There really aren't enough of them.
26. Brad Lidge dared Chase Utley to drop the F bomb in the World Series speeches after the parade on Friday, but then Utley wussed out. Lidge double dog dared him, and he still wasn’t gonna do it. So then Lidge triple dog dared him and threatened to throw his slider at his face. The rest is history.
27. One time Brad Lidge’s slider went up against Chuck Norris’ roundhouse kick. I don’t recall seeing any Chuck Norris movies recently.
28. Harry Kalas’ voice is so powerful it can open a pickle jar. Ok, that’s not about Lidge, but it needs to be said.
29. Brad Lidge once pretended to be a moose, and hunted Sarah Palin. The one out now is simply an imposter.
30. Brad Lidge gave his voice over talents to Harry Kalas after he heard what former Phillies relief pitcher Wheels was doing with his.
31. Brad Lidge ate John Kruk’s surgically removed nut on a dare, then spit it out and threw a slider at Billy Wagner’s face.
32. Brad Lidge recently took all of Pete Rose’s gambling prophets after Pete Rose said he could hit his slider.
33. Brad Lidge accidentally broke the window of the Delorean from Back to the Future when his slider slipped into the space time continuum as he was striking out Chipper Jones.
34. When Brad Lidge played for the Houston Astros, he always said whether the roof was open or closed while he was pitching, regardless of whether how it was the rest of the game.
35. Brad Lidge is currently on the NSA Terror watch list, after the incident in Crawford, Texas. He was pitching some balls to GW Bush, but Bush couldn’t hit his slider, Lidge wasn’t about to back down, so he beaned him in the head and threw a pretzel down his throat. The NSA has no chance of catching him.
36. When fans of opposing teams see Brad Lidge warm up in the bullpen, they either leave because they know they have officially lost the game, or they stay to marvel at the sweet-ass slider.
37. Brad Lidge’s slider put Pat Burrel in permanent slow motion.
38. Brad Lidge and Mitch Williams regularly play a pitching version of Horse, ala Michael Jordan and Larry Bird. The difference is they usually wager two big macs instead of one.
39. Brad Lidge used his slider to help John Rambo when he was in Afghanistan in Rambo 3.
40. Bruce Lee used to train for agility by trying to dodge Brad Lidge sliders. This didn’t last too long, as Brad Lidge never misses.
41. Once, Brad Lidge’s slider broke so hard, it went underground and killed a few Molemen. The FBI tried to keep the situation under wraps, but the moleman head Brad Lidge keeps as a trophy is too sweet to not show around.
42. The bomb that blew up the death star was based off of Brad Lidge’s slider.
43. John Wilkes Booth wanted to use Brad Lidge’s slider to kill Abraham Lincoln, but Brad Lidge liked the dude, so Booth was forced to use a derringer. On the way down, Lidge threw a slider at his leg and broke it.
44. Brad Lidge taught Zakk Wylde how to play guitar.
45. Brad Lidge can turn back time like Superman by throwing his slider against the earth’s rotation.
46. Brad Lidge’s slider once beat the Flash in a race because the Flash stopped to gaze at the awesome breaking action.
47. If Brad Lidge is bored while in New York, he’ll demand entrance to The Boy From Oz (he doesn’t have to pay) and just throw sliders at Hugh Jackman’s face.
48. Mayor Michael Nutter ran his campaign on the platform of how awesome Brad Lidge’s slider is. He won in a landslide.
49. Charlie Manuel almost didn’t want Brad Lidge on his team because he thought it was too unfair an advantage that the rest of his team would only have to pitch 8 innings a game.
50. Once Brad Lidge asked Vin Diesel if he was actually Fast and/or Furious. Vin Diesel ran away crying.
Showing posts with label Phillies World Series 08. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Phillies World Series 08. Show all posts
11.02.2008
10.31.2008
"...and on the third pitch, he threw a slider"
It was inevitable that somebody would make them, so I am personally taking it upon myself to write them.
1. The secret to Brad Lidge's slider rests not with his grip or throwing mechanics, but rather he simply tells the balls that they are in fact, going to slide. They always listen.
2. When Brad Lidge joined the Phillies he wanted to be the best Pitcher on the team, no question, so he kicked Cole Hamels' nuts back into his body (resulting in his voice). It is, however, theorized that when Hamels' nuts re-descend, his fastball will reach 140 and his curveball will break 3 feet.
3. Brad Lidge doesn't vacuum, dirt just doesn't dare linger on his floor. (courtesy of scott)
4. Brad Lidge decided to be a closer because his batting would unusually disrupt hitting statistics as we know them.
5. Additionally, this would create pressure to make him an everyday player, and its just not fair to the other pitchers to have this man go 9 innings every game.
6. The only reason Gillick approved of sending Bourne to Houston for Lidge was because of Lidge's blinding speed. Coincidentally, Lidge is the emergency pinch runner/ fielder for both Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins.
7. Brad Lidge once struck out Jose Reyes without even throwing a pitch.
8. Brad Lidge gave up the Homer to Albert Pujols in the 2005 NLCS because he was bored and wanted to see if a baseball could go into outer space. Pujols gravely dissappointed Lidge.
