Awesome Inc.'s View on Things

Madness Time!

2007-03-06T06:54:00.000-07:00

I'll do a post on the Big Dance next week after the matchups are released, but I figured I'd throw up a conference tourney prediction post for fun. Here's how I see the major six conferences playing out this weekend.

ACC
Thursday -
8. Florida St. over 9. Clemson
5. Maryland over 12. Miami
6. Georgia Tech over 11. Wake Forest
7. Duke over 10. NC State.

Friday -
1. North Carolina over 8. FSU
5. Maryland over 4. Boston College
6. Georgia Tech over 3. Virginia Tech
7. Duke over 2. Virginia.

Saturday -
1. North Carolina over 5. Maryland
6. Georgia Tech over 7. Duke

Sunday - 1. North Carolina over 6. Georgia Tech
Champion - UNC

Big Ten
Thursday -
8. Michigan over 9. Minnesota
7. Michigan St. over Northwestern
6. Illinois over 11. Penn St.

Friday -
1. Ohio St. over Michigan
4. Iowa over 5. Purdue
6. Illinois over 3. Indiana
2. Wisconsin over 7. Michigan St.

Saturday -
1. Ohio St. over 4. Iowa
2. Wisconsin over 6. Illinois

Sunday - 1. Ohio St. over 2. Wisconsin
Champion - OSU

Big 12
Thursday -
9. Oklahoma over 8. Iowa State
5. Texas Tech over 12. Colorado
7. Oklahoma St. over 10. Nebraska
6. Missouri over 11. Baylor

Friday -
1. Kansas over 9. OU
5. Texas Tech over 4. Kansas St.
3. Texas over 6. Missouri
2. Texas A&M over Oklahoma St.

Saturday -
1. Kansas over 5. Texas Tech
2. Texas A&M over 3. Texas

Sunday - 1. Kansas over 2. Texas A&M
Champion - Kansas

Big East
Wednesday -
8. Depaul over 9. Villanova
5. Syracuse over 12. UConn
6. Marquette over 11. St. John's
10. Providence over 7. West Virginia

Thursday -
1. Georgetown over 8. Depaul
4. Notre Dame over 5. Syracuse
6. Marquette over 3. Pittsburgh
2. Louisville over 10. Providence

Friday -
1. G'town over 4. Notre Dame
2. Louisville over 6. Marquette

Saturday - 2. Louisville over 1. Georgetown
Champion - Louisville

Pac-10
Wednesday -
8. Cal over 9. Oregon St.
7. Washington over 10. Arizona St.

Thursday -
1. UCLA over 8. Cal
5. Arizona over 4. Oregon
6. Stanford over 3. USC
7. Washington over 2. Washington St.

Friday -
1. UCLA over 5. Arizona
7. Washington over 6. Stanford

Saturday - 1. UCLA over 7. Washington
Champion - UCLA

SEC
Thursday -
5w. Alabama over 4e. Kentucky
3w. Arkansas over 6e. South Carolina
3e. Tennessee over 6w. LSU
5e. Georgia over 4w. Auburn

Friday -
1w. Miss St. over 5w. Alabama
3w. Arkansas over 2e. Vanderbilt
3e. Tennessee over 2w. Mississippi
1e. Florida over 5e. Georgia

Saturday -
3w. Arkansas over 1w. Miss St.
1e. Florida over 3e. Tennessee

Sunday - 1e. Florida over 3w. Arkansas
Champion - Florida

BBL

New Tunes

2007-02-17T12:51:00.000-07:00

Well it has been forever since we've posted here and this isn't a great first post back, but figured I'd give it a shot with another look at some new bands. Here are some good ones to try out:

The Subways - Great new British band. I've found that I like almost all rock coming out of England, so this is no surprise. Rock n' Roll Queen is the first single and probably the best song, but the whole album is fantastic. Album is call Young for Eternity.

The Kooks - Another Brit band with a great first album "Inside In, Inside Out". Pretty much every song is great.

Teddybears - Kind of a weird Swedish group that writes the beats and then has a well-known singer sing the lyrics. You might have heard the single Punkrocker with Iggy Pop at some point. Check out "Soft Machine" if you get a chance and see if you like it.

The Black Keys - Straight out of Akron, OH, but has a bit of a British feel with its great guitar riffs. The have three albums out now that I know of and all of them are amazing. The Big Come Up, Rubber Factory, and Magic Potion are the albums.

The Sounds - Another Swedish group that has a female lead singer that is a bit lighter, but still a great rock group. I'm Dying to Say this to You is the name of the album. Tony the Beat is the song that introduced me to them and is very good.

Flyleaf - Hardest rocking group on this list and not typically what I enjoy, but for some reason it is an excellent group. It has another female lead singer that really lets it wail on many songs. Their self-titled album should be listened to if you can get it downloaded.

That is all I have for right now. Some of these groups I've been listening to for many months, but just haven't blogged about them and others I just discovered, but all are great. If you have any recommendations for me that you think I might like, bring them on. Especially any British groups.

BBL

You Piss Me Off Rococo Theater

2006-12-14T21:45:00.000-07:00

Let me preface this post by saying I love the Rococo Theater in Lincoln, Nebraska. It's a beautiful place and I almost decided to have my wedding there. The acoustics are great and it's a lot of fun to see a band or comedian there. That being said, who in the world is running this place? Lincoln is a town of about 230,000 and we get worse shows than Lawrence, Kansas. I point to you Rococo. You are the premiere venue in town, so let's look at your event schedule for the next two months:

December 16 WEDDING

December 31 "FIRE & ICE" NEW YEARS EVE CELEBRATION NEW YEARS EVE

January 13 RIMINGTON TROPHY PRESENTATION Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

January 21 Campus Life YFC

January 23 PRIVATE EVENT

February 3 ADDY AWARDS

February 8 Association of General Contractors Private Event

February 10 JACK'S MANNEQUIN CONCERT

February 24 PETE YORN CONCERT

Do you understand why this frustrates me Rococo? Who in the world are these people? I've looked up Pete Yorn and Jack's Mannequin and they seem intereting. Yet, I consider myself a relatively knowledgable music consumer and I haven't heard of these guys. The ONLY excuse for not having more concerts and comedians could be complaints from your upstairs neighbors. That would be tough to get around. But why aren't there more comedians? I've seen Louis Black and Stephen Wright there and they were both great. There was a big crowd and everyone went home happy. How in the world aren't you making money off these kind of shows? You used to bring in big time shows, what happened? Let's get it together. Here's what we need to do:

GET SOME GOOD SHOWS: There are plenty of bands who play Rococo-sized venues. Plenty of those bands have name recognition among college students and other Lincoln residents. We need groups people have heard of and could get excited about.

ADVERTISE: Seriously guys, having a mediocre lightboard above your door should not be your entire advertising budget. People really like TV and they'll listen to radio when they're in the car, you can use this to your advantage.

HAVE MORE SHOWS: There are a lot of people who have never been to the Rococo. Some don't even know that you guys are even open. There are such gaps between your shows that people forget about the Rococo, which is a shame.

Come on guys, you have a ton of potential down there, let's step it up and get something good done.

Don't become stupid, baseball

2006-10-19T21:31:00.000-06:00

Okay, I'll preface this post by admitting I have a vendetta against the Cardinals. They have knocked out my favorite team, the Padres, from the playoffs each of the last two years. However, now that they are headed to the World Series, it's not just that they beat the Padres that is making me angry.

The Cardinals finished 83-78 during the regular season. That's five games above .500. Now, they are four wins away from being the "best team" in baseball for the year. How their bullpen magically became awesome in two weeks after being absolutely atrocious down the stretch is beyond me.

There were twelve teams that had better records than St. Louis in the regular season. That's 40% of baseball that was better than them during over a 162 (0r 161 game, maybe that's why they have been so good, they're less tired!) game schedule. They won the worst division in baseball by 1.5 games. The collective win percentage of the NL Central was .467. The next worst division, the AL East, was .495, so it wasn't really even that close.

Now, one might say that I am hypocritical b/c I did not complain when the Padres were 82-80 as division champs of maybe the worst division ever in the 2005 N.L. West. That's true, but they also got swept in the playoffs. Would I have been happy had they gone to the World Series? Of course, but it would have been cheap.

I know it is often popular to cheer for the underdog, but the Cardinals have had far superior teams in the last two years and at best, will do at least as well as the much more talented 2004 team that got swept by the Red Sox.

Now, the regular season of course shouldn't dictate who always wins. There are so many variables that make a long season tick. The team with the best record in the regular season doesn't always win and they shouldn't necessarily. They could feed off a terrible division all year long or have a slightly better record than another team who may have had key injuries for most of the year. However, the Cardinals didn't really deserve any of these accolades. In a normal season they wouldn't have even made the playoffs. They were terrible in the second half of the season and did not play in a difficult division.

That's why the baseball Gods must smile upon the Tigers come Saturday. They were good almost all year. They did falter down the stretch, but seemingly due to perhaps their best offensive player and catalyst, Placido Polanco, being hurt. They played in a division with two other teams who played above .550 ball, including the defending world champions.

