Ten-Cent Beer Night

In 1974 on this day in history - a game between Cleveland and Texas has to be called because of the results of fans being offered "ten-cent beer night". Things went from bad:

Mike Hargrove, who had come in at mid-game, was the target of hot dogs and spit. At one point, he was very nearly hit with an empty gallon jug of Thunderbird wine.

To pretty much the inspiration for the movie The Warriors:

After Texas outfielder Jeff Burroughs violently reacted to a fan stealing his glove and cap, the Texas players, led by manager Billy Martin, charged out to his aid. As soon as they arrived, hundreds of fans poured into the outfield, armed with knives, chains and portions of stadium seats they'd broken apart.

I now have the words, "Rangers - come out and pla-ay" repeating in my head...

Ulysses S Grant's Greatest Mistake

On this date (June 3rd) in 1864 - General Ulysses S Grant ordered a frontal assualt on the entrenched Confederate forces at Cold Harbor. It was a disaster for the Union and Grant later said that the order to assualt the entrenched forces at Cold Harbor was his greatest mistake and in his memoirs he said that "Cold Harbor is the only battle I ever fought that I would not fight over again under the circumstances."

The Battle of Cold Harbor technically took 13 days but it was on this day that most of the fighting was done and the frontal assault was attempted. More than 12% of the Union's 108,000 troops ended up dead or wounded by the time the battle was done. It is sad that the generals who fought WWI either never read or learned from Grant's memoirs because assualting entrenched lines (along with the senseless slaughter) became a favorite tactic in "the War to end all Wars".

X-Men: The Last Stand

Last night I went to see X-Men III (as everyone calls it). I ended up being highly entertained but slightly disappointed at the same time. Let me explain.

X-Men III relies upon lots of new mutant characters, lots of CGI and lots of mayhem to entertain. The earlier movies had much better character development and dialog. I left the first two X-Men installments psyched and wanting to see them again or at least buy the DVD - X-Men III not so much.

I guess these differences were to be expected. This movie was directed by Brett Ratner who replaced Bryan Singer (who also has the excellent Usual Suspects to his credit). I guess the movie last night was satisfying but it was like seeing The Producers on Broadway expecting Lane and Broderick but getting the understudies instead.

If you go to the movie and are an X-Men fan - make sure you stay to the very end because there is a very short extra scene at the end that is worth seeing.

(Mini-spoiler Alert) One thing bugged me. The "humans" had a serum that could change a mutant back to a "homo sapien" but when they had Mystique, Juggernaut and Multiple Man in captivity - they never used it on them. Can anyone explain to me why in the world they would not have used the guns with the serum darts on these mutants when they had them chained up and helpless?

The Ten Commandments - Updated Movie Trailer

Heh heh - this was pretty funny.

This was the funniest re-done trailer since the trailer for The Shining was redone.

HT RC at Strange Culture who I just added to the blogroll.

Odds to Win the 2007 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship

I guess you could call these really early odds but here are the 12 teams favored to win the 2007 March Madness:

North Carolina 5-1
Florida 6-1
Ohio State 13/2
Kansas 8-1
UCLA 10-1
Duke 15-1
LSU 15-1
Texas 15-1
Memphis 18-1
Connecticut 20-1
Georgetown 20-1
Arizona 22-1

I'm surprised how high up Ohio State and Georgetown are. I understand how the hype about 7-1 Kosta Koufas would bump Ohio State but did Georgetown get some stud prospect too?

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

Will the Nationals trade Alphonso Soriano? Washington's not in the playoff hunt and if they don't trade him - then there is a good chance they will lose him to free agency. Soriano wants to play second base but how many teams will want to spend between $10-15 million on a second baseman this offseason? Maybe the Nats trade 2nd baseman Jose Vidro instead. Vidro becomes a 10-5 guy at the end of this season and will have veto power. My guess is that the Nats sign Soriano to a 3-year $36 million contract within the month and then trade Vidro (they won't risk losing both Vidro and Soriano so they need to make sure Soriano is signed before trading Vidro). Then again - maybe Soriano thinks he can sign with the Yankees as a free agent (taking Gary Sheffield's spot in the outfield - Robinson Cano ain't going anywhere at 2nd)... Juan Gonzalez playing for the Long Island Ducks? I wonder what their steroid testing program is like... Congratulations to Freddie Sanchez (formerly of the Pawtucket Red Sox) who has taken the batting lead in the NL with his .358 average (Miguel Cabrera is second with his .354 mark). Its nice when good people do well... Kenny Rogers always seemed like a bit of a head case. When he's out of his comfort zone he gets rattled. He always pitches better at home than on the road and with the Red Sox in Detroit to take on the Tigers - if I'm Terry Francona I consider (just consider) having the umpires check his glove for foreign substances if it looks like Rogers is getting into a groove (I'm not above a little gamesmanship)...

