MLB Mid Season Report and other misc. items

I know, I know, because of my many other endeavors, I've been shirking my duties here at the place it all started for me, TBB.

Shame on me for neglecting my roots.

But with the All Star break upon us I've got a little break in the blogging action, so I wanted to take this time to catch up on things here on my original site.

First of all I want to report that my new nephew, Luke Franklin Starke, who turns three months old today, has turned out to be a very healthy and happy baby boy, despite the fact that he lives in New York.

But as you can tell from this photo, he is clearly being raised the right way:


Good job, Sis (and Nana)!

The second item I need to address is the fact that my talented brother-in-law, Paul Starke, was rewarded for producing such a terrific son by receiving an Emmy for the show he produces/writes for, The Tyra Banks Show.

At the Daytime Emmy Awards last month, the Tyra show was named Best Talk Show-Informative, and Paul was right up on stage when Tyra accepted the statue. Click the link to see a video of the moment (Paul is directly to the left of Tyra, right at the bottom of her hair extensions).

Kudos and congrats to my sister and her hubby for the awesome additions to their lives, and just want you guys to know how proud I am of you both.

Okay, now that the sappy family sentimentality is out of the way, it's time to get back to business. And since my business lately has been baseball, that's what I'm gonna cover now.

If you remember back when I was posting original content here I did a 2008 baseball preview piece. In it I predicted all the division and playoff winners, as well as the major award winners in each league.

Well, like any good blogger worth his salt, I'm back to recap my picks, ready to rip myself for all my silly mistakes and break my arm patting myself on the back for all my correct calls.

So if you're interested, keep reading. if not, please be sure to check out my stuff on the other sites.

First thing I did was ask a few pertinent questions related to the upcoming season. Here are the questions, and my then my answers:

Will the Red Sox repeat?
They're in first place despite injuries and inconsistency, so I'm saying yes

Will the Rays finally reach .500 now that they've exorcised the Devil?
Ah, they're not only 16 games over .500, but they've spent a good deal of the half in 1st place

Will Barry Bonds remain an unemployed pariah all season?
So far, yes, and according to this recent article on ESPN.com, the answer is a definite yes

Can the Tigers score 1000 runs with their modern day version of Murderer's Row?
They may score 1000 (they have 449 now), but they've been the biggest disappointment this season

How long before the Brewers regret giving Eric Gagme $10 million bucks (over/under is about 3 games)?
The answer to that is about one month, as Gagme blew 4 saves in the first 3 weeks of the season, then spent the month of June on the DL

Next I predicted the division winners, wild cards, surprising and disappointing teams from each league. Actual leaders in red

American League:
East: Sox Sox
Central: Tigers White Sox
West: Angels Angels
Wild Card: Indians Rays
Surprise: Rays Rays
Dis'pointment: Jays Jays/Tigers

Well I got 4 out of 6 right, so that's not bad. The Sox and Angels lead their divisions, and the Rays have been the surprise of the league by far. The Jays are a major disappointment, but how hard was that to predict - it happens every year!

The Indians, well they are a bigger bust than the Jays, boasting the second worst record in the AL after a four game sweep of the Rays, and Detroit, well I already mentioned them, but they have come on lately and still could win the weak Central.

National League:
East: Mets Phillies
Central: Cubs Cubs
West: Dodgers D-Backs
Wild Card: Padres Cardinals
Surprise: Nationals Cardinals
Dis'pointment: Phillies Padres

Not such a good job with the senior circuit, as I only got one of these right. The Cubs have been the best team in the majors for most of the season, and the Mets are hot now (winning 9 straight), but it took a putrid start and the canning of their manager to light a fire under their underachieving asses.

The Dodgers are one game back in the awful West, so they could take that sorry division, but the Phils have been in first almost all season and the Pads and Nats are the two worst teams in the league. Oops.

Oh well. NEXT!

My award winners are about as spot on as my playoff predictions.