The idea behind "that's why they play the game" is what makes sports so exciting. But sometimes playing the games brings injustice to the game as a whole. Or maybe this is the baseball Gods revenge for 1985.

J.H. Naners

October is upon us!

2006-10-03T06:42:00.000-06:00

Hear that Bud? That sound is the Awesome Inc. train rolling back into town!

Alright people, the plan is to get this blog revived. It's been somewhat tough with Husker football starting (should just write about that) and other things in everybody's life, but I think it's mostly laziness. I've been blogging about my own personal stuff over on MySpace , but definitely been lacking here. Hell we're so lazy that we only managed to preview one conference of the NFL season!
To get things started, I'll give you all an old reliable: postseason predictions! The MLB playoffs are upon us starting today and they need some predicting. So here we go....

ALDS - Wild Card Detroit vs. AL East champ New York

The Tigers are the suprise team of the year, but were caught on the last day of the year by the redhot Twins. It is still an amazing story and Jim Leyland should be commended for his job with this team of mostly no-names. The Yankees on the other hand have all the stars with Jeter, Abreu, Giambi, Arod, Matsui, Sheffield, etc..., but their pitching is suspect after Wang and Mussina with the Big Unit questionable for the playoffs. The Tigers are a scrappy bunch, but I'm not sure those young arms can keep the Yanks offense down enough to win. And even if they do, I would not trust Todd Jones with a lead in the 9th despite his solid saves total this year.

Yankees in 3

ALDS - AL West champ Oakland vs. AL Central champ Minnesota

The A's have kind of flown under the radar out west as they have steadily rolled along and winning their division rather easily. They've got the very good pitching, probably the best in the playoffs if Harden is healthy, and will have to rely on that in this series. Zito, Harden, and Haren will need to keep the Twins down to allow the suspect A's offense a chance to get some runs on the board. Can Frank Thomas continue his torrid hitting into the postseason where he has disappeared many other times? The Twins have been on fire for months now after starting out terribly. They have the AL batting champ in Joe Mauer, AL MVP candidate Justin Morneau, and AL Cy Young lock Johan Santana, so things are looking mighty good in the Twin Cities. I question the offense some outside of Mauer and Morneau, but they seem to have about 20 guys who all hit over .300 sans power that score just enough to win. With Santana being able to start twice, the Twins will prevail in a tight one.

Twins in 5

NLDS - NL Central champs St. Louis vs. NL West champs San Diego

Only a handful of teams have had a worst record than STL and still made the playoffs (one being SD last year), so things do not look pretty on the surface for this team heading to Petco. The pitching staff is in shambles, the offense is Pujols only, and Tony LaRussa always seems to find a way to underachieve in the playoffs. The Padres will have a healthy Jake Peavy this year (although he's been worse than normal), a slightly better offense than last year's, and Cy Young candidate Trevor Hoffman in the bullpen. All signs point to SD taking this one with ease on paper, but I'm not so sure. I'm sure being a Cardinals fan is affecting this prediction, but having Carp available for two starts and the best hitter in baseball gives me a lot of hope.

Cardinals in 4 or 5 depending on when Carpenter makes his second start.

NLDS - NL Wild Card Los Angeles vs. NL East champs New York

The Dodgers have been wild this year. Solid early, Cardinal-like after the all-star break, and then extra hot down the stretch. They've got a good rotation, clutch hitting, and an excellent bullpen. The Mets have been the best team in the NL most of the season and come into the playoffs with that title, but without Pedro Martinez for the whole postseason it will not be a run away to the World Series. The offense is fantastic, the bullpen is solid with Billy Wagner, but I'm not sure how much you can depend on Glavine, Trachsel, and El Duque to carry you on the mound. I think they'll be just good enough thanks to Reyes, Delgado, Beltran, and Wright killing the ball.

Mets in 4

Then to finish off the predictions I'll go with the following:

ALCS

Twins over Yankees in 7 - Santana gets three starts and Morneau goes crazy on the righty dominated NY pitching staff.

NLCS

Mets over Cardinals in 5 - Carp will be spent from the NLDS and Jeff Weaver and others will be torched by the Mets vast array of lefties in their lineup. If the NL was any better, the Mets would have more trouble than I'm predicting.

World Series
Twins over Mets in 6 - The Metrodome will be rocking a la 1987 and 1991 and the Twins will win it all for Kirby Puckett as Torii Hunter robs David Wright of a homer in Game 6 to secure the title. Jack Morris, Kent Hrbek, Tom Brunansky, Gary Gaetti and others will all be on hand to celebrate.
Side prediction - Prince sings the National Anthem in Game 1.

It should be exciting!!
BBL

Going to Football Games Sucks According to Dirty Laundry

2006-09-09T15:21:00.000-06:00

There's a guy who writes a blog called "Dirty Laundry." For some unholy reason the good people at Deadspin.com let him speak for all Nebraska fans despite the fact that his finger is farther off the pulse of Husker Nation than Rhett Bomar is from the Heisman. Let's review his latest attempt at reporting the situation in Lincoln.

-"It is much more enjoyable to watch a football game on television than in person." Really? You must be a pretty big football fan to say something like that. Why tailgate and then enter the stadium to cheer on your team with your fellow fans when you can watch it in your basement drinking warm Beast Light with your three cats?

-"The student section, which is still prominent in places like South Bend and definitely down at Texas A & M, just aint what she used to be. The University has priced out most students from even having a chance at going to a game." There is a waiting list to get student tickets. The students were as loud at the first game of the season as I've ever heard them.

-"No matter how many times you hear it, Nebraska fans are NOT the most friendly and courteous in all of college football. In fact, they're not friendly to the opposition at all. The only time they even give that "standing ovation" to the opposing team is when they annihilate them. Think they gave Texas Tech one of those standing O's last year? Ask Kansas State fans about how they were treated in 2003. " Yes, we did give the Raiders a standing O last year, because it was a great game and that's what we do. You would probably know that, but it's so much more fun watching the game on TV you probably weren't at the game. The terrible terrible 2003 Kansas State game resulted in 75,000 very depressed Husker fans who weren't talking shit to anyone. On the few occasions where a Husker fans treats a visitor badly other Nebraska fans correct him, or apologize for him.

There are lots of great places to watch a college football games. And I'm not saying that Nebraska can match the intensity of an SEC night game, the tradition of Notre Dame, or the rivalry of Ohio State/Michigan, but if you'd rather watch Nebraska play Texas on TV later this year than being at Memorial Stadium in person, it's your loss.

2006 NFL Preview

2006-09-06T22:47:00.000-06:00

I was right on in my baseball preview, probably the only expert to predict the Tigers as the best team in MLB, so my NFL preview has been much anticipated. Well, seeing as we're less than 18 hours until kickoff, here are my NFL Picks.

AFC-We'll start with the boring conference.

AFC WEST
Chargers 11-5: They should have made the playoffs last year if not for a brutal schedule. This year they get TN, SF, BUFF, and CLE. Philip Rivers will be fine and they will get a first round bye.
Broncos 10-6: Every year they are favored to win the division and possibly go to the Super Bowl. Their quarterback is Jake Plummer. Their best wideout barely has a knee. Their second best wideout is 78 years old. They'll be leaning on the D to finish this high.
Chiefs 9-7: I worry about the loss of Willie Roaf on that line. Don't fool yourself, their O-line is why they could always run the ball, not the backs. I always thought Herm Edwards was a good coach, now we'll see if I was right or all the dumb Jets fans were right.
Raiders 3-13: Aaron Brooks is terrible, you heard it here first. Art Shell got fired for a reason, he couldn't get to the Super Bowl with the greatest Tecmo Bowl team ever (if only they had Christian Okoye)

AFC SOUTH
Colts 13-3: The same as last year but without Edge. RBs can be replaced. I don't care how many "Top 5 Reasons you Can't Blame Peyton Manning for Never Winning the Big Game" but this guy seriously never wins the big game.
Jaquars 10-6: A solid team that will win a bunch of games in the last seconds, as usual. It will be interesting to see if Leftwich steps up or if Gerrard takes his job.
Texans 5-11: They were a trendy pick last year, but that lasted as long as snap bracelets. I think they'll be better this year, but not as good as they would have been if they had Reggie Bush. Oh well, at least they have Dominick Dav.......oh shit.
Titans 4-12: Jeff Fischer is the man. I feel like if he was on a gold mining trip in Alaska he would be awesome, but when you have the worst QB in the NFL you won't strike it rich. Kerry Collins is really bad.

AFC NORTH
Bengals 12-4: They are good. I love big Sam Adams clogging up the middle for an improving defense.
Steelers 9-7: Seems like too much is going wrong. Very Eagles-esque from last year, Hopefully they can overcome all the bad offseason karma.
Ravens 8-8: They are the definition of a mediocre team. A burned out QB, a defense that is very good but not dominant enough. Remember when they won a SB with Qudry Ismael as their best WR?
Browns4-12: Poor, poor Romeo Crennel. He looks like a great coach just holding this mess together. Losing LaCharles and the #2 center is a big blow. Hopefully they get a mature performance from Charlie Frye and great leadership from Willie McGinest.