The Rockies as a "Christian" Team

The USA Today piece that ran on Wednesday begins by saying:

DENVER — No copies of Playboy or Penthouse are in the clubhouse of baseball's Colorado Rockies. There's not even a Maxim. The only reading materials are daily newspapers, sports and car magazines and the Bible.

Music filled with obscenities, wildly popular with youth today and in many other clubhouses, is not played. A player will curse occasionally but usually in hushed tones. Quotes from Scripture are posted in the weight room. Chapel service is packed on Sundays. Prayer and fellowship groups each Tuesday are well-attended. It's not unusual for the front office executives to pray together.

My first thought was what professional work environment allows porno mags and obscenity filled music? I could only come up with strip joints. Even the mechanics at garages had to take down their centerfold pinups back in the late 70's because of lawsuits and the threat of "hostile work environments". The Yankees have been pretty successful - do you think they allow porn in the lockerroom? (And if you don't think Penthouse qualifies as porn - you haven't seen it lately - Maxim I bet is no big deal in the Rockies lockerroom - the writer was probably just going for effect here.)

I was also taken by the line, "Prayer and fellowship groups each Tuesday are well-attended." Notice it says well attended and not "mandatory". And what does well attended actually mean? Bob Hohler of the Boston Globe did a piece on the Red Sox last year where he included the following quote:

"Without question, chapel attendance among the Red Sox has been far and away more than any of the major league teams over the last two years," said Vince Nauss, president of Baseball Chapel.

The USA Today piece makes no claim that the "packed" chapel services are the best attended in baseball. The Red Sox are led by Theo Epstein (who is Jewish) and Larry Lucchino (avowed Satanist) - they have assembled a mostly Christian team too but it was not out of design but because character is a key to success. Just look at the New England Patriots who place character near the top of their requirements on draft day. From the USA Today piece:

Rockies pitcher Jason Jennings says: "They do preach character and good living here. It's a must for them, and that starts from the very top."

That sounds like a quote out of the scripture of St. Belichick himself. The Rockies aren't building a team of Christians - they are building a team of character - there's a huge difference. Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd expressly says the same:

The Rockies say they welcome anyone regardless of religious beliefs. "We don't just go after Christian players," O'Dowd says. "That would be unfair to others. We go after players of character."

One last quote from the USA Today piece I would like to address and then I'm done:

[Charlie] Monfort and [Keli] McGregor have never shared their religious views at owners meetings, Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf says.

"It's interesting, but I had no idea. I don't think any of us do," says Reinsdorf, who, like Selig, is Jewish. "I do believe character is very important. But only to a point. Does this mean ... Babe Ruth (a Hall of Famer and notorious carouser) could never have played there?"

1. The fact that the Rockies are building a team of character is not news but if you try and play the story as "the Rockies are building a team of Christians" then that's a story. That seems to be more of a relevation about USA Today's values than anything about the Rockies if you ask me.

2. The modern day equivalent to Babe Ruth is playing in San Francisco. How's that working out for the Giants? Did I miss the news about their World Series victory parades?

3. Reinsdorf let the Babe Ruth of the White Sox - Frank Thomas - be shoved away from the team because of character issues (Frank was a bit of a pill). Seems a bit hypocritical by Reinsdorf.

The USA Today's premise that the Rockies are somehow trying to build a Christian team is very misleading. I'll leave it at that.

EDIT: RC has the backlash from the players over the USA Today column - seems like context is optional at USA Today

Good Videos

Here's two videos for your morning enjoyment.

The first is short and sweet (but I dare you not to laugh).

The second is a collection of TV news gaffs - my favorite is the BBC guy (via Samantha Burns).

Nevin for Hairston

The Rangers have traded Phil Nevin to the Cubs for Jerry Hairston Jr. This was a good move by Texas and a poor move in my opinion by the Cubs.

The Rangers are able to get a guy who can shore up the bench by playing several positions and they shed both Nevin's salary (or the bulk of it) and his attitude (he was a guy who didn't want to go to Texas in the first place).