9. Underneath Brad Lidges beard, there is not a chin, but rather a slider.
10. Pope Benny 16 is officially changing the church hymn to "Lidge takes mound, Lidge is pitching, Lidge will save again"
11. Bernie Parent recently revealed that when only the Lord saved more than he, he was actually talking about Brad Lidge.
12. Global Warming is actually caused by Lidge's slider, as the ball itself does not break, but rather he brings the earth incrementally closer to the sun (or moon for a night game). Al Gore recently proposed that the greatest cure to Global Warming would be to insure Lidge only pitches when the earth is not facing the sun.
13. Pat Burrel is incapable of hitting a breaking ball because once Lidge threw him a slider in batting practice, and he shit his pants.
14. Brad Lidges clocks set themselves. (scott)
15. Brad Lidge can fix the economy with a slider (scott)
16. The Army once inquired about the use of Lidge's slider as a deadly weapon.
17. Brad Lidge's slider doesn't negotiate with terrorists.
18. Brad Lidge has not supported any Presidential candidate because he knew he would immediately be asked to be the running mate.
19. Brad Lidge realized at an early age that his slider could be used to achieve world peace. However, he realized at an even earlier age that he hates hippies.
20. Brett Myers' wife decided not to press domestic assault charges on him because Brett was simply trying to show his wife how to throw Lidge's slider, but failed miserably.
21. One time, Brad lidge beat Babe Ruth in a Hot Dog eating contest.
22. Joe Carter's body was found dead on wednesday night. The cause of death was reportedly Brad Lidge's slider.
23. Brad Lidge orders whoppers at McDonalds, and gets them. (scott)
24. When Pedro Feliz was hurt, Charlie Manuel tried putting Brad Lidge at third. Ryan Howard needed a new glove each inning.
25. Brad Lidge's slider can smell fear.
1. The secret to Brad Lidge's slider rests not with his grip or throwing mechanics, but rather he simply tells the balls that they are in fact, going to slide. They always listen.
2. When Brad Lidge joined the Phillies he wanted to be the best Pitcher on the team, no question, so he kicked Cole Hamels' nuts back into his body (resulting in his voice). It is, however, theorized that when Hamels' nuts re-descend, his fastball will reach 140 and his curveball will break 3 feet.
3. Brad Lidge doesn't vacuum, dirt just doesn't dare linger on his floor. (courtesy of scott)
4. Brad Lidge decided to be a closer because his batting would unusually disrupt hitting statistics as we know them.
5. Additionally, this would create pressure to make him an everyday player, and its just not fair to the other pitchers to have this man go 9 innings every game.
6. The only reason Gillick approved of sending Bourne to Houston for Lidge was because of Lidge's blinding speed. Coincidentally, Lidge is the emergency pinch runner/ fielder for both Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins.
7. Brad Lidge once struck out Jose Reyes without even throwing a pitch.
8. Brad Lidge gave up the Homer to Albert Pujols in the 2005 NLCS because he was bored and wanted to see if a baseball could go into outer space. Pujols gravely dissappointed Lidge.
9. Underneath Brad Lidges beard, there is not a chin, but rather a slider.
10. Pope Benny 16 is officially changing the church hymn to "Lidge takes mound, Lidge is pitching, Lidge will save again"
11. Bernie Parent recently revealed that when only the Lord saved more than he, he was actually talking about Brad Lidge.
12. Global Warming is actually caused by Lidge's slider, as the ball itself does not break, but rather he brings the earth incrementally closer to the sun (or moon for a night game). Al Gore recently proposed that the greatest cure to Global Warming would be to insure Lidge only pitches when the earth is not facing the sun.
13. Pat Burrel is incapable of hitting a breaking ball because once Lidge threw him a slider in batting practice, and he shit his pants.
14. Brad Lidges clocks set themselves. (scott)
15. Brad Lidge can fix the economy with a slider (scott)
16. The Army once inquired about the use of Lidge's slider as a deadly weapon.
17. Brad Lidge's slider doesn't negotiate with terrorists.
18. Brad Lidge has not supported any Presidential candidate because he knew he would immediately be asked to be the running mate.
19. Brad Lidge realized at an early age that his slider could be used to achieve world peace. However, he realized at an even earlier age that he hates hippies.
20. Brett Myers' wife decided not to press domestic assault charges on him because Brett was simply trying to show his wife how to throw Lidge's slider, but failed miserably.
21. One time, Brad lidge beat Babe Ruth in a Hot Dog eating contest.
22. Joe Carter's body was found dead on wednesday night. The cause of death was reportedly Brad Lidge's slider.
23. Brad Lidge orders whoppers at McDonalds, and gets them. (scott)
24. When Pedro Feliz was hurt, Charlie Manuel tried putting Brad Lidge at third. Ryan Howard needed a new glove each inning.
25. Brad Lidge's slider can smell fear.
10.24.2008
The First Two Games of the Series
So, my rundown of the first two games of the 2008 World Series.