American League:
MVP: Manny Ramirez Josh Hamilton
Cy Young: Josh Beckett Cliff Lee
Rookie of the Year: Evan Longoria Longo

Tracking for 2 of 3 on this as Manny has heated up again after a long dry spell, but still has the numbers (.293/18/60) and capability of winning this award. And Longoria, an All Star and HR Derby participant, is a near lock for the Rookie trophy.

Josh Beckett - chalk that up to wishful thinking.

National League:
MVP: Jose Reyes Lance Berkman
Cy Young: Johan Santana Tim Lincecum
ROY: Kosuke Fukodome Fuko

One out of three here, as Fuko is primed to be the Rookie of the Year. But Reyes has been inconsistent and had run ins with managers and announcers, and Santana is sitting at 8-7 and has been victimized by poor run support.

Now that that's out of the way, I'm going to wipe the slate clean, exercise my bloggers license and give you my mid-season picks.

American League:
East: Sox who'd you think I'd say?
Central: Tigers still can't count out that offense
West: Angels no one comes close
WC: Rays another parade for the Bay area?
MVP: Hamilton if he keeps up this pace (21HR, 95BI), he's a lock
Cy Young: Roy Halladay just can't see Lee or Saunders winning this
ROY: Longoria no-brainer

National League:
East: Mets coming on strong now
Central: Cubs been there all year
West: Dodgers 1GB and better pitching than Arizona
WC: Brewers addition of Sabathia gets 'em over the hump
MVP: Chase Utley if Phils make playoffs, he's in
Cy Young: Edinson Volquez win-win in trade for Hamilton
ROY: Fuko even though he's not a true rookie

Keep in mind that my pick of a Boston/Cubs World Series is still looking pretty solid, so I got that going for me.

Alright, I'm spent now. Hope this gets me up to date.

If I have time tomorrow, I'll recap tonight's Mid Summer Classic and give you my top stories of the first half.

Enjoy the All Star Game.

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Time to go Bowling!

Only the unparalleled rush of College Bowl Season could draw me back to the blogosphere.

Even the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.

Stop me if you've heard this before: I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long, but...

Can I start again now?

I know it seems as if I stopped and started posting to this blog more times than Bill Parcells has agreed to lead an NFL team only to renege on his deal, but all I can say is that the stress &/or duress of starting a new job, coaching my son's Little League team, and blogging about the World Champion Red Sox every day for 8 months straight caused me to have a severe case of blogging backlash.

Throw in the fact that I don't make a cent to do this, and the choice to step away from the keyboard for a while was a pretty easy one.

But if there's one thing that could draw me back to the monitor like the paparazzo to Brangelina's brood, it's the onset of the college football bowl season.

Are there too many bowls? Hells yes. Over half the teams in Division 1-A, a.k.a. the Bowl Division subset, or whatever the fuck the powers that be in the NCAA are calling it now, will play in a postseason game.

Do the names of the bowls get more ridiculous every year? Thanks to unabashed corporate sponsorship run amok, you bet your sweet Poulan Bell Helicopter Tostitos Emerald Nuts ass they do.

But I'm a sucker for the pomp and pageantry that is NCAA football, and compared to the gigantic hemmorhoid the NFL season (save for the beloved Pats) has been this year, I'm am going to relish--and predict--each and every blessed bowl for the next three weeks, until the undisputed national champion is crowned on January 7th.

Unless I have another horrendous streak like I did last bowl season. then I might have to renege on this posting promise quicker than Papa Tuna fucked over the Falcons.

On to the most wonderful time of the year!

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
Utah (8-4) vs. Navy (8-4)
9PM ESPN
Line: Utah -8

Throw out the fact that this is the most ridiculously named bowl of all 32, it also happens to be the first of them all, therefore it carries some importance.

Plus you've got two pretty decent teams, each of which is adept at mastering one side of the line of scrimmage.

Navy has become an offensive powerhouse the last couple of seasons, so much so that head coach Paul Johnson has jumped (mid)ship to try and resurrect the flagging Georgia Tech program. The Middies average over 350 rushing yards/game, led by all-name team finalist quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada.

