Moneyball

I never read the book and haven't seen the movie (is it even out yet?) but it is on my short list - along with getting a job.  I am still muddling my way through Keith Richards' book Life but the next one I read will be Michael Lewis's Moneyball.

I watch daytime talk shows nowadays while I stay home with Nolan and Brad Pitt was on quite a bit last week along with Billy Beane promoting the new movie.

I have been an A's fan for a while and was always kind of wondering how Beane did what he did - even though they've never really won anything in the "moneyball era" but nonetheless, I am intrigued.

So, this is just a short blurb letting you know you should read and/or see Moneyball.  Ellen let all her audience see it before it came out - 98% of which were women - and they all enjoyed it.  I mean Brad Pitt is in it, but still.

Time to get going.

Oh damn, look at that Minivan

One of the few perks about living in the Bronx is a sight seen day after day after day - pimped out minivans.

Just yesterday, I saw a 2002 Ford Windstar parked on the road.  It had chrome rims, dark tints, and a dude in it pumping out Lil' Wayne beats for all the Bronx to hear.

Unfortunately, I don't always have a reaction time quick enough to take a photo of said minivans, but I wanted to copy and paste a few pictures of minivans I found on the Internet.  As far as I'm concerned, no amount of tint, chrome, or bass can make a minivan any cooler to drive.

These people who've souped up theirs, they must think otherwise.



Red Rocket version

Pointy Rims version

Honda Odd-yssey

 You tell  me readers, are these things any cooler to drive because they are pimped out with tints, big wheels, or spoilers?

I say no.

PIX Morning News 7A-9A

Just wanted to point out that Channel 11 news went to their commercial break with some atypical music played on morning news boradcasts - the Beastie Boys' "No Sleep til Brooklyn" - which I thought was very cool.

I will not, however, watch the news because those two crows are simply unwatchable.

I stick to Today and if I need a good laugh, Good Day New York.  I feel like GDNY has no script and they just kind of fly by their pants, which is entertaining and hard to watch at the same time.

Paper Chase (ACC, Pac-16, Big East...)

Looks like everyone is trying to get out of the Big East - Syracuse and Pittsburgh both parted ways over the weekend in favor of the ACC.  It really came as a total shock to me, probably because I don't have any insider information.

It's looking like there are shaping up to be four mega-conferences.

The Pac-16 would shape up something like this:

PAC-16

Pod One - Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech

Pod Two - Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah

Pod Three - Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State

Pod Four - USC, UCLA, California, Stanford

Are you kidding me?

UConn, as recent as an hour ago, has reportedly been throwing around the idea of joining the ACC, Big Ten, or a merger with the Big 12.  Rutgers is also in talks with joining the ACC.  If these two joined as well, here's what the ACC might look like:

ACC

Northern Division:  UConn, Rutgers, Syracuse, Boston College, Pittsburgh, Maryland, Virginia, Virginia Tech

Southern Division:  Miami, Florida State, Duke, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, NC State, Clemson, Wake Forest

Is it me of weren't five of those eight once members of the same conference?  The Big East!

Coach K says the addition of Pitt and Syracuse is "pretty exciting" - probably in part because the entire preseason NCAA Basketball Top 10 could be ACC schools.

It's all seemingly coming down to one thing - the almighty dollar (or many millions and millions of them).

It's a sad thing losing some of these rivalries but after all is said and done, it's one giant paper chase.

It seems like when it shakes down, the teams that defected from other conferences will once again be pitted in a "Division" with the same teams they shared their previous conference with, which is ridiculous.

I remain confused over all the talk and what the hell is going on.

Greed killed the cat.



Auburn at Clemson; NCAAF

Clemson just scored a loooooong TD to take a 28-21 lead over Auburn, a team I have grown to hate. 

Right out of the gate after halftime, BOOM, a 65-yard TD to freshman WR Sammy Watkins, who's a burner.  He's already gone for 121 yards on seven catches.

Auburn's defense looks like Swiss cheese and I'm loving it.  It's a hostile environment down there in Death Valley and I'm hoping the nations longest winning streak will come to an end today.

In other games, former UConn coach Randy Edsall and his Terrapins are having a rough go at home against #18 West Virginia, trailing 34-10 early in the third quarter.

Penn State looks awful on the "road" against Temple, trailing 10-7 late in the third quarter.  Joe Pa needs to be on the sideline motivating these guys, if he can still do that.

Pitt is all over Iowa, in Iowa City, 17-3, with five minutes left in the third. 

Michigan is at the Big House and is mauling Eastern Michigan, 21-3.  EMU had a 3-0 lead before Michigan ripped off 21 straight points.

Georgia looks good - against Coastal Carolina - leading 28-0 with hopes of getting their first win of the year after two tough losses (#5 Boise State beat them 35-21 before #12 South Carolina beat them 45-42 in a thriller) at home.

Time to get our stuff ready to head to Long Island.  My father had his 54th birthday Friday and we're gonna go have dinner and watch the premier game of the day, #1 Oklahoma at #5 Florida State.

Tomahawk Chop - Let's Go Noles!

Outrage

Apparently, the residents of New Jersey are going to have to foot the GTL bill for the cast of Jersey Shore.  This country is out of control, but if you ask the mayor of Seaside Heights, NJ, he is all for it.

$420,000 Bill to 'GTL'

Hat Wearing 101

Tim Tebow was never taught how to wear a baseball cap.  Not a cowboy hat or a fedora, a simple baseball cap.

Here was the look on the sidelines - as he should be for the season - in the Broncos season-opening loss to my RAIDERS!!

Clean it up Timmy.

