries. You had [Richard] Seymour hurt early and Rodney Harrison was out. Those are some of our core guys, and some of the [replacements] coming in were terrible. Duane Starks, he came in and played like trash. He was terrible. You had other guys coming in that couldn't fill the shoes of some of those guys that had been there for years and [were] your core guys.

Willie McGinest takes no guff. There ain't no target high enough that Willie McGinest won't tear down.

But seriously, this is just the latest evidence of the major psychological issues that are going on inside the heads of these players. Long ago they got tired of all the praise of genius coach Bill Belichick, and all the insinuations therein. Namely, that the players were so pedestrian as to require Bill Belichick's "Magnum Opus" defense to raise them to the promised land, not to mention a certain QB (two-time Super Bowl MVP and another time made one of his receivers Super Bowl MVP if you didn't remember).

We're are now going to radically switch gears to one Freddie Mitchell and the really lame and misinterpreted "diss" that began the whole Super Bowl controversy surrounding him. It began with a live interview on Sportscenter which I was lucky enough to view live. Mitchell simply didn't know the names of the Patriots starting cornerbacks. He knew their numbers, he talked about their tendencies, he knew them as football players, that much was obvious.

After the interview I didn't think much of it. Looking back at it I should have realized that Dan Patrick knew he found gold, feigning shock that Mitchell wouldn't know their names. Nevermind that these guys would be practice squad fodder if not for the torrent of injuries befalling the secondary. Nevermind that things were so bad that Troy Brown was their nickelback.

The Patriots went nuts, playing their fraudulent "disrespect" card yet again. T.O. Jr. went on to dig the hole much deeper that everyone forgot the anemic "insult" that caused the whole thing. Everyone just saw Rodney Harrison on TV acting like he was cutting a promo in the WWF in the 80s and it was assumed that what was said was something of substance. But it was not. the Patriots played the disrespect card in the face of 99% of football commentators picking the Patriots to win.

There is clearly some sort of mental illness running rampant through the New England locker room.

It took a while for their constant disrespected requiems to get on the nerves of the country as a whole, but last season that finally happened.


Which makes this season and the future so interesting? The nucleus of the defense has been almost totally dismantled. A few important pieces remain, one of which is recovered from a stroke. But what will happen to the Patriots?

Do they continue to dominate, win another Super Bowl or two, and in the process pretty much prove that pretty much, yes, it was all Maestro Bill and The Golden Boy? All the while with a couple of the old disrespect brigade along for the ride?

Or do they fall back to earth, and prove the point that it was a special group of players?

I always thought that the players on that team, especially the defense, didn't get all the credit they deserved and Belichick too much, at least for a while. And then they beat the Panthers, and got all the credit in the world. Then they beat the Eagles, and were compared to some of the greatest teams of all time. They were getting enough credit for a long time.

That was a long convoluted trail starting with an innocuous article. But it is understandable that someone with this kind of dementia would seek to extricate himself from the tepid criticism a 10-6 season with a playoff win would bring.

Quiet Monday...

It was a busy Sunday.

Your New York Yankees increased their lead over the Red Sox to two games, after beating the Orioles 6-1 at Camden Yards, while Boston fell to the Rays in extra innings. The Yankees still have two games in hand over to Red Sox, and lead by three in the loss column.

Of course, unless the Yankees have a double-digit lead going into the Five Game Set, this lead is meaningless and can evaporate over the course of a weekend.

The Yankees start a three game series against the World Champion White Sox at New Comiskey tomorrow, with the Red Sox taking on the Royals at beautiful Kauffman Stadium.

Over in the world of Stock Car racing, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is back in the Chase for the Nextel Cup, after a pit strategy by crew chief Tony Eury Jr. elevated the number 8 to the front of the pack and giving Junior a Top 10 finish. However, because of an accident by Kasey Kahne on the final lap, where he brutally slammed the wall head-on, the separation between 3rd place and 11th place is now just 174 points - an absolutely miniscule amount, with five races left. The separation between 7th and 10th is just 36 points - which is the equivalent just 8 spots in a race. (I.E. if Tony Stewart had a top 3 finish in the next race, and Denny Hamlin came in 10th, Stewart would immediately leapfrog into 7th place - barring bonus points for most laps lead or leading a lap)

Earnhardt has performed very well this season at four of the last five tracks before the playoffs begin. He won at Richmond, posted a top five finish at Michigan, and came in 11th at California and Bristol. His very weak spot is the road course at Watkins Glen, which is the next race on the schedule.