Utah, meanwhile, has hardly suffered from Urban upheaval since coach Meyer took his spread option offense to the Gainseville Swamp. The Utes might not score as much as Navy, but the sure can defend, allowing just over 15 points per game and holding the opponent to just over 130 yards on the ground per game.

As the old saying goes, something's gotta give.

Utah is riding a 6 game bowl winning streak dating back to 1999, but Navy will be playing a de facto home game in San Diego, home to one of the largest contingents of seamen this side of the Spears sisters' bedrooms.

Even though logic says the stingy, fightin' Utes should hold down a restructuring Navy squad, I'm a sucker for offense, so I'm gonna go with the fun & runnin' Middies to plow through the Utah 'D' and win this one for new coach Ken Niumatalolo.

Plus you gotta love these freakin names!

MY PICK: Navy 28, Utah 27

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Summer 2007: A quick look back

I'm baaaacck! And unlike Britney Spears I know this could be my last chance, so I don't intend to screw this up.

I know it's been a while, but I've finally decided to stop neglecting my original site after spending so much time with its newest sibling this summer, you know, my other blog (shhhh!)

Point is I guess I never really realized what a full-time obsession the Red Sox could be.

But now that summer is over, the baseball regular season is winding down, and all the good things like NFL & college football, the new Fall TV seasons and the Oscar contenders are taking hold of the public conscience, I thought I'd better get back to my eldest blogchild lest it disable itself and disown me forever.

And what would an "I'm back"/end of summer post be without a Top 10 list? You're right, it would be original and creative, but I thought it would be shit. So without further adieu here are the Top Five Best & Worst things about Summer 2007 (see, add the two Top 5s and you've got a Top 10--cut me some slack, I've been away for a couple of months)

FIVE WORST THINGS ABOUT THIS SUMMER

5.) Britney's MTV Awards show appearance

This "performance" had to be the most embarrassing thing the former Mouseketeer has ever done, and that's saying something for a woman who routinely flashes her cooch in public, shaved her hair to avoid a drug test (upstairs & downstairs evidently) and attacked a throng of helpless paparazzo with a street sign.

But when a Haagen Dazs and Halcion-fueled Brit took the stage last weekend to perform her newest single, which was supposed to resurrect her flagging career, no one on Earth could have predicted the tragi-comedy that would follow. Looking like a reject from Josie & the Pussycats, Brit Brit stumbled across the stage, mumbled a few of the lyrics playing in the background, then tumbled from the pedestal of fame right into the sewer of infamy.

4.) Barry Bonds HR chase By now most of you know that Barry Bonds became major league baseball's all-time home run king when he blasted career shot #756 on August 7th, and if you don't know you must have been vacationing at Lake Cuomo all summer.

The fact that Bonds was on the verge of breaking the most hallowed record in all of sports did not bother me one bit (you say he took 'roids, I say who didn't?), but it was the incessant, non-stop coverage of the chase and everyone's reaction to the chase. Which begs the question, if every sports TV show and news outlet didn't clog the airwaves and page space with so much anti-Barry content, don't you think fewer people would have paid attention in the long run?

3.) Entourage
HBO's feel-good surprise hit was enjoying a third season filled with interesting conflicts, hilarious dialogue and witty storylines, and then HBO decided to mess with the mojo and jump onto the aggravatingly popular " mid season hiatus" bandwagon and split the season in half.

When it resumed something felt...different, like either the writers had run out of ideas or started reading their press clippings, and when the fourth season premiered a mere three weeks after the third one ended with a stale "Office"-esque episode centered on the filming of the fictional Medellin, the wife and I immediately looked at each other in agreement--one of our favorite shows had officially jumped the shark.

2.) Mike Vick is fucking sick In what has to be the worst case of an athlete gone wild since Orenthal carved up his ex-wife and her sunglasses steward, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was busted for and plead guilty to running an illegal dog fighting operation from a property he owned in rural Virginia.