AFC EAST
Patriots 12-4: Did they outsmart themselves in their latest veteran purge? Losing Vinitieri, McGinest and Branch could be too much, but I'll believe in Brady and Coach Hoodie until further notice.
Dolphins 11-5: An easy schedule will guarantee them a good season. How does Nick Saban do an awesome job in the NFL and other college guys fail miserably?
NY Jets 4-12: Ugh...the most boring team in the NFL. Watching their offense will be worse than sitting through the drivel that is Grey's Anatomy and that girl who never changes her facial expression.
Buffalo Bills 4-12: Really? Dick Jauron? Would he even be in the NFL if the Bears didn't have that lucky season a few years ago where Mike Brown won 7 games in overtime?

DIVISION WINNERS: Chargers, Colts, Bengals, Patriots WILD CARD: Jaguars, Dolphins

AFC Championship: Chargers v. Jaguars: I love the Chargers offense and opportunistic defense. The Jags will have a suffocating defense and a mistake free offense.

AFC Champion: Chargers. Yes, they are coached by the venerable Marty Schottenheimer, but I think this is their year. They had some really bad luck last year, and even though Rivers is a new QB he's experienced in the system which should make him comfortable enough to win.

By the way, isn't it weird how awesome defensive coordinators go to teams to be head coaches and they have great defenses and terrible defenses? (Dungy, Lewis etc.) And the opposite happens also (Billick) How does this happen?

The NFC Tomorrow

Awesome Inc. Remembers

2006-08-07T01:10:00.000-06:00

Since it has been almost a month since our last post here, it's about time we stepped up. While we formulate some post topic ideas, we hope you enjoy a look back at one of the greatest trips in Awesome Inc. history. JH Naners (Joe), JT (Jamie), NW (Nick), and myself (BBL) took to the road for two weeks three years ago and here is what transpired. This is the first installment of four.

Enjoy!

BBL

Day 1 (June 18^th, 2003) - The first day of what would end up being two week trek around the Great Lakes and Northeast watching baseball began very early. The idea was to leave at 6 am so we could arrive in Milwaukee in plenty of time for the Miller Brewery Tour. The Honda Hybrid was gassed up and the trunk was loaded to the max, but Nick was not there. The members of the 2131 (Jamie, Joe, and myself) were all ready to roll, but we had to wait. The trip ended up only being delayed by 20 minutes, but knowing Nick we were all worried that it could have been a lot longer. Timeliness isn't one of his strengths.

After wedging his bag into the last remaining open corner of the trunk we were off...for 3 minutes. Having forgotten if we had locked the doors to the house we had to turn around and pulled into a driveway that had a huge pothole. The Hybrid took a hit, but was unscathed. This wasn't the best way to start the trip, but turned out to be one of only a few mishaps. After checking the doors we were officially on the road.

We found out that Nick's reason for being late was not getting any sleep after talking to his friend Patty the whole night. Smart move right there! It's always a great idea to start a two-week roadtrip on no sleep. For proof of no sleep here's a picture:

After making very good time we arrived at our hotel in Milwaukee at 2 pm. The first of many Priceline hotel purchases turned out to be very good. Although it wasn't near the ballpark, it was in a good location for our trip down to Chicago the next day. Everybody was pretty excited by now. After checking in, a task we would grow to know very well by the end of the trip, we hopped back into the car. Next Stop: Miller Brewery Tour.

The Miller Brewery is laid out over many big buildings called the Miller Valley and is pretty scenic when you drive through it down the main road.

The old Plank Road House is the first thing you see and looks very historic.

We hit up the Gift Shop and got our complimentary tickets. The tour began with a brief movie about Miller featuring the unmistakable voice of the Miller High Life commercials. After the infomercial we headed outside and were hit in the face by the smell of hops. I was overwhelmed by the smell. The highlight of the tour was seeing the warehouse. America drinks a lot of beer!

We finished the tour with beer samples and writing postcards to ourselves taking advantage of Miller's generous offer of free postage. My love of beer is shown here:

Jamie, Joe, and Nick took advantage of the fine products in the gift shop on our way out and on to Miller Park.

At Miller Park, it was six bucks to park and the lot was pretty full of tailgaters even though the Brewers were off to another poor start and the game was still a couple hours from starting. The smell of brats filled the air. After we grabbed our cheap $10 bleacher seats, we walked around the stadium since the gates weren't open yet.

There wasn't a whole lot to see around the stadium, but there were a couple points of interest. The original home plate of County Stadium with a tribute to the old Milwaukee Braves is next to a junior baseball field and a memorial to the three construction workers who died when a crane fell during construction of Miller Park is just outside the main entrance. While waiting for the gates to open we saw a credit card offer with the gift being a Brewers stocking cap. This is the first of many credit card signups on the trip.

The gates opened and we headed in to check out the stadium. The roof was closed unfortunately, so the atmosphere was a bit lacking from the start. Jamie and I immediately went to the concession stand for brats, a Milwaukee staple. A little special sauce and sauerkraut made it extra good. Joe partook in an Italian sausage later on in the game. During batting practice we went out to our Bleacher seats in left field and met a very interesting character. Some guy in a Marlins hat, at a game between the Brewers and Cardinals, ended up next to us some how and began talking about a load of different topics. Batting practice was his first area of expertise. He shared with us the ins and outs of where to be for each batter and how to snag the balls away from small children. The four baseballs he showed us were proof of his successful technique. After a few homers flew our way and watching this guy move so gracefully after them, we decided to move to the next section over. Marlins guy managed to find us again though and proceeded to tell us how to take full advantage of the Kohl's $5 off coupon every fan received at the game. He first told us how you can get a ton of them by digging in the trash. Then the trick was to buy socks or other items just over $5, leave out one door, come in the other door (obviously fooling everybody), and repeating the process until all coupons had been exhausted. An absolutely brilliant piece of information that we were lucky enough to hear. Here's a pic of me showing my appreciation of his wisdom:

After the excitement of batting practice and another brat for Jamie and me, the game was almost underway. Time flies when you are listening to a crazy guy and eating brats. The game itself was rather uneventful with the Cardinals rolling to an easy 9-1 win with the highlights being an Eduardo Perez homer for the Cards and a "Hard-hitting" Eddie Perez homer for the Brewers. Glendon Rusch had some great stuff for the Brewers, but still managed to give up 8 runs in one plus innings pitched.

http://baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=200306180ML4

After filling out another credit card form for a Brewers t-shirt to go along with our stocking caps, we moved around to other seats and ended up lying down on the metal bleachers in right field. Nick fell asleep again, while I went up to experience the stadium from the last row in the upper deck. It was quite the view from that high up.

Day one came to a close after arriving back at the hotel and a quick trip to the nearby gas station for some food. Arizona Iced Teas were on sale and Joe and I took advantage of that sweet deal. Was a good first day, but many more memorable days would be upcoming.

Day 2 (June 19, 2003) - The next day brought even more good times. After waking up a little earlier, we grabbed breakfast at a nearby Perkins. After the delicious and filling meal it was time to hit the road to Chicago. It was a quick hour and a half trip south to our hotel on the Chicago River. The Hyatt Regency was awesome! Free internet allowed us to download the pictures we had taken and check up on fantasy baseball of course. We checked in early and headed straight for the El. The Red Line took us right to US Cellular Field for the White Sox game against the Red Sox. We grabbed the cheapest tickets available ($14), a credit card offer t-shirt, and started the trek to the upper deck. The top of the pedestrian ramp did provide a great view of the Chicago Skyline:

We were lucky, or maybe unlucky, enough to attend the game on dollar dog day. I had a couple of these very salty franks only because they were so cheap and I wish I hadn't. The game itself was pretty good. The Red Sox were held to one hit for nine innings, but managed to score 3 runs on that one hit. The game went to extra innings tied at three where Billy Koch gave up the winning run in the tenth. http://baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=200306190CHA

After the game we headed back downtown for some deep dish pizza. After regrouping in our hotel, we headed out for the pizza, but as we reached the hotel lobby we noticed a small entourage by a limo outside. As the group moved inside we noticed it was none other than Don King! He moved quickly, but we did manage to get a picture.

After the Don King experience we walked across the river and to Pizzeria Uno, the birthplace of deep dish pizza. We put in our order while we waited for a table. The place is in an old basement type room that is pretty unique. The pizza was pretty good, but the crust was extremely hard. It might have been better had I not had those dollar dogs. We took to the streets after the pizza and walked the Magnificant Mile to Lake Michigan. It was freezing cold for it being the middle of June and didn't make the time on the beach very enjoyable.