The Cubs get a guy whose numbers have fallen off a cliff since the league stepped up their steroid testing (and yes I just played the steroid card). Nevin will make $10 million this year and is due another $2 million next year. Hairston is only on the books for $2.3 million this year. So you figure that the Rangers are probably sending about $5 million along with the deal. Even at the price - it was well worth it to the rangers to be rid of Nevin.

What I don't get is why the Cubs went after Nevin when they could have picked up JT Snow cheap from the Red Sox. Snow's not happy with his lack of playing time behind Kevin Youkilis and the Red Sox have Hee Seop Choi available in Pawtucket. Snow is completely expendable and the Sox would probably only have asked for a single A guy in return or a PTBNL. Plus JT Snow is only making $2 million.

Joke of the Day

Thanks to 21

Two old ladies met for lunch one day in town. "How did you get here?' one lady asked the other.
"I took a cab,' the other lady answered. 'Did you come on the bus?'
"Yes,' said her friend, 'but I make it look like an asthma attack.'

The Boer War Ends

On May 31, 1902 - the Treaty of Vereeniging was signed - officially ending the three-and-a-half-year (second) South African Boer War. Very interesting history which is for the most part forgotten these days.

A very under-rated movie about the end of this war is Breaker Morant which I heartily recommend.

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

Kevin Millar is hitting a measly .233 for the Orioles. It still pisses me off that Millar played the majority of games at first last year for the Red Sox while Kevin Youkilis sat on the bench... Detroit still leads the AL Central but I have to wonder how long that will last if they stick with Todd Jones as their closer. Sure Jones is 16 for 17 in save opportunities but I get a feeling that Jones will have a stretch where he can't get anyone out and blows like 5 saves in a row. Just sayin' is all... The AL Central is completely beating up on the AL West. So far this season the Central is 37-22 against the West. It's true that the West hasn't really gotten to feast on he Royals yet (just 4 games so far) but its equally true that the Royals won't lie down for anyone in the West (just ask the A's who lost to KC last night)... Freddy Sanchez is finally getting a chance to start and he's making the most of it. The former pride of the Pawtucket Red Sox is hitting .327 for the Pirates with a .851 OPS. Sanchez was the key prospect that brought Jeff Suppan back to the Red Sox 3 years ago. Suppan was not a fit in Boston (and never was). He went 3-4 with a 4.71 ERA that half-season in 2003 and was out of town by the end of the year. The Pirates definitely got the best of that trade... Something tells me that Lastings Milledge is going to be the next Gabe Kapler. A player with lots of hype coming into the league and who shows flashes of greatness but can never quite put it together... Craig Counsell is probably the best player from Notre Dame playing baseball today (you can argue Brad Lidge but not Aaron Heilman) but football star Jeff Samardzija may be the next great player from South Bend in MLB. My guess is that he sticks to football though... The greatest MLB player to have gone to Notre Dame? That's easy - Carl Yastrzemski.

Top 5 Clint Eastwood Movies



Today is Clint's birthday (he turns 76 today - can you believe that?)

1. Outlaw Josey Wales
2. Any Which Way But Loose
3. Dirty Harry
4. Fistful of Dollars
5. (tie) Kelly's Heros (tie) Where Eagles Dare

Million Dollar Baby is not on the list mainly because I haven't seen it yet (not a big fan of depressing movies)

Top 5 War Movies of All Time

I saw this post over at Nehring the Edge - and thought I'd post my own personal top five. I too love Band of Brothers but technically that was a series and not a movie.

1. All Quiet on the Western Front (either 1930 or 1979 version)
2. Paths of Glory
3. Saving Private Ryan
4. Gettysburg
5. (tie) To Hell and Back (tie) Sargent York (tie) Gardens of Stone

Manny and Plus 5 and Plus 6

Manny Ramirez needs 5 more home runs and 6 more RBI's to catch some elite Red Sox players on the all-time lists.

With 5 more HR - Manny catches Carl Yastrzemski's 452 which places him 29th on the all-time list.

With 6 more RBI Manny catches Jim Rice's 1,451 which places him in 51st place all-time.

That's some pretty elite company Manny is keeping (and passing).

George W. Bush and Polls

Peter Brown of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, asks some questions about Bush's low poll numbers. I think he may be asking the wrong questions.

Simply put, are Americans fed up with Bush's brand of conservatism, or skeptical about the president's competence, his ability to make the trains run on time?

Brown's first run-on question includes a reference to the fascist Mussolini - nice touch for a supposed neutral observer - but I think it is more valid to ask if Americans in general are sick of polls and politics more than any specific politician.