Some starting notes -- Tropicana Field is ugly, should be burned to the ground, and afterwards, the soil should be sewn with salt so nothing productive can stand there ever. There's so many strange ground-rules. I never thought I'd be so disappointed just to see a normal bouncing over the wall ground rule double, but after all the (yawn, boring) explanations of the catwalks (which actually support the roof, so they're ugly and get in the way) I wanted one of those kind of ground rule doubles. What's with the slanted roof? Is it better for the rain to fall on just one side of the building or something? And please, no more Dick Vitale. I liked being able to ignore him until March, but it looks like ESPN just loves throwing crap like this guy at us whenever they can.
Game 1
Whole Camels threw another impressive game (impressive consistent too). The man has gone 7 innings exactly in each of his post-season starts this year and has not let up more than 2 runs. The batting was good when it had to be, and there weren't any grievious base running errors. I'm getting a free taco because of a TB stolen base in the fifth, and then Chase Utley stole one later in the game for good measure. The bullpen came out and shut the rays down, like they have to every team thus far. Most importantly, they win game 1, which is something 10 of the last 11 winning teams have done. They've also won an away game, something they will have to do at least once if they want to win the series (damn you, Bud Selig), and it's always better to win games sooner rather than later.
Game 2
As indicated in the picture above, Brett Myers pitched his ass off (it's actually now concave). He had some bumps early on. One bump was entirely umpire induced, when the ump second guessed whether a pitch (which was a strike anyway) was a strike or ball, originally called it a strike, then went to ball, but the batter started swinging, so the ump appealed to the first base ump, who, though having a clear shot to see the bat went entirely over the plate and had pretty much a full swing, called him not swinging. Well the pitch count was 3-2, there were 2 outs I think. The man gets on base, when the inning should be over, I think someone was already on, so there's someone on first and second, and boom -- runs scored. The crisis should have been averted, but those asscunts of officiating decided to leave their brains and eyes at home. Fielding errors also cost the Phils some runs. Only 3 of Myers 4 runs allowed were earned. He went 7 innings, which usually is enough for a pitcher to get a win. The bullpen was again lights out, no runs whatsoever. The bats and baserunning left much to be desired. I would've thought Charlie Manuel, being an ex-AL manager (Indians), would know better how to deal with using the DH, but it seems otherwise. Two different DH's in two games (yeah, I know, one righty, one lefty) both play piss-poor. At least the next two games they don't have to deal with that, but the series will have to go back to Tampa eventually. Are they going to try someone new (Matt Stairs?)? Are they going to put one of the regular fielders at DH? -- Burrel, replaced by Bruntlet, Howard, replaced by Dobbs? Based on ability, the logical choice would appear to be Burrel, as Bruntlet scored the first run of the game, and is the defensive replacement for Burrel in late innings, but Burrel has always been awful as a DH, I think the batting average under the Mendoza line.
Whatever it is, the offense needs to get back on track. The offense is what won most of the games for the Phillies this season -- Cole Hamels can't pitch everyday and Lidge isn't worth pitching unless there's a lead to protect. The pitching has shown that it can keep games close, but they need run support.
Come on, I haven't seen a Philadelphia Championship in my lifetime, and I've already graduated College. 4 sports, no championships. Eagles - 1960, Flyers - 1976, Philles - 1980, Sixers - 1983. Don't be like the '93 Phillies, the '97 Flyers, the '01 Sixers, or the '04 Eagles. Just win the damn thing.
--Knuttel
10.16.2008
Phightins win pennant
yeah, boring title, I know.
too excited, definitely to biased to write anything about the actual win, so here's what I found to be the best article on the game -- the AP article sucked.
Phillies Finish Off Dodgers
--Knuttel
too excited, definitely to biased to write anything about the actual win, so here's what I found to be the best article on the game -- the AP article sucked.
Phillies Finish Off Dodgers
--Knuttel
10.14.2008
Phightin' on
The Phillies won in impressive fashion last night. The lead changed often, and with the help of another big inning, they won.
Mad, mad, crazy mad props to Shane Victorino and Matt Stairs.
Also props to Brad Lidge for going 1.1 for the save, sealing what would end up being a shaky 8th. good stuff.
Whole Camels pitches game 5, hopefully for the seal.
In other news, working on a conspiracy theory about McCain's campaign. Well, it's not really a conspiracy, moreso a really unconventional strategy.
Also, after Joe Buck announced to the world that Shane Victorino's favorite food is Spam Musubi, PETA became offended. To be fair, PETA becomes offended when people refuse to view an animal defecating as a beautiful act of nature, but I cannot be fair with PETA. They are a ridiculously radical organization for a cause that people may view with empathy, but not NEARLY to the extent they do. It would be like how we american's don't like how much gas we use, in cars etc.; well PETA's solution would be to entirely get rid of all modes of transportation requiring gasoline.
Alas, I digress. PETA took offense to Shane Victorino's food so much (personally, I find this a little offensive, as spam is pretty synonimous with post-America Hawaiian cuisine), that they personally wrote a letter to him describing how spam is made.
God forbid what happens when they find out his car may or may not have leather seating.