A stroll past the bars at Rush and Division was next and then we got back on the subway. After riding that around for a while and getting on a couple of wrong trains we finally ended up at the Sears Tower. We had to hustle to get on the last trip up to the observation deck for the night. It was well worth the $10 ticket to see the city and surrounding areas at night. It was a fantastic view and a great way to end a very full day two. (Side note: We included the current Maxim cover in some of these pictures because we thought about entering the magazine's road trip contest. After seeing that the "Fabulous Prizes" were a tent and other camping supplies we passed on even entering.)

Day 3 (June 20, 2003) - A long day starts with checking out from our excellent hotel and jumping on the subway to Wrigley Field. We were lucky enough to get free tickets in the famous bleachers for the Crosstown Classic against the White Sox. We got there early and took in the sunny day while the White Sox took batting practice.

We grabbed third row seats in right center field and nearly caught a couple BP homers. The game itself wasn't terribly interesting although the Sox did score six in the first on their way to a 12-3 win.
http://baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=200306200CHN.

Eddie Vedder singing the 7th inning stretch was pretty cool, but the real craziness was watching the fans in the bleachers. Loads of drunken guys making idiotic comments, lots of swearing, not nearly enough shirts being worn, and one woman who decided it was spring break and started flashing for the camera phones. The woman was going to be thrown out by one of the ushers, Stanley, but the pleading from the drunken guys changed Stanley's mind. Even with the sunburn and stupid fans in the bleachers it was a fun time experiencing one of the historic ballparks from a new vantage point.

After the game, we needed some grub before hitting the road and wanted to try another pizza place. We hit up Gino's East and it was much better than Pizzeria Uno. The walls were covered with written messages and the place was just a cool general.

The pizza was outstanding since they figured out a way to make the crust much softer than Uno's. After eating, we got on the road to Toledo. Along the way we made a quick stop in South Bend to see the Notre Dame campus. It wasn't as impressive at night, but was still cool to see and take some pictures.

The campus stop only took an hour and then we got back on the road. After a long day, we arrived in Toledo at 1:30 am and crashed into bed right away.

MLB midseason review

2006-07-08T15:51:00.000-06:00

Alright, we are pretty much at the half way point of the season, so I figured I'd analyze my preseason predictions and give updated projections for the rest of the way.

AL East

1. Boston Red Sox- So far, so good. As I predicted, the addition of Loretta, Beckett, and an improved defense (set a record for most games without an error) makes Boston the strongest team in the AL East. What I didn't predict, Jonathan Papelbon being some kind of super freak who never gives up runs. I still think they will win the division, although who knows what will happen with Toronto and the Yankees by the trade deadline.

2. New York Yankees- The Yankees pitching isn't that good and Aaron Small isn't miraculously 9-0 again. However, you have to be somewhat impressed with how they are keeping relative pace with Boston. Two of the main offensive cogs (Matsui and Sheffield) are missing significant time and there are for once no names in the lineup. Add the fact that Unit usually gets better in the 2nd half and a trade for another solid outfielder could be in the works and they will be there right until the end. However, the wild card is not coming out of this division, so they better do everything right or they will be out of the playoffs, which will be strange and somewhat refreshing.

3. Toronto Blue Jays- This team is clearly improved with their offseason additions and B.J. Ryan has proved to be worth the hefty contract. A.J. Burnett has not. Everyone knew they overpaid for this guy, but they needed to so they could get him. There are rumors of the Jays making another significant addition by the trading deadline. They probably need to if they want a chance to win this division. The good news is several of their young prospects have shown good promise.

4. Baltimore Orioles- To be honest, I had to look in the standings to even see where the Orioles were. To me they are that insignificant. I was correct on Ramon Hernandez being a solid addition, but Leo Mazzone has let me down. This pitching staff is still less than adequate and Daniel Cabrera has about a 3:1 ball to strike ratio it seems. Miguel Tejada is still good, but if I was Baltimore I would trade him and rebuild to get some decent pitching prospects b/c this team is going nowhere.

5. Tampa Bay Devil Rays- I said before the season I wanted to put them in 4th and as we speak they are tied for 4th! Not sure why, but I have a fondness for this team. They have so much young talent on offense, it's ridiculous. The new ownership seems to be more dedicated to competing so I hope they can keep most of the nucleus in tact. Kazmir is phenominal and truly would have made the Mets a scary, scary team this year, but instead Victor Zambrano got hurt and the D'rays got an all-star in his early 20s. If they can add a solid starter and get a bullpen that isn't embarrassingly horrible, they could be a force to be reckoned with next season.

Division recap- Nailed the standings, and with the exception of now saying the D'rays will finish in fourth, I think everything else will stay the same.

AL Central

1. Detroit Tigers- Okay, my prediction perfection ends here, but honestly who knew? They are pretty much a carbon copy of the 2005 White Sox. Nobody thought they'd be this good, but they are legit. If they can add a solid veteran to the lineup, they really could go all the way.

2. Chicago White Sox- I said it at the beginning and I'll say it again- How could you not pick them to win it all? I still believe they are the best team in baseball despite Jon Garland realizing he's Jon Garland. The rotation isn't doing as well as last year, but Jim Thome's domination along with career years from Jermaine Dye and Joe Crede have this lineup right up there with the Yankees and Red Sox. Bobby Jenks is still dominant and now they have the experience of knowing what it takes to win.

3. Minnesota Twins- You've got to respect what they do each year. Working on a very modest payroll, they are once again proving formidable foes. As I predicted, Justin Morneau is carrying the offense along with Joe I never make an out Mauer. Francisco Liriano is pretty much Johan Santana II. If this team played in any other division, they'd have a legitimate shot at winning it, but alas, they don't.

4. Cleveland Indians- What the hell happened? Turns out Paul Byrd is not much more solid that he gets credit for. J.T. was right that this pitching staff is not good enough to get it done (though they haven't given up that many more runs than the White Sox). The offense is certainly doing its part thanks mostly to Travis Hafner being a grand slam machine.

5. Kansas City Royals- They are God awful and still are not exciting, but at least they don't have the worst record in baseball! They have been quite competitive the last month and a half after an embarrassingly terrible start to the year.

Division recap- I'd say the only change from now to the end of the year in the standings is the White Sox winning the division, but the Tigers taking home the wild card.

AL West

1. Oakland A's- So far I'm right on this, but I didn't think it would be this close of a division. Still, the A's will have their patented 15-20 game win streak most likely and end up pulling this division out. Perhaps Rich Harden can be the catalyst of that. Frank Thomas has overtaken Barry Bonds as the best old, bastardly home run hitter in the bay area.

2. Texas Rangers- Okay, I predicted they'd finish last in the division and for most of the first half they were in 1st, but they are only three games out of last so I still feel pretty good about my prediction considering everything. As I predicted, Coco Cordero would fall off and he has, but fortunately they have Akinori Otsuka delivery service to pick him up. Mark Teixeira has been a huge disappointment. I don't really get that at all. I'm pretty sure he isn't a steroids guy, so this dropoff is strange. He is hitting a lot of doubles I think, so perhaps he will find his stroke. Also, a personal thank you to Rangers management for allowing us to get Chris Young. Suckers.

3. Seattle Mariners- Probably my preseason pick that took the most balls was me putting Seattle at 2nd place. The tend to be underachievers and they actually still have a chance to prove me right. Not sure how considering Richie Sexson is hitting in the .220s, Adrian Beltre isn't really bouncing back, Eddie Guardado went frm being a top echelon closer to sucking humongous balls in one offseason, and Felix Hernandez has had a disappointing sophomore campaign. Good thing Ichiro still likes hitting .350.

4. LAAAngelsAAAAA- Their lineup has produced the fourth fewest runs in the AL, so I think my prediction was pretty accurate for them. However, they are rumoured to get just about every single big name big bat so they probably will be adding one big stick to their lineup. They have a chance to win the division or finish in last place, just like pretty much everyone in the division except Oakland.

Division recap- The 2005 NL West of 2006, the AL is a crap shoot with a bunch of mediocre teams that don't have much of a chance for postseason damage.

NL East

1. New York Mets- The only team at the break that appear to have the division sewn up barring an epic collapse. Pedro's poor June and now injury has to be a huge cause for concern b/c this team is not solid in pitching at all. The lineup has held up their end of the bargain with Jose Reyes stealing a base every time he doesn't hit a homerun or triple and David Wright continuing to blossom into one of, if not the best all around young hitter in baseball. Carlos Beltran has also returned to his 2004 postseason form. Look for Omar Minaya to make a move as this team will now officially jump into the Yankees-Red Sox ludicrous payroll category and buy whatever they need to win.

2. The Florida Marlins- What the deuce? This isn't supposed to be right. The surprise contributers do not suck after all it turns out. Perhaps they have found the magic formula for small budget teams. Win a world series once every five to ten years then sell every freaking good player and just stash away young talent. Joe Girardi should automatically win NL manager of the year since this team will apparently not only not lose 100 games, but may not finish last in the division either.

3. Philadelphia Phillies- With the exception of Tom Gordon telling me to go to hell, I pretty much nailed this one on the head. Although, the lineup isn't as explosive as I thought they had potential to be. If Abreu is traded and the team gives up on the season, they could finish at or near the bottom of the division.