Every poll that I've seen shows Bush's numbers at very low levels. That makes news (bad news always leads). However, I've also seen other polls that show both Congress and the Senate at such low levels that it makes Bush's numbers look like the second coming of George Washington. And let's not forget the poll numbers for the main stream media which are the lowest of the bunch. Nothing seems to be polling well. Why is that?

My guess is that people are no longer answering polls partly because they think they are a waste of time and partly because people are sick of politics. Honestly, if someone called your house and asked for 15 minutes of your time - would you agree or would you quickly say "no thanks"? The only people who want to give up that 15 minutes are people with axes to grind. A pollster calls a household of Bush supporters and the thought is "not another poll" and the answer is "no time right now - just sitting down to dinner." A pollster calls someone wearing a No Blood for Oil shirt and of course they have time for the poll.

It's like an extension of the old PJ O'Rourke line. When asked why you never see Republicans protesting in the streets, he answered "Its because we have jobs." I would love to poll the pollsters to find out how difficult it is getting people (especially Republicans) to answer polls and compare that against historical numbers. I'd bet that it is getting harder and harder to get people to answer polls. Why aren't "average Americans" anwering polls any more? Its because we have better things to do with our time.

If you read Brown's piece and replace the word "public" with "people who respond to polls" - it reads very different.

I'm not hearkening back to Richard Nixon and his "silent majority" - I'm just pointing out that today the "silent majority" is sick and tired of polls and politics in general. I blame this political malaise on all the negative news and bias found in the main stream media.

If you had a co-worker who did nothing but complain and make negative comments - how long would it be before you tuned out that person? Nothing is more negative than the main stream media these days and its not like they have kept the public trust through this negativity either. CNN allowing itself to be censured by Saddam Hussein, Jordan Eason accusing the military of targeting journalists, Jason Blair, the Katrina coverage, the Koran being flushed down the toilets at Gitmo fabrications, Dan Rather's fabricated National Guard memo, etc, etc, etc.

Circulations at newspapers are down, ratings of news shows are down - people are tuning out the negativity. People are tuning out the media quicker than a guy interviewing someone for a job who has nothing posiitve to say about any company he's ever worked at.

Reading Brown's piece you would think that Bush cannot govern but then we see that his NSA candidate is approved by a 78-15 margin. General Hayden was supposed to be this controversial choice and the MSM played him up as a guy who wants nothing more than to spy on Americans but he gets confirmed 78-15? Those polls suggested that was not possible. How could those polls be so wrong?

Michael Barone and the Truth About Iraq

Barone states the truth about the run up to Iraq in order to place the situation with iran in the correct light:

In those circumstances, Saddam was not entitled to a presumption of innocence. To the contrary, any responsible American president would have had to assume that he was continuing to develop and might be prepared to use WMD. Bill Clinton was acting responsibly when he so assumed in the late 1990s. George W. Bush was acting responsibly when he did so in 2002 and 2003.

And, indeed, we were told in September 2004 by weapons inspector Charles Duelfer that Saddam retained the capacity to start up WMD programs at any time. But it also appears that those programs were not active during the run-up to March 2003. That information was unknowable at that time, however. What intelligence information could have convinced us beyond a reasonable doubt that Saddam's WMD programs were dormant? Information from someone high in the regime? Quite possibly disinformation. The failure of inspections to locate WMD installations? They were easy to hide in a large country. A sworn affidavit from Saddam himself? You've got to be kidding.

Ben Stein's Memorial Day Tribute

Ben Stein salutes the real first family in the US.

Memorial Day Tribute - Wish You Were Here

So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail? A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

And did they get you trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees? Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change? And did you exchange
a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl,
year after year,
running over the same old ground. What have we found?
The same old fears,
wish you were here.

Budweiser Buys Rolling Rock

When I hear "Latrobe, PA" - the first thing I think of is Rolling Rock beer. Well it seems now that Rolling Rock has been bought by Budweiser - the brewing will take place in New Jersey and Latrobe will only be a memory.

If Budweiser does shut down the Latrobe plant - then I will NEVER drink another Rolling Rock again.

If another beer company moves into the Latrobe plant - then I will buy that beer. I have never been to Latrobe, PA and I'm unsure myself why I feel so strongly about this. But I do feel strongly about it.

Move the plant and I'm done with Rolling Rock for good.

HT Two Grim Dudes

EDIT: There's a petition to keep the plant in Latrobe. Please sign it.