--Knuttel
Mad, mad, crazy mad props to Shane Victorino and Matt Stairs.
Also props to Brad Lidge for going 1.1 for the save, sealing what would end up being a shaky 8th. good stuff.
Whole Camels pitches game 5, hopefully for the seal.
In other news, working on a conspiracy theory about McCain's campaign. Well, it's not really a conspiracy, moreso a really unconventional strategy.
Also, after Joe Buck announced to the world that Shane Victorino's favorite food is Spam Musubi, PETA became offended. To be fair, PETA becomes offended when people refuse to view an animal defecating as a beautiful act of nature, but I cannot be fair with PETA. They are a ridiculously radical organization for a cause that people may view with empathy, but not NEARLY to the extent they do. It would be like how we american's don't like how much gas we use, in cars etc.; well PETA's solution would be to entirely get rid of all modes of transportation requiring gasoline.
Alas, I digress. PETA took offense to Shane Victorino's food so much (personally, I find this a little offensive, as spam is pretty synonimous with post-America Hawaiian cuisine), that they personally wrote a letter to him describing how spam is made.
God forbid what happens when they find out his car may or may not have leather seating.
--Knuttel
10.10.2008
Degrassi season 8 begins!!!!
First, start off with some business that must be taken care of.
Phils won, big time. Manny's home run bugs me, not really because it was 3 runs and brought the game within reach for them or anything. It bugs me because he hardly got his bat on it. How? Also puzzling is Brett Meyer's all of a sudden getting good with the wood. He almost matched his season total for hits in this one game, and if you count the whole post-season, has already tied his season long hit total. His month in the minor leagues doesn't seem to affect that total either.
Now onto Degrassi --
Season 8 began tonight. 90210 comparisons end now. Degrassi is vastly superior. More importantly, it handles cast changes so fluidly. I think that has alot to do with how the show is serialized. It's the natural course of life. People come and people go. As much as I enjoy the original cast members, a part of me needs to see them move on. The show, after all, is Degrassi, not people who went to Degrassi, or Degrassi alum, though I do like they handled frosh year at college so far.
Plotlines which began are the Mia modeling plotline, the Manny-Liberty-Emma college beginning plotline (including a unique twist on the roommate situations), and the Clare plotline. Clare, while not entirely a new character, is going through her first year as a Degrassi student, so I guess this is her first time being a full cast member. This is what makes her plotline the most vague at the moment, and with the possibility to expand the most. It appears as if they are trying to establish Clare's group of friends/acquaintances as the new core.
What sucks about the new season?
First and foremost the new song. While I like that they are again showing the opening sequence in a setting, as opposed to the moving pictures of seasons 6-7, the song itself falls short. While there are fans of either the original song, which was used until season 5, or the instrumental version used for the setting-less 6-7, I question the judgement of anyone who likes this new song. It's all Hannah-Montana-ie, but it's in Canada, so i guess Roberta Alberta?
Also, the new principal is a douche-nozzle, ass-fag, cunt-nugget -- whatever you want to call him. But the antagonistic Principal was something the show did lack during the Ms. Hotsauce years. Regardless, it will be interesting to see how this plays out. It is also interesting to note that a pretty large fraction of the current cast has some sort of Lakehurst connection. Even more interesting is the school was made up in season 6. Not even Paige's raper, Dean, was a Lakehurst alum.
All-in-all, the season should turn out well. They've done a good job of phasing out old characters and bringing in new ones (whatever happenned to Hazel?). The new plotlines seem at least in their worst to be interesting. A lowered Darcy presence might not be beneficial, mostly because I don't think the show was entirely done with the character, but at least she's still there physically.
--Knuttel
Phils won, big time. Manny's home run bugs me, not really because it was 3 runs and brought the game within reach for them or anything. It bugs me because he hardly got his bat on it. How? Also puzzling is Brett Meyer's all of a sudden getting good with the wood. He almost matched his season total for hits in this one game, and if you count the whole post-season, has already tied his season long hit total. His month in the minor leagues doesn't seem to affect that total either.
Now onto Degrassi --
Season 8 began tonight. 90210 comparisons end now. Degrassi is vastly superior. More importantly, it handles cast changes so fluidly. I think that has alot to do with how the show is serialized. It's the natural course of life. People come and people go. As much as I enjoy the original cast members, a part of me needs to see them move on. The show, after all, is Degrassi, not people who went to Degrassi, or Degrassi alum, though I do like they handled frosh year at college so far.
Plotlines which began are the Mia modeling plotline, the Manny-Liberty-Emma college beginning plotline (including a unique twist on the roommate situations), and the Clare plotline. Clare, while not entirely a new character, is going through her first year as a Degrassi student, so I guess this is her first time being a full cast member. This is what makes her plotline the most vague at the moment, and with the possibility to expand the most. It appears as if they are trying to establish Clare's group of friends/acquaintances as the new core.
What sucks about the new season?