Vick is now facing a potential 1-5 years in federal prison for inhumanely killing dogs that did not perform well for him, and also a possible lifetime banishment from the NFL due to gambling violations. It's safe to say no one, not even OJ, who was a has-been at the time he became a double-murderer, has fallen farther faster than the always overrated and never understated Vick, who at the recent draft in April was quoted telling ESPN "I love animals." Enjoy being a wide receiver in the slammer, you sick fuck.

1.) The Minnesota bridge collapse
As a resident of Florida, a state with approximately 15 zillion bridges, the collapse of the I-35W bridge that spanned the Mississippi River outside of Minneapolis was a senseless yet seemingly all-too-plausible tragedy that really hit home.

Every year we as Americans deal with catastrophic events that leave us both horrified and amazed at the same time--hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires & flash floods--but there's something about the sudden collapse of a structure that thousands of people utilize and take for granted every day that really causes the average citizen to step back and think "that really could have been me or someone I loved."

...and on the lighter side...

FIVE BEST THINGS ABOUT THIS SUMMER:

5.) Knocked Up
The wife and I might not have seen it until it was already a month old, but that didn't diminish the gut-busting power of this raunchy-yet-lovable comedy from the demented genius behind "The 40 Year Old Virgin", Judd Apatow.

In this romantic comedy with a terrific twist goofy Seth Rogen has a one-night stand with sexy Katherine Heigel, and the end result is a bun in the oven that's good for an hour and a half of "will they or won't they" banter as well as a ton of hilarious rotten marriage jokes from the indispensable Paul Ruud and Leslie Mann. Like Virgin, Knocked Up has plenty of sick humour and classic lines mixed with a smidge of tenderness, and in the end you're left saying "I can't wait for this guy's next flick to come out."

What's that? It did? Oh, Superbad? Oh, my bad.

4.) Celtics sign Kevin Garnett

After a few flirtations with the 10-time All Star and former league MVP, the Boston Celtics finally landed the Big Ticket on July 31st when it sent five players to Minnesota in exchange for the leanest, meanest, hungriest big man in the league.

Coupled with the addition of 7-time All Star sharpshooter Ray Allen and C's team captain Paul Pierce, the Celtics have put together its best troika since Bird, McHale and the Chief ruled the parquet a couple of decades ago, and in the weak Eastern Conference this trident of talented future Hall of Famers could bring the NBA title back to Benatown for the first time since 1986.

3.) Flight of the ConchordsBand meeting! Just as the Sopranos came to a perplexing conclusion and Entourage was beginning to royally suck, HBO slipped an odd little half hour comedy about a folk band from New Zealand under our noses, and wouldn't you know after a few weeks of sniffing it out it grew on me like nosehair.

Don't get me wrong, this dry brand of quirky humor is definitely not for everyone, as I had to practically bribe the wife to watch it a couple of times, but make no mistake all you non-believers will rue the day you didn't jump on the Jemaine and Bret bandwagon in the early stages, and if you don't believe Murray will get the guys an actual paying gig some day soon well then you're just a bunch of mothaflippin' idiots!

2.) NYC trip
I did a complete post of this experience right before I went on hiatus, so if you want a more detailed account of the experience just scroll down a bit. But I have to include it here because the combination of my sister's awesome wedding and the entire family gathering in New York City was an experience that will never be duplicated or imitated. Great wedding, great city, great time with the family all added up to an all-time memorable summer event.

1.) 1 month child-free
As good as Melissa & Paul's wedding was, I would be remiss if I did not place this extremely rare occurrence at the top of my summer of fun list.

For one whole month, or a full one-third of my son's summer vacation, he went to spend time with his relatives in Ohio, where he got passed around like a bottle of Ketel One at Promises Malibu, and the wife and I took full advantage of the freedom.

How did we spend our time you ask? Well if you have to ask, then...let's just say it involved a little bit of this...

...and some of this...

...still more of this...

...and then finally, this.

Well, we did a little more than that, but those pictures are not available on this site. You know what they say, when the kid's away, the dearly beloved will play.

Stay tuned for more posts--I promise it won't be two months in between.

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