What up, yo?

The Real Dream Team: Father’s & Son’s

This is a guest post from my buddy over at Shell Shock Serenade.  He reminisced a bit about growing up and the role sports plays in a father and son's life together.  The dude has been through a lot, including raising two kids by himself for 10 years.  Give his blog a read and follow him up, it's life-altering stuff and he really helps you appreciate the things you have.

Some of the most vivid childhood memories that I have involve a baseball, a ball glove and my dad. Sometimes they included our neighbor across the street Mr. Geise…but most times not. But ALWAYS…there was my father, “the Old Man”, Pawps…that larger then life fellow (In reality too, he was 6’4” and 245lbs!) who was my role model and my hero…and he still is.

We would stand in the front yard at that house on Lambourne Ave. in the Columbus, Ohio suburb of Worthington, where I grew up, chucking the baseball back and forth, seemingly for hours. Then as leaves turned and weather grew chilly, out came the football…dad and I running play after pre-planned pass play in that very same front yard, he at Quarterback and myself at wide receiver…that front yard to me one day would be Crosley Field (where the Cincinnati Reds played ball at the time)  and the next day was Cleveland Stadium (Where the Cleveland Browns played) followed Ross-Ade Stadium where the Purdue Boilermaker Football Team played. It was anything but…my front yard!

Get the impression that sports were an important part of my family life? They most definitely were and I shudder to think how I might have grown up if they weren’t. And always at the center of my sports activity was my Dad…

He had been a good enough to be a 2^nd Team All State High School Basketball Player at Dayton Kentucky High (right across the Ohio River from Cincinnati) that he played scholarship basketball as a Center/Forward at Michigan State as a Freshman, before he tore up his knee ending his basketball career. He then went to school at Purdue University (hence our family’s loyalty to Purdue) where his father had just gotten a job in the Administration. He continued to play sports at an intramural level and for fun, all through college, while in the Army and then long after…eventually passing on the love of sport to his only son.

We attended many a Reds Baseball game, reveling in the Glory years of the Big Red Machine: Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, George Foster, Tony Perez, Davey Conception, Ken Griffey (senior) and Cesar Geronimo…al my heroes! We went to Purdue Basketball and Football games….it was ritual to watch college football on the days we were not at a game on TV or listen to them on the radio (this being the era before cable sports television).

I played all sorts of little league sports as a boy and my father was always there as well, even though as a salesman he traveled a great deal. Often he wouldn’t get in until late Friday night after I had gone to bed but by the time my soccer or football or baseball game started at 8am the following morning….there he’d be, watching his boy.

But the real fun to me was throwing the ball back and forth in that old front yard. That was the best memory of all…just my dad and I together, a Dream Team for all time, spending countless hours together, rain, shine or snow…throwing a football or baseball together. That will always be the everlasting memory of my father and I…

And that legacy continued…if you fast forward to the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, you will see another father and son, in the front yard of an old brick farmhouse outside of Holland, Michigan. And they will be chucking the football or baseball back and forth just like my dad and I had done over 30 years before.

 

And honestly, those are the best memories I’ve had so far with my own son Ian…were it rain or shine, everyday after work/school, we’d be there in an imaginary Ross-Ade Stadium, running pass play after pass play…..now with yours truly at Quarterback and my son Ian at wide Receiver.…just like my father and I used to do.

 

It’s funny how often I think about those times I spent with my father and my son. How important those times together really were. How closely we bonded and how the relationships we have with each other to this very day were forged in those front yards and watching ball games together at the Ball Park somewhere or at home in front of the TV.

 

My son, now in his mid 20’s and I still throw the ball back and forth together when we are together…what can I say…family traditions die hard! And when we do, it doesn’t take much to just close my eyes and I can still hear the echoes of ball slapping leather from that far off time, where another father and son were getting to know each other in that very, same special way…..sharing a love for sports, spending time together and each other.

New Layout for Blogger; Raiders

Even though my bud Thom over at SSS posted almost two weeks ago about the new layout in Blogger, I felt compelled to respond.

Personally, I think the streamlined look is pretty easy on the eyes.  I also think my fantasy football team sucks - yes, after just one week.

I think the dropdown menu allowing you to access every aspect of your blog is an excellent addition as well.

Raiders 13 - Broncos 3.  Don't screw this one up.  :32 seconds before the half and Denver is marching.  INT!!!  13-3 at the half on the road ain't bad.

The one thing they need to address as far as updating and modernizing is the "Add Gadget" feature - it looks so antiquated when you're searching for them and lately - maybe it's my computer - but the picture icons aren't loading up.

So Thor, there you have it.  Guest stop over at PV?

Never Forget!; New Endeavor

NEVER FORGET!  Thank a civil servant, cop, fireman, pilot, and any miltary you come across in your daily journey.  It might not mean a lot to them everytime, but everyone likes to know they're appreciated.

I am starting a new blog on the blogger platform - Postgame Vigilante - in honor of the beginning of the NFL season.  It will deal with the NFL season, the NCAA season, the remainder of the MLB season, college hoops when it comes around, college sports, and whatever else has a postgame.

I will include another new idea of mine which will be displayed from time to time.

I will continue to post here on WRT but am trying out something new.  Stay with me and sorry for the hiatus.  I am still in the process of finding a new job, so being a stay-at-home-dad is both enjoyable and very time consuming.  Hopefully sometime very soon, I will have a lead on a job.  I can only hope.

Great to be back though.  Hope everyone is well and my throng of followers will still be in touch.

Thanks again!

Ryan

You looking at me? I thought you was lookin' at me. You must not be looking at me.