First and foremost the new song. While I like that they are again showing the opening sequence in a setting, as opposed to the moving pictures of seasons 6-7, the song itself falls short. While there are fans of either the original song, which was used until season 5, or the instrumental version used for the setting-less 6-7, I question the judgement of anyone who likes this new song. It's all Hannah-Montana-ie, but it's in Canada, so i guess Roberta Alberta?
Also, the new principal is a douche-nozzle, ass-fag, cunt-nugget -- whatever you want to call him. But the antagonistic Principal was something the show did lack during the Ms. Hotsauce years. Regardless, it will be interesting to see how this plays out. It is also interesting to note that a pretty large fraction of the current cast has some sort of Lakehurst connection. Even more interesting is the school was made up in season 6. Not even Paige's raper, Dean, was a Lakehurst alum.
All-in-all, the season should turn out well. They've done a good job of phasing out old characters and bringing in new ones (whatever happenned to Hazel?). The new plotlines seem at least in their worst to be interesting. A lowered Darcy presence might not be beneficial, mostly because I don't think the show was entirely done with the character, but at least she's still there physically.
--Knuttel
For the Phightin's
As anyone who follows things which matter would already know -- the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the LA Dodgers in game 1 of the NLCS. Normally, because this is baseball, it might not matter too much. But, as we all know, because it involves the Phillies in particular, it carries a weighted importance.
Good things
As they did throughout the whole Brewers series, The phils won through solid pitching and one explosive inning. I like to compare this to the winning strategy of the Ravens team that won the Super Bowl in the early part of the decade, winning each playoff game with solid defense and one breakout offensive play. When the pitching is on, the pitching is on. Cole Hamels will emerge from this playoffs, regardless of how the team does the rest of the way, as one of the elite pitchers in MLB, if he isn't on some of these lists already. Lidge still has yet to blow a save, and was quite impressive today, only having a one run lead to hold (=no margin for error). And for the offense, well, they capitalize on mistakes. They were dynamic in their totality during the course of the season, but as long as they're scoring more runs than the opposition now, I really can't complain with how it gets done.
Bad things
Manny, while being pitched to well, I thought at least, still went 2-4, an RBI double (which was only a few feet from being a 2RBI homer) being one of the hits. The idiot announcers made a big stink about pitching to him from the full windup (with no runners on base) as opposed to the short stretch. Statistically, they were wrong. Manny went 1-2 in both cases. While that one double was ultimately more devastating with the runner on 2 than the bases empty single doesn't change the fact that he batted .500, regardless of a baserunning presence. I tried to find Kalas on the radio (if you are unfamiliar with the Phillies, you may recognize his voice from various sports highlight reels, specifically NFL Films, or the Puppy Bowl). While I mentioned the runs scored as a positive earlier. Now I shall list them as a downside. The Phillies have had only a handful of scoring innings thus far in the postseason. I want to say the number is 5 from 4 games with the Brewers, and now 1 more from the game with the Dodgers. I think it's a great credit to the baserunning ability of the team that they can explode on an inning like that (even Hamels has a run) they need more consistent bats. Ryan Howard, while impressive so far as long as the pitcher facing him has showed fear, has hardly hit the ball. He has a lot of walks, but he also has a really low batting average. This needs to change. Oddly, one of the most conistent bats I've seen this post-season has been that of defensive cather Carlos Ruiz.
Now to switch gears to politics
I hate spin, especially when it is pushed through in campaigns by the committees of those running themselves.
There is no evidence that Barrack Obama is a terrorist, and to say his middle name (Hussein) has a terrorist tie to it, is simply racist. The man people say is his "terrorist" connection is Bill Ayers. He was part of the radical 60s/70s group "the weathermen." They were a military group, and had arms. However, since then, Ayers has become a supporter of the Chicago community, specifically with education, rather than trying to tear down the government and get after the man. While he would have certainly classified as a terrorist, it is not the Middle Eastern type of terrorist that they are clearly trying to draw ties with by calling Obama's middle name. He would have been more like the Tim McVey/Ted Kasinsky type of terrorist, except in a manner much more like that of the Black Panthers.
This all goes in addition to saying that his association with this man is weak at best. As far as I can tell, they have been honored in the same breath by the mayor of Chicago, little more than that.
Which brings me to another point. If you want to attack him in that sort of manner, attack his political origins. Chicago is the final remaining political machine in America (the Cook County Democratic Party). While it is getting weaker, this machine has been an extremely potent force up until the 70s/80s. It still has an extremely strong presence in Cook County. If you want to be elected to anything needing votes in Chicago, you still have to go through the machine. Why doesn't anyone bring that up.
John McCain has had numerous shady liasons throughout his professional carreer since leaving the military. One of which being Keating, I haven't really heard much about that, but that was also 20 years ago. He also used to be a part of several groups dedicated to aggresively arming people against Communism, regardless of the alternative. With how big of an enemy the Soviet Union was at the time, that in and of itself isn't that alarming, but he seems willing to tackle the enemies of "freedom", most likely "terrorists" with the same fervor he did the Commies. The liason itself here isn't extremely troubling, its the reason he had them that troubles me. Yes, he has foreign policy experience, but there's good experience and bad experience, and I don't think he has enough of the former.