4. Atlanta Braves- Huzzah! It all comes crumbling down. Mazzone hasn't cured what ails Baltimore, but this staff is certainly missing him. They are average and their bullpen is indeed quite poor. It's about time. Let's hope they finish here for 14 straight years.

5. Washington Nationals- Considering Livan Hernandez is finally showing effects of throwing 130 pitches every outing for the last few years, this team is not too bad. Ryan Zimmerman is like a junior David Ortiz when it comes to clutch hitting and Alfonso Soriano has not dropped off playing in RFK. As expected, there has been some dropoff from last year's stellar first half, but this team isn't missing too many pieces from having a chance to be competitive. They just have to hope the Mets don't make spending mistakes like the Yankees have.

Division recap- Well, I guess the interesting thing will be seeing how 2 through 5 finish since it's the Mets' division already.

NL Central

1. St. Louis Cardinals- They are still the best team in this division, but their window of opportunity for a World Series has probably closed for a little while. Aside from Pujols, their lineup is unremarkable and with Mark Mulder's implosion, the staff is the same. Acquiring a big time player by the trade deadline could still give this team a slight chance to win the pennant, but only to be crushed by the AL foe.

2. Cincinnati Reds- Guess I have a little egg on my face after this one, but much like the Tigers, this came out of nowhere. The only difference....this team is a fraud. I expect a huge second half dropoff, and I believe they will finish fourth now.

3. Milwaukee Brewers- Ben Sheets has not stayed healthy which is the primary reason this team is not the Cincinnati Reds of the first half, but they have Chris Capuano who has positioned them to still make a run for the wild card and if everything clicks an outside shot at the division title.

4. Houston Astros- This team did overachieve last year as this year's club is proving. Andy Pettitte has regressed quite a bit and Brad Lidge must have eaten a few meals with Eddie Guardado during the offseason b/c he has gone from dominant to still scary, but very unpredictable. Again, this division has lots of parity, so a strong second half could still mean a playoff birth.

5. Chicago Cubs- Mark Prior and Kerry Wood have not stayed healthy. Shocking. Unfortunately, neither has Derrek Lee and the rest of the lineup needs him there to maximize itself and have any opportunity of being adequate enough to compete. Jacque Jones has been a nice surprise, but he's probably gone by July 31st.

6. Pittsburgh Pirates- Wow, these guys suck. Oliver Perez still may have buckets of talent, but apparently there are lots of holes throughout the buckets it seems. This team looks to be a long way from competing still, which is disappointing considering their past glory and not filling up that beautiful stadium.

Division recap- This one, like many others is wiiiide open. I think this one particularly could have an exciting finish. I expect the Cardinals to pull it out, but I think it could be an excellent three team finish.

NL West

1. Your San Diego Padres!- I'm not sure how this team is in first place, but I'll take it. The offense is pretty atrocious yet again. The pitching staff is doing remarkable things considering Shawn Estes pitched about five innings and Woody Williams was out for a significant amount of time. Props to Clay Hensley as well as those in the bullpen who are still giving Trevor Hoffman the chance to dominate the 9th inning. Adrian Gonzalez has impressed me, but we probably need someone to hit better than .300 to lead the team. Thank God Ryan Klesko's ass and his salary will be gone and Chan Ho will free up about $24 million between the two. The future could be bright in years to come.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers- This team has a lot of young talent and will probably be a very solid team for the next several years, but they aren't complete/experienced enough to be dominating yet. Nomar appears to be back, which could be huge down the stretch.

3. Colorado Rockies- This team also has a lot of young talent and are doing some voodoo, humidity trick with the balls so their pitching staff now seems respectable. If they can add a solid veteran via trade, they could win the division.

4. San Francisco Giants- Barry is now mediocre as are the Giants, but this division is wide open and again if they add a decent player they could be where they need to be in the end. Ray Durham is heating up and if Randy Winn breaks out in the 2nd half, which he likes to do, the Giants could prove my preseason prediction right.

5. Arizona Diamondbacks- Well, you had some people scratching their heads for awhile, but it looks as though you're not really that good. Brandon Webb has had a career year so far with the help of that improved infield defense, but the snakes just aren't that good.

Division recap- Who knows. I'd say the trade deadline could decide this division. Gut feeling: The Dodgers pull it out.

Revised playoff predictions:

A.L.- Boston over Detroit
Chicago Sox over Oakland

Boston over Chicago Sox

N.L.- Mets over Houston
Dodgers over Cardinals

Mets over Dodgers

World Series- Boston over Mets- sweet revenge for Buckner

A.L. Mvp- David Ortiz
A.L. Cy Young- Jonathan Papelbon

N.L. Mvp- Albert Pujols
N.L. Cy Young- Brad Penny

J.H. Naners

Let's Have a Dialogue Europe

2006-06-30T18:37:00.001-06:00

This has been bugging me for quite a while. One of my fellow writers posted an entry about The Ongoing War On Christmas last December. Now, a majority of our traffic goes through this post, why? you ask, two words, GAY RUGBY. At least I think it's gay rugby. I understand what is going on in the above picture about as much as I understand the rules of Rugby. (What the hell is a 'try' and what's the deal with the guys with the white jackets and all the pointing?) I do understand that the Shetland Islands are north of England and west of Norway, and I think that's where these guys are. So I have a few questions. First of all, isn't a little cold up there to be shirtless? Secondly, with all those funny horses that are the size of dogs, how do you have time to be out playing rugby and cavorting in bars if you can just go outside and see one of those little guys. Thirdly, I just don't understand why you all want to see this picture so bad. Looks to me like a bunch of guys with no shirts at a bar. Finally I really can't believe that those are rugby players. Those guys are more flabby and pasty than Prince Charles on an ice cream binge at the North Pole.
So if you all can explain this odd fascination, I would be glad to listen.

Sincerely,

America

Guaranteed Money Making Venture

2006-06-30T17:30:00.000-06:00

Alright, hear me out on this. I know the readers of this blog have a little bit of that green on their hands. We cater to a classy, sophisticated, business savvy crowd that has some dispensable cash. Well if you want to turn that small nest egg into millions, get in on the ground floor of my new business. Here's my plan. Make a list of the top five things people love.........got it? Okay now pick the two things in that list that go most natuarally together.....and there's your money making machine, JT's Knife and Christmas Outlet. I swear everyday I want to cut something and celebrate the birth of Jesus, finally I can do both with only one stop. Suck on that Walmart!!! I figure the clientel will be mostly old women, hunters, and hipsters who want to soak in the irony, otherwise known as the holy trinity of marketing demographics. So all I'm going to need is a couple grand from everyone to get this bad boy started. So just mail it to the Awesome Inc. office and you'll be getting your cash back quick.

Lincoln-Omaha SAT analogy answer key

2006-06-30T17:05:00.000-06:00

It's no secret that we here at the Inc. do not like Omaha. I already knew Omaha sucked and then the black hole abyss went and had my car window broken and the faceplate of my cd player stolen while parked near Rosenblatt Stadium for the College World Series. These jokers (no doubt life long Omaha natives) didn't bother to steal the purse in the trunk of the car, the cds in the car, the actual cd player, or the baseball glove (I call him Mr. Magic). Nope, they just decided to break into my crappy Cavalier and steal the faceplate of a cd player of a brand that no longer even exists. Seriously, who the hell steals cd players anymore? I don't have a subwoofer or anything cool.

So anyway, I was able to get my hand on the answers to the Lincoln to Omaha SAT style analogies and have posted some fo them here.

For example of course a regular example may be:

Dog is to cat as puppy is to kitty or Dog : Cat = Puppy : Kitten

Lincoln : Omaha = Jewel's boobs : Jewel's teeth

Lincoln : Omaha = The Office : Two and a Half Men

Lincoln : Omaha = Baseball : Soccer

Lincoln : Omaha = Having sex with two hot twins : Having sex with your twin sister

Lincoln : Omaha = Batman Begins : Batman and Robin

Lincoln : Omaha = Manhattan, NY : Manhattan, KS

Lincoln : Omaha = Brian Conklin : Jared Homan

Lincoln : Omaha = Red Licorice : Black Licorice

Lincoln : Omaha = Jim Gaffigan : The Blue Collar Comedy Tour

Lincoln : Omaha = Never having my car broken into in 6 years : Having your car broken into about 20% of time you go to this god forsaken place.

So there you have it. Omaha continues to suck giant balls while Lincoln continues to be a bastion of greatness.

Have fun with my outdated faceplate you bastards.

J.H. Naners

Those are Conservative Values I can Get Behind

2006-06-30T13:50:00.000-06:00

Bob Corker is a Republican from Tennessee. He believes in conservative values and positive results. His dedication to "hard work and service" were ingrained early and he learned the "value of a dollar." (Presumably that is one dollar.) His key issues are: the 2nd Amendment (he loves well-regulated militias), Taxes, the Military, security, jobs, faith and family and the justice system. He is married to Elizabeth and they have two daughters, Emily and Julia. The Corkers have worked hard to pass their values on to the daughters.