Earnhardt's main concerns right now are two-fold: Fending off Kahne and Greg Biffle, who are nipping at his feet for the 10th spot, and finishing respectably at the Glen so he can move on to the rest of the circular tracks for the end of the regular season. The good news is that Kasey Kahne is weak on road courses. The bad news is that Biffle is not.

Is It Brilliance Or Ineptitude?

The NFL Pre-Season starts later tonight with the Hall Of Fame Game starring the Philadelphia Eagles and the Oakland Raiders. Both a blessing and a curse: Football is just around the corner, so don't get used to the weather.

The Eagles wide receiver situation has been widely reported and ridiculed. And tomorrow's game will not help. Starting as the number one wide receiver is Reggie Brown. He is already and unquestionably the second best wide reciever on the Eagles since Andy Reid took over as head coach, even after as little as one full season. That in and of itself doesn't say much, but everyone from Donovan McNabb to Andy Reid to even Michael Irvin believe he will eventually be a Pro-Bowler. How soon is of critical importance to the Eagles.

But that's not where the problem is, because starting opposite Brown at wide receiver will be......... Hank Baskett.

Hank Baskett.

"Yeah, hi, this is Hank."

He's an undrafted free agent from New Mexico. The Eagles didn't even initally sign him, having to trade a random useless warm body to Minnesota to acquire his services.

He wouldn't be starting if Todd Pinkston was recovered from last season's knee injury. But, according to everyone who has seen Baskett in training camp, he is impressive. Damn impressive.

Which leads to the question? Is the Eagles wide receiver situation really so dire that a glorified walk-on can jump in and be the number 2 receiver immediately, placing higher than even off-season signing Jabar Gaffney? Or have the Eagles found an undrafted gem?

Philly has had legitimate success with undrafted free agents. It seems every year they find someone who can contribute long-term. Roderick Hood is an undrafted cornerback who stepped in last year when Lito Sheppard was injured for the season and played so well that he got offers to be a starter elsewhere. Philly thought so much of him that they re-signed with a kingly reward for a nickel cornerback.

Greg Lewis is a solid number three receiver. Sam Rayburn is a solid defensive tackle. Both undrafted, both signed long-term by the Eagles, both solid contributers.

So what to make of this Hank Baskett? Is his starting merely a sign of the Eagles ineptitude at the position? Or have they really hit the jackpot this time, finding a legitmate impact player outside the draft? The answer is likely somewhere in between, and probably somewhere closer to the answer this Eagles fan doesn't want to hear.

Roenick vs Morgan ESPN Hockey

Just want to test this shit out.

In Front Page News That Nobody Cares About

The brain trust at ESPN.com earlier today decided that this, an announcement that ESPN has signed an eight year agreement to air major League Soccer games, was worthy of front page billing.

Don't take this the wrong way, I love soccer, which shall henceforth be known as football, no, futbol in my posts, but now henceforth go back to be known as soccer after further consideration to avoid confusion. And maybe, as a courtesy, any news involving MLS should randomly be place on the front page of ESPN.com every few months just to remind people that it exists, or that it STILL does exist for those few already aware of its existence.

But that's not what's going on here. Just the latest attempt by the network who can find money to air the 2006 Brat Eating World Championship, The World Series Of Darts and The U.S. Paintball Championships also found money to air the worst soccer on earth for eight years. The NHL should be so fortunate.

Maybe we should ignore the latest shameless self promotion of ESPN and simply congratulate ESPN for making a move back towards actual sports, (or really just standing pat and not taking another step towards the latest "sports" entertainment craze) such has the bar has been moved so far in a hellish direction at Bristol. ESPN is second only to MTV in the "shadow of its former self" department, so much so that they are both tired and overused targets.