Palin probably has the most dubious of all these connections. In addition to her Priest being probably more radical than Obama's Rev. Wright (he doesn't really like witches, and he still calls himself christian), her family used to be a big player in Alaskan Independence Party. Her husband was an official member for almost a decade, and her speach was characterized by some to echoe the party's founder. The founder, should be noted, was never seen without his magnum pistol, and actually was gunned down by the Feds for treasonous activities. With all of this talk about what is "American" and who is "un-American", I can't help but think there is nothing more un-American than treason. I think it's actually part of the definition.
I'm still unsure about who to vote for in this election, but I can't bring myself to vote for this Republican ticket.
--Knuttel
Good things
As they did throughout the whole Brewers series, The phils won through solid pitching and one explosive inning. I like to compare this to the winning strategy of the Ravens team that won the Super Bowl in the early part of the decade, winning each playoff game with solid defense and one breakout offensive play. When the pitching is on, the pitching is on. Cole Hamels will emerge from this playoffs, regardless of how the team does the rest of the way, as one of the elite pitchers in MLB, if he isn't on some of these lists already. Lidge still has yet to blow a save, and was quite impressive today, only having a one run lead to hold (=no margin for error). And for the offense, well, they capitalize on mistakes. They were dynamic in their totality during the course of the season, but as long as they're scoring more runs than the opposition now, I really can't complain with how it gets done.
Bad things
Manny, while being pitched to well, I thought at least, still went 2-4, an RBI double (which was only a few feet from being a 2RBI homer) being one of the hits. The idiot announcers made a big stink about pitching to him from the full windup (with no runners on base) as opposed to the short stretch. Statistically, they were wrong. Manny went 1-2 in both cases. While that one double was ultimately more devastating with the runner on 2 than the bases empty single doesn't change the fact that he batted .500, regardless of a baserunning presence. I tried to find Kalas on the radio (if you are unfamiliar with the Phillies, you may recognize his voice from various sports highlight reels, specifically NFL Films, or the Puppy Bowl). While I mentioned the runs scored as a positive earlier. Now I shall list them as a downside. The Phillies have had only a handful of scoring innings thus far in the postseason. I want to say the number is 5 from 4 games with the Brewers, and now 1 more from the game with the Dodgers. I think it's a great credit to the baserunning ability of the team that they can explode on an inning like that (even Hamels has a run) they need more consistent bats. Ryan Howard, while impressive so far as long as the pitcher facing him has showed fear, has hardly hit the ball. He has a lot of walks, but he also has a really low batting average. This needs to change. Oddly, one of the most conistent bats I've seen this post-season has been that of defensive cather Carlos Ruiz.
Now to switch gears to politics
I hate spin, especially when it is pushed through in campaigns by the committees of those running themselves.
There is no evidence that Barrack Obama is a terrorist, and to say his middle name (Hussein) has a terrorist tie to it, is simply racist. The man people say is his "terrorist" connection is Bill Ayers. He was part of the radical 60s/70s group "the weathermen." They were a military group, and had arms. However, since then, Ayers has become a supporter of the Chicago community, specifically with education, rather than trying to tear down the government and get after the man. While he would have certainly classified as a terrorist, it is not the Middle Eastern type of terrorist that they are clearly trying to draw ties with by calling Obama's middle name. He would have been more like the Tim McVey/Ted Kasinsky type of terrorist, except in a manner much more like that of the Black Panthers.
This all goes in addition to saying that his association with this man is weak at best. As far as I can tell, they have been honored in the same breath by the mayor of Chicago, little more than that.
Which brings me to another point. If you want to attack him in that sort of manner, attack his political origins. Chicago is the final remaining political machine in America (the Cook County Democratic Party). While it is getting weaker, this machine has been an extremely potent force up until the 70s/80s. It still has an extremely strong presence in Cook County. If you want to be elected to anything needing votes in Chicago, you still have to go through the machine. Why doesn't anyone bring that up.
John McCain has had numerous shady liasons throughout his professional carreer since leaving the military. One of which being Keating, I haven't really heard much about that, but that was also 20 years ago. He also used to be a part of several groups dedicated to aggresively arming people against Communism, regardless of the alternative. With how big of an enemy the Soviet Union was at the time, that in and of itself isn't that alarming, but he seems willing to tackle the enemies of "freedom", most likely "terrorists" with the same fervor he did the Commies. The liason itself here isn't extremely troubling, its the reason he had them that troubles me. Yes, he has foreign policy experience, but there's good experience and bad experience, and I don't think he has enough of the former.
Palin probably has the most dubious of all these connections. In addition to her Priest being probably more radical than Obama's Rev. Wright (he doesn't really like witches, and he still calls himself christian), her family used to be a big player in Alaskan Independence Party. Her husband was an official member for almost a decade, and her speach was characterized by some to echoe the party's founder. The founder, should be noted, was never seen without his magnum pistol, and actually was gunned down by the Feds for treasonous activities. With all of this talk about what is "American" and who is "un-American", I can't help but think there is nothing more un-American than treason. I think it's actually part of the definition.