Oh, and he also values girls making out.

Julie Corker

Apparently there is a Big Soccer Tournament

2006-06-24T13:51:00.000-06:00

There's an old saying in my neck of the woods, goes something like this: "Rugby is a beastly game played by gentlemen, soccer is a gentlemanly game played by beasts, and football is a beastly game played by beasts." I've been watching the World Cup and it makes me want to change the aforementioned statement to soccer is a boring game played by gigantic pussies. Everytime these guys get touched they go down in a heap like they just got shot. I understand trying to buy a call, it happens in the toughest of sports, even hockey. But other sports have at least a measure of pride. These soccer guys just go down, and nobody calls them out as little bitches.

The saddest thing about this whole Cupo de Mundo is that the flopping, diving and writhing is not the worst part. The worst part is the people who say to me, you don't understand the game, the beauty and passion, you just don't get it. I say to them, screw you guys, you must not have followed the most powerful team in the history of Lincoln YMCA soccer, the Bears. We were so tough that we didn't even have a midfielder, we called him the Monster Man. You know what, we didn't need STRETCHERS to get us off the field. These guys grimace and cry, some little Euro helpers come out with a stretcher, carry them off, and then they come back on the field a minute later, ridiculous.

So here is what I propose, if you get carried off on a stretcher you can't come back in. If you lie in the field for more than one minute you have to sit out for ten minutes. Now let's stop all this diving garbage and concentrate on what really matters, baseball season and the approacing specter of Husker football.

Oh Canada!

2006-06-10T18:31:00.000-06:00

So I'm sitting here watching the Stanley Cup Game 3 (me and about 100 other Americans I think) and it re-established a belief I've had for a while now: Canada is awesome! The fans in Edmonton assisted in singing the "Star-Spangled Banner" and then handled "Oh Canada" all by themselves. I still had chills 20 minutes later and it was probably even better in person. Here are some other reasons why Canada rocks:

1. Great Cities - Every city I've been to in Canada is really clean, friendly, and picturesque. Victoria with it's botanical gardens and waterfront area. Vancouver with it's parks and mountain views. Toronto is amazingly clean and just a fun, vibrant city. Ottawa has some incredible government buildings and, guess what, it's clean, too. Montreal is probably the most historic city with it's old town area and French influence. I'm sure there are some bad cities in Canada, but I haven't run into one yet.

2. Niagara Falls - Yes part of the Falls is in the US, but the cooler side is in Canada. The town is a bit touristy, but it's still a beautiful place and the Journey Behind the Falls is an incredible experience.

3. Hockey - The Canadian sport is the best spectator sport in the world. They love their hockey like crazy and kudos to them for that. The Hockey Hall of Fame is in Toronto, where you can actually touch the Stanley Cup! How awesome is that?!?

4. Comedy - Some of the greatest comedians and comedic actors have come from Canada, so much love to our northern neighbors for that. Mike Myers, Jim Carrey, John Candy, Martin Short, Norm MacDonald, Tom Green, Dan Aykroyd, Phil Hartman, Leslie Nielson, and on and on. SCTV and The Kids in the Hall are two of the great comedies that have come from Canada. SNL creator Lorne Michaels is also from the land of the maple leaf.

5. Sprite Ice - Some might be wondering how a soft drink could be such a big deal, but you must realize that Sprite Ice is not only delicious, it is only available in Canada. I am not sure if it is still on sale up north, but it definitely was during my trip to Toronto. A lasting impact to be sure!

6. Roots Gear - It swept the Olympic community during the 1998 Winter Games b/c of its great look on the Canadian athletes and now the US team has hired the Canadian company to do their clothing.

Some may disagree with these reasons and have some of their own, so hopefully they share those reasons. Some may think Canada sucks, but hopefully they realize their mistake before posting on here.

BBL

David Bowie Has an Awesome Package

2006-05-30T18:57:00.000-06:00

That's evidently what Muppet Master and director of "Labyrinth" Jim Henson wants you to notice. If you've never seen this film (shame on you) it follows the bitchy teenage girl Sarah, aptly played by Jennifer Connelly of Rocketeer fame. Her baby brother Toby, oddly dressed in a red and white striped one-zy, won't stop crying so naturally she wishes that he would be taken by the goblin king. Well her dreams come true and she has to go to a strange muppet filled world. All these characters are interesting but the real star of the film is David Bowie's pronounced area.

Bowie, named Jareth the goblin king, thrusts his way through a thoroughly enjoyable role where he terrorizes Sarah and for some reason wants to keep Toby. Henson in a stroke of genius made Bowie as creepy as possible by putting him in these grey tights that accentuated his unit. Sadly I couldn't find any good shots of the region, but I assure you if you rent the film you will have David Bowie's package etched in your mind.

APB for Exercise TV's Abs Girl

2006-05-30T18:41:00.000-06:00

I was in the middle of my three hour workout the other day and I came across a great invention. Exercise TV which is on Cable On Demand. As I worked my washboard abs for the third time today I was enchanted by a vision of abalicious beauty. The host of the show is a good looking brunette, but to her left is an absolute knockout blond. She encourages me to work out everyday just by her presence, she is my fitness muse. I want to know who this woman is, and why isn't she famous? Seriously, second banana on an obscure workout show is not the place for her. If anyone knows who she is please give her my congratulations on being really hot. If you have Exercise TV check out the quick workouts, she does the abs.

These damn kids and their rap music

2006-05-28T21:45:00.000-06:00

Well, I recently just moved into a condo on a busy street and I really like it. It's nice to be able to paint whatever I want and be gaining equity. I have only one complaint. I'm tired of hearing blaring sterios. Now, living in Lincoln, Nebraska, I'm not exactly in an urban environment. Not that it matters, but most of these people are white males age 16-25.

Now there's a couple things that are annoying about this:

1. It's too damn loud and I shouldn't have to hear a freaking car stereo on the second floor probably 50-75 feet away from the road.

2. When listening to music that loud, the only possible reason to do it is to think you're cool and make others pay attention to it. When the bass if making the speakers vibrate so much that it sounds like it's going to blow, you can't possibly really even hear the song b/c the bass is so freaking loud.

Now it's not that I have it out for rap. I enjoy a reasonable amount of the genre (you can tell by my vocabulary in that sentence that I know my way around the streets). All I ask is that you turn down your volume b/c nobody's impressed. It's disturbing the peace. Or to translate to something the rap crowd can understand, it's DTP.

Naners

European Vacation BBL style!

2006-05-25T14:38:00.000-06:00

I think most of you who will read this knew why I've been away for awhile, but in case you didn't, I was gone for 10 days for a trip to Europe. It was awesome! I met my fam at the Paris airport since I was able to fly direct from Chicago and they had to go through Detroit. The flight ended up being pretty rough b/c I wasn't able to sleep like I had planned. I got about 3 hours sleep total within a 42 hour timespan, so wasn't ideal at all, but made it work.

Landing in Paris and getting around ended up being easier than I anticipated. I knew some French from my four years of it in jr. high/high school, so that helped a little. Also nice that the most important things had English translations. Customs was very easy and getting over to my family's terminal was just as simple. After a wait, they finally arrived and we were on our way into the city on the train. The outskirts of Paris are like any major city's rundown areas. Not very scenic at all, but coming up from the subway at our stop near the Seine was pretty cool. The old style buildings and narrow streets aren't something you see many places in the States.

After checking in, we headed right out to Notre Dame since it was only 1/2 mile away. It's pretty incredible to see in person with the twin towers, flying buttresses, and stained glass windows. It's quite the setting with it being on an island right in the Seine.

Next stop was another main tourist attraction: the Eiffel Tower. Approaching from the south side you're blocked by buildings and trees before it just rises up out of nowhere. FYI - it's just a tad bigger than the one in Vegas. :) After waiting forever, we finally got on an elevator to go up to the 2nd level. Quite the impressive view although outside of a few landmarks, Paris looks very bland from above. That night finished up with an ok dinner at a small cafe (only thing Paris has of course) and then crashing into bed.

Saturday, we were afraid it would rain all day, but luckily it only rained briefly in the afternoon and allowed us to walk everywhere for the day. After a subpar omelette breakfast (probably the only bad meal I had the whole trip), we began the trek. We start in the park near the hotel that ended up having a huge church (aren't they all in Europe??) with a small wedding going on.

Pretty cool to walk in and see that place, but it didn't compare to what we would see later on. Next up was the Louvre. We didn't go in on this day, but just walking around the building was cool. The adjoining gardens were also impressive.

The gardens lead right into the beginning of the Champs Elysees. Not being much of a shopper, this street wasn't as interesting as I had thought it'd be, but it's still cool how the shops line the street all the way up to the Arc de Triomphe. While the Champs wasn't that great, the Arc was amazing. Just thinking about all the history associated with it is pretty mindblowing.

