RSS Feed Subscribers

I have been told I'm having an issue with my feed updating, or not updating, since April 2.  I have contacted Google and hope to resolve this.

I am not that tech savvy but I just spent 45 minutes trying to fix/configure/reconfigure things but nothing seems to have worked.

Thanks and be patient.

No Favors for the G-Men

The Giants are going to have a tough go at it if they're expecting to repeat as Super Bowl champions.

After the NFL blasted their ass released the 2012 schedule, the Giants found out they'll be playing SEVEN teams that made the playoffs last season.

Home games against:  Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Green Bay
Road games against:  San Francisco, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Baltimore

Basically four of the last seven (not including themselves) teams playing last year are on their schedule.

It'll be and up and down year, it always is, but that's why they play the game.

ESPN Narrowly Missed Another Mishap

Whoever had the brains to fire the guy with the "Chink In the Armor" Jeremy Lin headline should take a serious look at whoever produced this gem, which was one letter away from having Al Sharpton all over their asses.

Happy 1st Birthday Nolan

Happy Birthday to my little buddy Nolan Oliver.  He celebrated Easter twice and a leap year, all before he turned one. 

all business, all the time

6:36 AM in NYC our lived were changed for ever, for the better.  It went by extremely fast and although his vocabulary is practically non-existent, he's been walking for over three months, which is pretty impressive.  He's a good little dude with an awesome personality.  He's the man.

We're heading out to the Mystic Aquarium for a day with the little dude.  I feel bad leaving Nathan home all day, but he'll be fine, he's the toughest dachshund I've ever met.

Here's some other cool stuff (or uncool, depending on what your opinion is) that happened on April 16 in the history of the world.

• 1941 - Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians threw the only no-hitter on Opening Day in Major League history, beating the Chicago White Sox 1-0
• Funnyman Jon Cryer turns 47 today.  He's best known for his work on Two and a Half Men and his cameo in Due Date
• Ian MacKaye, frontman for Minor Threat and Fugazi, turns half century this year
• Bob Dylan debuted his song "Blowin' in the Wind" in NY in 1962
• The Rolling Stones debut album was released in 1964, "The Rolling Stones (England's Newest Hitmakers)"
• Bill Belichick turns 60 today and still rocks a ripped hoodie better than any coach in history

We're be having a great day and I hope you'll do the same.

366 in Year 1

Poor Nolan.  The kid has to wait 366 days until he turns 1.  Leap year, please.

His birthday isn't until Monday and Lindsay is going to take off from work so we can head down to the Mystic Aquarium.  I haven't been to an aquarium in quite some time but I'm looking forward to it.  I'm not sure if Nolan actually knows what he'll be looking at but that's all right.

That's all.  Leap year.

Day Games

Because I'm a stay at home dad, there are some perks, namely getting to spend all day every day with Nolan.  There is also baseball.

Surprisingly, baseball on television captures Nolan's attention for periods of time.  He'll look at the TV and then back at me as if to say, "What's going on here?" - and it's kind of funny.

Early in the season, there have been plenty of day games for me us to watch.

We watched the Reds walk off on the Cardinals the other day.
The Nationals walked off on the Mets yesterday.

Today I'm flipping between the Angels/Yankees game and the Rays/Red Sox game.  My loyalty to the Yankees runs deep however, and coupled with the fact that I can only take listening to the Red Sox announcers for 60 seconds at most, the Yankees game has remained on 99% of the time - even for commercials.  The Red Sox guys call the players by their first name like they are best buddies.  And their accents I haven't quite warmed up to yet.

I wish MLB Network would put on the Tigers/White Sox game on - through four innings Max Scherzer has 8 K's and through 5 Jake Peavy has 7 K's.  Three hits, 1 HBP, and one caught stealing combined.

Oddities

• Tigers closer Jose Valverde was perfect in save chances last season - 49 for 49.  He blew one this year in his first chance, against the Red Sox.  He did pick up the win, however.
• The Mets are 4-0?  Really?
• The Rays and Padres are the only two teams with a grand slam
• The Padres are hitting .266 in day games compared to .109 in night games
• The Phillies have only 4 extra base hits - Hunter Pence has a 2B and HR, John Mayberry and Freddy Galvis have a 2B each
• The New York Yankees pitching staff has the 2nd worst WHIP at 1.74 (Atlanta is 1.78)
• The Red Sox have the worst ERA in the majors at 6.75
• The Rays are the only team with a BB:K ratio instead of a K:BB ratio
• The Braves and Twins remain the only two teams without a win

Have a great Tuesday, freaks.

What Happened on April 9th?

• 1413 - Henry V is crowned King of England
• Alaska is purchased from Russia via a treaty passed by the US Senate by one vote, in 1867
• The Suez Canal in Egypt is open for shipping in 1957
• The Astrodome opened it's turnstiles for the first time, making indoor baseball a reality, in 1965
• Yankees pitcher David Robertson is born in 1985
• Hugh Hefner (Playboy Enterprises founder) was born today in 1926.  Coincidentally, porn actress Jenna Jameson is also born today, in 1974
• My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way turns 35 today (born in 1977)
• "Pops" Willie Stargell of the Pittsburgh Pirates, died today in 2001
•  Promising Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart died suddenly in a car crash in 2009
• Freak show performer Zip the Pinhead passed away in NYC in 1926

Have a great Monday, if that's even possible.