I'm still unsure about who to vote for in this election, but I can't bring myself to vote for this Republican ticket.
--Knuttel
10.02.2008
2 items
Two things of importance will happen today.
1. The vice-presidential debate.
This particular debate is more important than past VP debates. The reason for this is I have a belief that the VP will have to serve time in office without the V before the term is up. Obama is too large a target for hate groups, and McCain is walking death.
Biden can win if does not talk at all. If he chooses to speak, he should speak minimally. He has a tendency to throw words out of his mouth that either he doesn't mean to, whether he didn't mean to physically, or he was just playing around and took it too far, well, there's no way to know. Point is, there are fewer instances than today where he can dig himself into a mineshaft.
Palin has a similar problem. Whereas Biden's gaff issue comes with trying to be friendly ( I bet he actually is), Palin gets gaff-itis when she tries sounding like she knows what she's talking about. The woman has virtually no experience, and it shows when she has to answer any government related questions. I don't know how long the border with Russia is going to hold for foreign policy experience. It's one of the few borders that two countries can share without caring at all about. A lot of politicians get around an issue like this by using rhetoric, however she's also not very versed in that either. It will be interesting to see how she swims, or if she rapidly tumbles to the ocean floor in her homemade cement shoes.
2. Phillies playoff run continues.
I was actually in attendance at yesterday's game. There's really only one thing you can pull from game 1 of the playoffs though. That is how the starting pitcher does. It bodes well for Cole Hamels, as he was amazing. 8 innings, the win, and no earned (or unearned) runs. No one even got on base until I think the fifth (forget exactly, feel free to correct).
Every other player is an everyday player. This means any given game can be thrown out. Any one can have an off day. Even then, most of the play was at least what was to be expected. They didn't get alot of hits, but they got alot of walks, including one intentional. In fact, because of the walks, Ryan Howard only had one at bat in four plate appearances.
The only causes for concern would be Jason Werth, who went 0-4 with 3 K's, and Brad Lidge. The man was lights out all year. He never (ever) blew a save all year, went 41-41. No one does that, even the best blow at least one or two. He got himself into a pretty tight jam, and I just hope this doesn't translate into his reversion into the Brad Lidge who pitched in his last playoff appearance, with the astros.
Regardless, game two is really the only one I think the phillies have a chance of losing. The only reason for this is Sabbathia. He is the only threat at starting pitcher, and he cannot pitch every day forever. The man's arm is going to fall of soon.
--Knuttel
1. The vice-presidential debate.
This particular debate is more important than past VP debates. The reason for this is I have a belief that the VP will have to serve time in office without the V before the term is up. Obama is too large a target for hate groups, and McCain is walking death.
Biden can win if does not talk at all. If he chooses to speak, he should speak minimally. He has a tendency to throw words out of his mouth that either he doesn't mean to, whether he didn't mean to physically, or he was just playing around and took it too far, well, there's no way to know. Point is, there are fewer instances than today where he can dig himself into a mineshaft.
Palin has a similar problem. Whereas Biden's gaff issue comes with trying to be friendly ( I bet he actually is), Palin gets gaff-itis when she tries sounding like she knows what she's talking about. The woman has virtually no experience, and it shows when she has to answer any government related questions. I don't know how long the border with Russia is going to hold for foreign policy experience. It's one of the few borders that two countries can share without caring at all about. A lot of politicians get around an issue like this by using rhetoric, however she's also not very versed in that either. It will be interesting to see how she swims, or if she rapidly tumbles to the ocean floor in her homemade cement shoes.
2. Phillies playoff run continues.
I was actually in attendance at yesterday's game. There's really only one thing you can pull from game 1 of the playoffs though. That is how the starting pitcher does. It bodes well for Cole Hamels, as he was amazing. 8 innings, the win, and no earned (or unearned) runs. No one even got on base until I think the fifth (forget exactly, feel free to correct).
Every other player is an everyday player. This means any given game can be thrown out. Any one can have an off day. Even then, most of the play was at least what was to be expected. They didn't get alot of hits, but they got alot of walks, including one intentional. In fact, because of the walks, Ryan Howard only had one at bat in four plate appearances.
The only causes for concern would be Jason Werth, who went 0-4 with 3 K's, and Brad Lidge. The man was lights out all year. He never (ever) blew a save all year, went 41-41. No one does that, even the best blow at least one or two. He got himself into a pretty tight jam, and I just hope this doesn't translate into his reversion into the Brad Lidge who pitched in his last playoff appearance, with the astros.
Regardless, game two is really the only one I think the phillies have a chance of losing. The only reason for this is Sabbathia. He is the only threat at starting pitcher, and he cannot pitch every day forever. The man's arm is going to fall of soon.
--Knuttel
9.29.2008
Monday the 29
Well the trip to Penn State was full of awe and awesomeness, undoubtedly partially due to my presence. And yes, PSU is currently ranked as 6, but we all know that is crap, and they should be number 1. Oh well, BCS sucks anyway. Regardless, alot has happened since my departure and subsequent return.
--Phillies made the playoffs. Hells yeah. The Brewers have exactly one arm pitching for them, and he is on approximately negative pi days rest. I like those odds. As Kalas would sing, we got high hopes.