But whatever. This type of self promotion is always annoying especially annoying to me, and the circumstances surrounding it only amplify it. It's why sports journalism is journalism is name only, even more of a joke than its brother news journalism. If you are running a news website, and you've chosen as one of your top storied of the day a press release of your own making about a league that has gone unnoticed in its ten year existence, the fault of your own inevitable irrelevence lies at your own feet.

Saturday Sports Wrap, Sunday Preview

Your New York Yankees, who have had a tremendous offensive output during their post-All Star hot streak, were stifled against the Orioles at Camden Yards on Saturday, getting only one hit. Mike Mussina was shaky early, but eventually settled down, it was just a shame that the Yankees couldn't muster more offense to help him out.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox have found a fight against the Tampa Devil Rays. After eeking out a win on Friday with two home runs from some guy, they lost tonight, 8-5. However, it shows how scary the Red Sox can be in the late innings, as they had the bases loaded with one out in the top of the ninth before Javy Lopez hit the first pitch he saw into a double play.

Fortunately, the final result in the AL East is that the Yankees still lead by a game, and it looks more and more that the five game set in Boston in 2 weeks has the potential to set the tone for the rest of the season.

The Mets, after gaining a moral victory on Friday by stopping Chase Utley's hitting streak, beat the Phillies straight-up on Saturday. It appears, with how weak the NL East is, and the Amazins enjoying the largest lead in the Majors, are playing the equivalent of garbage time, much like they were 20 years ago. If I was Willie Randolph, considering the age of my starting staff, I would make sure that Glavine and Pedro are allowed to go no more than 6-7 innings until the games actually mean something.

Sunday

The Yankees and the Red Sox will play the rubber game against their respective hosts in Baltimore and Tampa.

After the early games are done, we then go to Indy for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. One of the marquee races of the NASCAR season, there are plenty of dramatic stories going in. Last year, Tony Stewart was the toast of NASCAR, seemingly conquering his attitude problems and being the feel-good story of the year. His dramatic win at his hometown track, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, was the pinnacle of his second championship.

Now it's all gone to shit.

Since injuring his shoulder in a pair of wrecks over Memorial Day weekend, Stewart has battled against a slew of bad finishes that have dropped him in the points standings, along with a few scuffles that have all but undone all the goodwill he had last year. The latest dustup was 2 weeks ago, when an incident between him and Carl Edwards all but eliminated Edwards from the Nascar "postseason", The Chase for the Nextel Cup.

The other shocking drop is Dale Earnhardt Jr. #8 was in the top 5 in points for most of the season, but two consecutive DNFs has dropped him several slots and he is currently out of the running for the Chase.

The bright side, however, is that he's only 15 points out, as there is only a differential of 188 points between 3rd and 12th place. With Kurt Busch starting at the back of the field in a backup car, there is a chance for some shifting among the top ten when all is said and done at Indy tomorrow.

Then, after all the fun at 2 1/2 mile track, flip over to ESPN and catch the Mets and Phillies at Shea. John Maine will be pitching.

Whorority Sisters

So apparently, a sorority at Vanderbilt University decided to pose for their bid day picture with probably the biggest pastie-covered WOW on record.

Now, according to several blogs, including here have made mention of the fact that after the pic got on the internet, they are trying to stop the spread of the picture.

Yeah.

Good luck with that.

And, of course, this post is worthless without pictures.

In this day and age of technology, if you don't want the pictures getting out, DON'T TAKE THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE.

(BTW... there are four to six solid top-tier four to five star girls in the front row... so why the fuck is Chubzilla the Destroyer dead center, in a pose that makes her look even worse? Ugh.)

I just hit my knee on my desk

It didn't hurt, but its bleeding. I'll post further updates in a parallel universe where people are reading this and care.

check-check, 1-2, 1-2

What do I know about NY Sports?

Welcome to TBTRB

Welcome to The Blog That Ruth Built. This is a blog that's centered on the New York Sports scene, but also takes aspects of everything that's good in life, like food, pop culture, entertainment, and whatever.

This is just an initial post to get the blog up and running. To be edited.