Instagram Feature; MLB Opening Weekend

Instagram Feature
If you've been thinking to yourself, "there sure are a lot of pictures on the top of this page" when you check out WRT, you're right, there are.  My Instagram feed is fed right to the blog.

Thanks to the people at Instagram for bringing their platform over to Android.  I can finally snap and shoot photos with my phone and share them with the world.  There's plenty of filter options to make it look like I'm a really good photographer.  I promise not to take pictures of the sky - those are severely played out and have become boring to look at - unless it's a kick ass shot.  And I am not a hipster.

MLB Opening Weekend Storylines
Baseball season is here and so are the premature headlines that are shaping the baseball world.

Here's some shocking stories and some that aren't so shocking.

• SHOCKER - The New York Mets and Baltimore Orioles are both 3-0.  They swept the Braves at Citi Field, holding them to just seven runs while scoring twelve of their own.  Johan Santana was the only starter not to get a W (Niese and Dickey both got W's).  Lucas Duda has two homeruns and David Wright is hitting .667.  For the O's, the pitching has been the story - 5 runs allowed in their three-game sweep in Minnesota.
• NO SHOCK - The World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals are picking up right where they left off and are 3-1.  They beat the Marlins in the first game stateside and then took 2 of 3 from the Prince-less Brewers.  They did all this on the road.  Carlos Beltran looks rejuvenated and Lance Lynn threw an absolute gem, striking out eight Brewers in 6.2 innings on Easter Sunday.
• SHOCKER - Yankees and Red Sox are both 0-3.  The good news for the Bombers is that the last time they started 0-3, they won 114 games and the World Series in 1998.  They got dominated by the Rays, who many experts believe will win the AL East.  Bobby Valentine was hoping to have a better start, but his Red Sox were swept by the Tigers.  They coughed up a ninth-inning lead and an eleventh-inning lead yesterday - you think they miss Papelbon?
• NO SHOCK - The Twins lack of offense.  Justin Morneau, Denard Span, and Josh Willingham are the only three with more than one hit.  Joe Mauer is hitting .100.  Mauer and Morneau are really the only two Twins who can do some damage.  It's going to be a long season in Minnesota.

Some "By The Numbers" stuff.

•  4 - Players with 3 HR's - Yoenis Cespedes, Jay Bruce, Miguel Cabrera, and Corey Hart
• 10 - # of hits for Rafael Furcal, the only player in the majors with double digit hits
• 1 - Duane Below of the Tigers is the only pitcher with 2 wins - both in relief.
• 3 - Saves (2) + Wins (1) for Rays reliever Fernando Rodney, in 1.2 innings pitched
• 2 - Losses by Red Sox reliever Mark Melancon in his 1 inning pitched this season
• .500 - Fielding percentage of Angels 3B Mark Trumbo (3 errors in 6 total chances, in 2 games)
• #8 - Kurt Suzuki has thrown out 3 of 8 runners - the 5 SBA in four games is alarming for the pitchers
• 5 - # of teams sitting at 3-0 as well as teams stuck at 0-3

Let's remember, it's only three games (four for some).  I am not hitting the panic button with the Yankees nor am I anointing the Orioles the favorite in the AL East.  It is what it is, one weekend.  There are still 158/159 games to - buckle up.

Martha's Vineyard Madness

With the Easter holiday approaching, we're going to be headed to Martha's Vineyard later on today for the weekend.  I guess the Easter bunny has a boat he takes to the islands since the only way on or off is by boat or air.

Here's a few facts about the Vineyard.

• 58th largest island in the United States, just a bit smaller than Gravina Island in Alaska
• ≐15,000 year-round residents
• Flying Horses Carousel in Oak Bluffs is the oldest operating carousel in the United States
• Two local newspapers, the Vineyard Gazette and The Martha's Vineyard Times
• "Jaws" was filmed on the island in 1974.  I jumped off the "Jaws bridge" as seen in the movie.
• John Belushi is buried in Chilmark, a town on the island
• It was named in 1602 because there were many vines.  Who Martha is is still a mystery.
• Martha's Vineyard boasts 126 miles of shoreline
• James Taylor's brother Hugh and his wife Jeanne run the Outermost Inn by the lighthouse in Aquinnah
• There are no operating wineries left on the island.  Pretty ironic.

Happy Easter!

Shocking Demotion; Birthday Shout Outs

Shocking Demotion
Talk about a fall from grace minutes before the MLB season kicks off.  Washington Nationals pitcher John Lannan, of Siena College fame, and the opening day starter in 2009 and 2010 for the Nationals, was demoted.  He's scheduled to make $5 million this season too.

Sure, Gio Gonzalez and Edwin Jackson made him a little less of a priority, but he was a staple in their rotation for the past four seasons.

Don't take anything for granted.  Well, except the $5 million he's due to make.

Birthday Shout Outs

• Muddy Waters, the legendary blues musician.  This was actually one of the first artists Nolan listened to when he was only a few weeks old.  He loves the blues.  McKinley Morganfield died in 1983.
• Scott "Rockin'" Rolen turns 37 today.  He's got 8 Gold Glove awards, he's been in 7 All-Star games, and was a member of the 2006 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals.

ALANTA?

ALANTA?  Really New Orleans?