Almost as mindblowing as the roundabout that goes around it! Pretty wild how the French handle that thing with no lane lines and traffic entering from all directions. After checking that out, we decided to walk back to the Eiffel Tower from a different direction. The view from across the river was a much better angle for pictures. The Champions League FanFest was also setup in this area, so that was cool to see as well even though I'm not much of a soccer fan.

With showers moving in, we quickly made our way to a cafe on the other side of the Tower to take cover and enjoy a snack. I got some crepes with chocolate and whipped cream. Delicious! We also enjoyed a hearty amount of secondhand smoke from the other diners, which was a common occurance almost everywhere. The French love their Marlboros!

After the pitstop to let the rain pass, we walked to Rue Cler, which is a three block street with tons of little shops selling everything from meats to pastrys to cheeses to fruits and veggies to chocolates and more. My mom loved this street and it was pretty fun to find more of a local area away from many tourists. We picked up some baguettes among other things for the train ride the next day and moved on.

We walked by Invalides next, which is where Napoleon and others are buried, and that is as impressive as any other building in Paris from the outside.

The trek finished up with St. Sulpice Church of Da Vinci Code fame (the Rose Line does exist inside) and then crossing the Pont Neuf bridge (oldest bridge in Paris). After all of this we finally ended up back at the hotel after what we estimated was a 10 mile walk. It was a long ways, but if you have the energy it's probably the best way to see the city's highlights. That night we ate at a nice cafe near the first church we saw that day and it was really good. Finished up the night falling asleep to some BBC World and French tv.

Well I left off in Paris, so let's keep rolling on to the French Riviera. My mom made things very easy for the whole trip by figuring out all the train schedules we needed and securing reservations if necessary. You have to reserve seats on the TGV trains (high-speed), but it's well worth the extra effort. Those things can fly! The trip down to Nice took most of the day even with the fast train, but we still had all evening to check out the town.

After a little trouble navigating the poorly-labeled and winding streets, we finally found our hotel, got checked in, and then headed out. Nice doesn't have the flashy reputation like Cannes to the west or Monte Carlo to the east, but it's pretty sweet. The boardwalk along the Mediterranean Sea reminded me of Atlantic City minus the filth.

The restaurant area of Nice is pretty amazing. There must be 30-40 cafes within a few blocks of one another, so tons of options for dinner. We were recommended to an Italian place by the hotel and it was really good. It was really popular, so not as relaxing as you'd like when you're on vacation, but still really good food. I personally can say that the seafood pasta ended up being rather large.

The next day, we grabbed some pastries and headed to the train station. The short train ride to the east took us to Monaco, which lived up to its reputation as a high class place with incredible views. The problem with it is that those views are created by it sitting on a mountainside, which you must walk up and down to get anywere for the most part. It's worth the trouble though. We made our way down to the famous casino and found out that it didn't open to the public until 2 pm, so we had some time to kill at the cafe next door (FYI - If you want a great club sandwich, go to Monte Carlo!). At 2 pm, we headed back the casino only to realize you have to pay $10 each just to get in, so we decided it wasn't worth it. (After returning to the States, I've read that you get 2 $5 chips to play with for that entry fee, so we should have done it.) We spent a little more time taking in the sights and it was kind of interesting to see them setting up the course for the Monaco Grand Prix, which is coming up soon.

We hopped back on the train and headed back through Nice to Antibes, which is just east of Cannes and an old, walled city that must have been used as a strategic military location long ago. It's a fun little town with lots of shops along narrow streets and a great view of the Mediterranean when you get on the other side of the wall. Also had the first of many scoops of gelato on the trip in Antibes, so that alone would have made it worth it.

We returned to Nice for dinner and ate at one of the other restaurants down by the coast and it too was very good. Like I said earlier, we really only ran into one poor place to eat.

Up next was another somewhat long day of travel as we headed to Bellagio on Lake Como with a train switch in Milan. My mom found a great place to stay in Bellagio that made hauling the lugguge up the step walkways in town well worth it.

There aren't many "sights" in Bellagio, so we didn't have to worry about seeing something of note and it was more relaxing. The day and a half there consisted of sitting by the pool, going for a quick run, eating at cool cafes, eating lots of gelato, and just walking around the town. We also had this view to look at from our room:

We made the short trip back to Milan the next day and while the city as a whole is underwhelming and even kind of ugly in areas, certain parts of it are incredible. The train station itself is amazing. It was built during Mussolini's time and is probably overly grandiose, but that is what makes it so impressive.

The most amazing building we saw on the whole trip was in Milan. Duomo is the third largest Catholic church in the world and I believe it! The place is simply huge and overwhelming. The Galleria next to it is unbelievable as well and is the nicest "mall" you'll ever see.

My dad and I explored more of the city, while my mom and sister took advantage of the shopping Milan offers. Somewhat near Duomo is the Sforzesco Castle and quite impressive in its own right. Combined with the huge park connected to it, they form one of the nicer areas in the city. It's worth checking out if you are ever in Milan. After some pizza for dinner (it's good, but Chicago deep dish is much better) and one last gelato, we crashed for the night exhausted from the ridiculous amount of walking we did.

The last day before we had to fly back was one of the best even though we were on a train most of the day. We took the TGV back to Paris through the scenic French Alps and it somehow went even faster than the one we took to Nice. If you aren't careful, it could make you sick to your stomach going that fast.

Our last night in Paris was limited, but we packed in quite a bit. After an excellent dinner (surprise, surprise!), we hustled over to the Louvre. Friday nights at 6 are free for those under 26, so my sister and I got in free. Had we had it to do over again, we wouldn't have cut it so close to closing time. It is so much more than just famous paintings, which don't do much for me personally. We saw the Mona Lisa and the other famous works of course, but it was the sculptures we came across at the end of our visit that I feel bad not having had longer to check them out. The one we did get to see was Hammurabi's Code, which was made in 1700 BC! That was very fun to see.

After the Louvre, we just walked around near the Seine and took in Paris at night since we hadn't really done that yet. As great as the city is during the day, it's even more amazing at night. The Eiffel Tower is lit up and even sparkles on the hour after dark and then you have all the lights reflecting off the Seine as well. It's like the Riverwalk in San Antonio times 100.

If you look in the background, you can see Notre Dame in this pic:

Well that's the recap. It was an incredible experience and if you have the money and time to ever do it you must. Hopefully I'll be back overseas sooner rather than later because there are still a ton of places I want to see, but for a first trip to Europe this was pretty amazing.

BBL

You Suck Larry The Cable Guy

2006-05-07T19:10:00.000-06:00

So I get done running the marathon today and sit down to watch some tv and what is on but "Larry the Cable Guy: Git-R-Done." Now I've had a problem with this douche for awhile but it's now time to air out the laundry.

"Larry the Cable Guy" is actually Daniel Whitney, he was born in Natchez, Mississi...........oh wait, he wasn't even born in the South. You're from Pawnee City, Nebraska and you lived there until you were 16 Dan! Well, after he left Pawnee City he headed down south where he lived in a traile.....oh, nevermind he went to Kings Academy, a private school, in the run down, ramshackle town of West Palm Beach, Florida. He says he got his accent in college in Georgia, but who the hell changes their accent in college?

Notice also on the picture above that Dan is wearing a hat with the Confederate Flag waving on the front. He also has the flag on his guitar on stage. I don't know if you had history at your snooty private school Dan, maybe you guys were too busy paddling each others' asses while making fun of minorities and gay people, but you're from Nebraka and Nebraska fought for the Union, otherwise known as the United States. The confederates were fighting against the U.S., they were fighting for slavery, and they lost. Nebraska is not the South. We don't have Southern accents. The state to the south of us, Kansas, is not in the South either.

Now Dan, you've already been eviscerated by a much funnier man than myself, David Cross. I can't do any better than he does. Let's just say I'm very very sad that you are from Nebraska. I know there are a lot of Nebraskans that disagree with me, but they are rednecks who think being stupid means you are a good American.

I don't know what to hope Dan. Maybe you are faking this whole redneck thing to make some big cash. In that case you are a whore who sold your upbringing and heritage out to make some money. Then again maybe you are truly the guy you portray on stage, in that case damn, then it sucks to be you.

JT

Awesome Inc. Messes with Texas!

2006-04-27T20:07:00.000-06:00

Another month and another trip. This time I flew to Texas for a weeklong roadie with my friend JH Naners, who flew from Lincoln. We went on a roadie last summer to Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and other college towns, so decided to do it again across Texas. Last summer we had record heat during the trip, so was only fitting that we would be welcomed to San Antonio by 100 degree heat.
Sunday 16th - I got into San Antonio before Naners and took advantage of the sweet motel room. I sat by the pool and got a decent tan working while reading On the Road (a blog on that book will probably come later). It was a solid afternoon. Naners finally got in and we headed for the Riverwalk right away. It was as cool as I remembered from a previous trip years back for the Alamo Bowl. Walked around for a while, grabbed some so-so BBQ at County Line (not recommended FYI) and then saw the Alamo at night. Good start to the trip.

