Showing posts with label World Series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World Series. Show all posts

Friday, June 25, 2010

June 25, 2010: Happy Anniversary

Today is an anniversary of sorts. Yes, I know that I generally do a lot of "Two years ago today" or "Five years ago today" posts. Damn, even the last post before this one was a "16 years ago today" post, but I have to acknowledge June 25th.

Last year at this time, I was sitting on a tarmac in Colorado Springs, Colorado for FIVE HOURS in an effort to get to Las Vegas with my friends for the World Series of Poker. It was a nightmare, to say the least, and if you haven't read my in-depth post on the incident, check out this post from last year.

The thing that made it worse, was that all anyone could talk about was the fact that Michael Jackson had died...so now, every time someone commemorates the death of The King of Pop (like today), I'm taken back to that horrible time on the plane in Colorado Springs...Dave and Jeremy and I playing 300 hands of Chinese Poker; Tony, Meagan, and Melanie ready to snap since they were in desperate need of a cigarette. No food, no drink, no water...it was horrible.

Happy Anniversary. Wish I was in Vegas right now with the rest of the gang.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

November 12, 2009

Gotta catch up on a few things, so let's go back to the classic Random Thoughts format:

- Other than a picture and a brief mention last week, I've done nothing to commemorate the New York Yankees winning the World Series last week. As a lifelong Yankees fan, it was nice to see another title for the first time in almost a decade. And before any of you accuse me of being a bandwagon-jumper, and cheering for the Yankees once they started becoming successful in the mid-90s, I'll point out that I was a Yankees fan in the lean years...the Andy Hawkins years...the Kevin Maas years...the last place in the AL East years. 1994 was my first sniff of the playoffs, and that was ruined by the strike. 1996 was the first time I had seen them win the World Series, so it was nice to see them get back to the peak again.

Everyone talks about the Yankees' payroll, and I'll admit that it is out of control, and has been for a number of years. But let's remember the players that are the core of the unit that has won championships in the past 15 years: players like Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, and Bernie Williams. These are the guys that were drafted and groomed in the minors by the Yankees.
Congrats on the 27th World Championship. I'm thrilled that they won again, and I really enjoyed watching the games this year (more than other years). Since I don't like Alex Rodriguex, it's a tad bittersweet since he now has the World Series ring I hoped he would never get. Aside from the fact that he's everything that's wrong with baseball, and a cheater...he's orange. I mean, he's FREAKING ORANGE! He looks like an Oompa Loompa!
- I didn't do a recap of The Amazing Race on Sunday for a couple of reasons. First of all, because it was a pretty lame episode. Why on earth did they bring back such a great challenge like the hay bales if they weren't even going to eliminate anyone? Second of all, I wanted to just enjoy Josh Wolk's final recap at Entertainment Weekly. I've mentioned Josh and his writing numerous times on this blog, but he has left EW and is now the editor at Vulture.com, the Entertainment blog for New York Magazine. While I'll miss his humour (Canadian spelling!) at EW, it's just a short click away for another thing to read. I'll put a link up on the sidebar for those of you that have become fans. Good luck, Josh!

- Survivor has been pretty good the last couple of weeks. Eric's blindside was rather entertaining considering how arrogant he was being at Tribal Council, and when Russell found a second immunity idol this week (again with NO CLUES!) , it put his alliance it a great position. Two weeks ago, they went into the merge down 8-4, and now with Shambo flipping, the two sides are even 5-5. Should be a great finish.
I love how CBS and Jeff Probst built him up prior to the premiere as "the biggest vilain in Survivor history." It seems like they may have been trying to throw us off the trail of just how strong a player he would be. I may even argue that he's the best player in the history of the game.

- I read today that they're making a Saw VII. Really? The first one was great, and very original...but the sequels have been horrible. Is a seventh one really necessary?

- I went to the Toronto Raptors-Chicago Bulls game last night and had a great time. Enjoyed a great day with great company in Toronto, had an awesome dinner on Front Street, and a blast at the game, which saw the Raptors come from behind in the fourth quarter to win. Fantastic day!

The most confusing thing though, was that on not one...but two occasions, I saw somebody wearing a Jose Calderon jersey. Seriously? Who the $%@# wears a Calderon jersey?

And no, one of them wasn't actually Jose Calderon...

Monday, November 2, 2009

November 2, 2009

You're looking at the best World Series performer in baseball history. Period.

I could go on and on about Mariano Rivera's disgustingly mathematically improbable post-season and World Series stats, but any true baseball fan already knows them. And those of you that aren't...well, it wouldn't really mean much to you.

I'm writing this about 3 hours before the start of Game 5 of the 2009 World Series, and in the last 2 nights, Rivera has saved the game for the Yankees on 5 pitches, and 8 pitches. Back-to-back saves on back-to-back nights in the World Series...13 pitches total.

So, to all you haters out there, name a player who has been better in the post-season, and the World Series. I dare you.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

October 28, 2009

I've decided to retire the Cover Version Wednesdays for a while, but I'm sure they will be back in the future. For today, to honour the Yankees for game 1 of the World Series, I present a video that shows why Derek Jeter is so awesome.