--Nancy Pelosi and John McCain are on a mission to ruin this country.
McCain touted his restless work on "fixing" the economy with the bill, before the bill could even pass. Needless to say, the bill did not pass. The economy is still in shambles. It likely would still have been, but the sooner any solution is used, the better. Why don't we just try Hoover's idea of volunteerism? God knows it worked for him. Word has it Hoover was a disciple of Senator John McCain.
Pelosi was key in getting the proper amount of democratic support (from within her own party, as she is majority leader) and also in negotiating to get the proper amounts of Republican votes. Sadly, she is an idiot, and did not get a very large part of her own party to vote for the bill. More importantly, in a speech she gave just moments prior to the vote for the bill, she blamed the Republican party for all the wrongs that created this current economic crisis. I think she may have even said they crucified Jesus and had tea with Hitler. Nevermind the specifics, whatever she did effectively pushed away a significant amount of Republican votes. So for the sake of her own personal vanity, and party vanity, she did not get the bill passed. Nevermind the fact that the law passed which created most of this mess was passed under Bill Clinton in 1999. Yeah, whoever was in charge then must have really screwed up (don't even pull the Republican Congress card, Dodd and Schumer, two VERY prominent Dems were VERY in favor of this bill). Let me just put it this way. For God's sake, be professional Nancy Pelosi. Now is the time to sit down and figure out a plan, not blame everyone but yourself.
Right now the country needs someone to man up and fix this. God knows it can't be McCain. Please, he's mister deregulation. His economic ideology is the one that got us into this position. It also can't be Obama. The man rose to power as a cog in the Cook County Democratic Party, and with his silky rhetoric and baritone voice, took it to the rest of the state. Taking on Wall Street may prove to be too large a task for him. The most viable third party candidate, Barr, would also prove to be disastrous, as he has even more deregulatory and hands off ideas about economics than McCain.
The worst part -- it's going overseas. If anyone paid attention in history, they would remember that the Great Depression in America ran concurrent with economic depressions across Europe. The only country that was salvaged was the newly founded USSR, forcing itself into the industrial age. Only later did it find out it had no place in the modern one.
We're screwed. Divine intervention is what everyone needs right now. The rise of globalization can only speed the effect to which this can affect the rest of the world. Logically speaking, not all of us will be screwed. That's practically impossible. But it's gonna be awfully hard to escape this wherever you are, regardless of your life choices or given position.
--Knuttel
--Phillies made the playoffs. Hells yeah. The Brewers have exactly one arm pitching for them, and he is on approximately negative pi days rest. I like those odds. As Kalas would sing, we got high hopes.
--Nancy Pelosi and John McCain are on a mission to ruin this country.
McCain touted his restless work on "fixing" the economy with the bill, before the bill could even pass. Needless to say, the bill did not pass. The economy is still in shambles. It likely would still have been, but the sooner any solution is used, the better. Why don't we just try Hoover's idea of volunteerism? God knows it worked for him. Word has it Hoover was a disciple of Senator John McCain.
Pelosi was key in getting the proper amount of democratic support (from within her own party, as she is majority leader) and also in negotiating to get the proper amounts of Republican votes. Sadly, she is an idiot, and did not get a very large part of her own party to vote for the bill. More importantly, in a speech she gave just moments prior to the vote for the bill, she blamed the Republican party for all the wrongs that created this current economic crisis. I think she may have even said they crucified Jesus and had tea with Hitler. Nevermind the specifics, whatever she did effectively pushed away a significant amount of Republican votes. So for the sake of her own personal vanity, and party vanity, she did not get the bill passed. Nevermind the fact that the law passed which created most of this mess was passed under Bill Clinton in 1999. Yeah, whoever was in charge then must have really screwed up (don't even pull the Republican Congress card, Dodd and Schumer, two VERY prominent Dems were VERY in favor of this bill). Let me just put it this way. For God's sake, be professional Nancy Pelosi. Now is the time to sit down and figure out a plan, not blame everyone but yourself.
Right now the country needs someone to man up and fix this. God knows it can't be McCain. Please, he's mister deregulation. His economic ideology is the one that got us into this position. It also can't be Obama. The man rose to power as a cog in the Cook County Democratic Party, and with his silky rhetoric and baritone voice, took it to the rest of the state. Taking on Wall Street may prove to be too large a task for him. The most viable third party candidate, Barr, would also prove to be disastrous, as he has even more deregulatory and hands off ideas about economics than McCain.
The worst part -- it's going overseas. If anyone paid attention in history, they would remember that the Great Depression in America ran concurrent with economic depressions across Europe. The only country that was salvaged was the newly founded USSR, forcing itself into the industrial age. Only later did it find out it had no place in the modern one.
We're screwed. Divine intervention is what everyone needs right now. The rise of globalization can only speed the effect to which this can affect the rest of the world. Logically speaking, not all of us will be screwed. That's practically impossible. But it's gonna be awfully hard to escape this wherever you are, regardless of your life choices or given position.
--Knuttel
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