Monday 17th - More riverwalk and Alamo time with a good Mexican meal at Casa Rio (recommended). A timekiller trip to see the USTA campus was pretty uneventful. Next up was the first game of the trip: Spurs vs. Jazz.
The AT&T Center is questionably placed far away from the Riverwalk and is somewhat ugly on the outside with it's metal circular exits and metal accents around the outside. The inside is better, but looks like almost every other new arena. The game itself was pretty fun b/c the Spurs were on top of their game and when a team that good is running on all cylinders it's amazing to watch. It was also a good time when I kicked Naners' ass at the free throw shooting game! Due to a priceline mistake I made, we had to get on the road to College Station after the game. I was worried about having to take what appeared to be small highways to get there, but Texas does it up right! 4 lanes with 65 mph speed limit was fantastic. Still took us until 1 am to get there, but it was a sweet ride indeed.

Tuesday 18th - Next up Houston, a city JH and I both expected to be pretty crappy from everything we read. Turns out it's a pretty sweet downtown and I'm not sure why Bill Simmons "The Sports Guy" among others hates it so much. After failing to get inside Reliant Stadium, which is freaking huge, we headed downtown. After picking up our sweet tickets (thanks Stats!), we headed to the highly recommended Erma's Southwest Grill. While the food was terrific, it was more expensive than we expected due to their lack of menus. The rest of the afternoon we just walked around downtown seeing the Toyota Center, former Enron building, cool parks, and entertainment centers. One crazy thing was when we ended up walking by the courthouse and tons of media people were there. It finally hit me that the Enron trial was going on and Jeff Skilling was testifying that day, so we were right in the middle of a big current event.
The game that night had the Brewers in town to play the Astros and was a great time. Minute Maid Park is really nice even with all the ridiculous quirks and the game itself turned out to be really fun. Saw Roy Oswalt pitch and a lot of home runs (surprise, surprise) with the Brew Crew almost coming all the way back, but falling just short. Some side notes: Rafer Alston of the Rockets ended up sitting a row in front of us, the "Real Men of Genius" guys made a commerical on the field, and the kiss cam was on top of its game with former President Bush laying one on Barbara and then giving the double thumbs up. Great time! Made it back to College Station that night.

Wednesday 19th - Headed to the Texas A&M campus to start the day and man is it boring. Just a lot of drab buildings that don't make it very fun to be on campus. Kyle Field is overrated it appears, although probably is awesome during a game b/c of the atmosphere. One thing that was interesting on campus, but not in a good way, was the fact that you have to remove your hat when you enter the student union. It's posted on every door and is pretty wild. Must really want students to respect the union!
After A&M, we headed to Dallas with a stop for lunch at the infamous Whataburger. For those who don't know, during our spring break trip to South Padre many years ago, we had to sustain ourselves on Whataburger. Not a good situation at all, but this trip actually was pretty good. The burgers actually had taste this time around.
On to Big D to see the Mavs play Naner's fav team, the Clippers. Unfortunately, both teams had already sealed their playoff seeds, so all the big stars sat out the game. It wasn't good, but at least we weren't like the guy behind us who had flown from Germany to see, among other things, Dirk Nowitzki play. Dirk was there, but in a suit. Before the game, we went down courtside to watch shootaround and ended up just a few rows away from the great Bill Walton, who was calling the game. I love Walton, so seeing him was pretty cool. American Airlines Center is pretty awesome I think. Spacious arena with really nice concourses. Hopefully I can get back there sometime soon. The highlight of the generally boring game, was the announcement after the 1st quarter that every fan would receive a free plane ticket on American Airlines. This sounded really awesome, but afterwards we realized it was restricted to 4 cities out of Love Field and had to be booked by the end of April. A nice gesture, but really had little value for most and no value for JH and me, who didn't live in Dallas. One final note about the Mavs: Mark Cuban kicks ass!!

Thursday 20th - Didn't have much planned for this day and not doing much is what we did. We did go to the TCU campus, which was ok, but nothing amazing. How they did not have a shirt with just the Horned Frog on it is beyond me and cost them a customer at the bookstore! After TCU, we hit up Mellow Mushroom for some pizza. If you read my blog for my roadie in January, you will remember that I ate at a MM in Charlottesville, VA and loved it. So when I found out there was one in Fort Worth, it was on the list of things to do. While not as good as I remembered, it was still very tasty. If there's a Mellow Mushroom near you, get your butt there and enjoy some solid pizza.
After MM, we decided to pass some more time at the Fort Worth Stockyards. Now Naners and I are about as far from being cowboys as anybody could be, so this sidetrip wasn't supposed to be any big deal. Turned out that the area was pretty cool actually. Brick streets, old timey buildings, and we ended up seeing the small cattle drive they do twice a day. We both agreed that it was a fun place even though we both had no interest in the cowboy lifestyle at all. The rest of the night we just watched tv in the hotel b/c it was raining and the minor league game we had thought about attending was rained out.

Friday 21st - Took in the 6th Floor Museum in Dallas, which was again very interesting and somewhat eerie, although not as much as when I went the first time when I was much younger. Walked around the grassy knoll afterwards and it's pretty amazing that very little has changed in that area in the over 40 years since JFK was assasinated. Ate in the West End for lunch (great area to eat and hang out!) and then drove around for much of the afternoon. Went up to Plano to see the huge headquarters on Legacy Dr. including Ross Perot's EDS building. Still can't believe how big that place is and that he raises cattle on the land around it.
We headed to Arlington for the Rangers and Devil Rays game and once again had great seats thanks to STATS. With the pitching matchup being Seth McClung and Kameron Loe, we knew it'd be very high scoring and it turned out to be exactly that.with the final being 13-7. It was pretty funny to watch and also exciting to be so close to so many foul balls due to our great seats. I recommend the footlong chili cheese dog for those going to games at Ameriquest Field!

Saturday 22nd - After staying in Waco, we got up and headed to Austin. After a horocious traffic jam delayed us for about a half an hour, we finally arrived at Disch-Falk field for the final game on our trip: Huskers vs. Longhorns in a great baseball matchup. The game turned out to be great with the Huskers coming from behind to win 7-5, but the 'Horns should be embarrassed by the stadium they play in. A rusting overhang, peeling and faded outfield walls, an ugly entrance to the park, and the fact that they still use astroturf are just some of the things very wrong with Disch-Falk. It's pretty amazing that a team with that kind of success still plays in a dump like that.
After checking out the great campus that we'd both seen before, we decided to go check into our hotel. This turned out to be one of the craziests check-ins ever. The hotel's computers had gone down I guess, so they weren't completely sure which rooms had been cleaned and which were still occupied. The first room we were given had an unmade bed with open suitcases in it and clothes hanging in the closet. Obviously occupied. The next room we knocked first, but did not get a response, so thought it was clear. Wrong! The room was super dark when I opened the door and then a bearded, shirtless fat guy got up from the bed wondering what was going on. Very freaky indeed. The third time was the charm and we finally got an empty room, but it was a wild adventure. That night we hit up Sixth Street for a while, which is always fun.

We flew out the next day and concluded a long, but very enjoyable trek through Texas. I can now check off Minute Maid Park from my ballparks needed to visit list (19 down and 11 to go). The campuses were pretty disappointing, but overall a very fun time. Next year: West Coast??

BBL

Come on Nebraska!

2006-04-24T19:33:00.000-06:00

I'm not a political man, I have strong opinions, but I'm not that guy marching around the Federal Building in Lincoln with stuff written on my t-shirt. This most recent development is just bordering on ridiculous though. President Bush's approval ratings just hit another all-time low. There are four states in the union that approve of the job he's doing and Nebraska is one of them. Guess what other bastions of enlightenment are with us on this one....Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming.

-Utah: I don't think they allow dancing yet.
-Idaho: I don't know anything about Idaho, so I'm just going to straight up stereotype them, "Hey Idaho! Stop eating baked potatoes while watching Napoleon Dynamite and Vandals football and read a damn newspaper!
-Wyoming: I really don't think anyone lives in Wyoming. Can anyone prove me wrong? Dick Cheney lived there, but I think he was the last one to move out. Anyone who does live there is probably just hanging out in the wilderness, too busy to stay on top of the news.

The good news is that Nebraska had the smallest margin between 'approve' and 'disapprove' of the four Bush states. Nebraska is 51% approve to 45% disapprove, that leaves 4% who just haven't made up their mind yet. This is what I want to know from the 51%: I know there's a lot of Republicans here, and that's cool with me. I'm all for small government, balancing the budget and staying out of people's business. The thing is, President Bush is not for these things. Have you checked out our national debt lately? I know many Bush supporters are old and (God forbid) might not be around when the time comes to pay the bills, but (God willing) I might be, and just know that I'm going to be pissed of at you. Other things on the Bush agenda:

-Social Security: That went over like a lead balloon.

-Health Care: Maybe we should have listened to Hilary back in the 90s, this is just out of control now.

-Immigration: That's really moving along nicely.

-Iraq War: OH MY GOD THIS IS TERRIBLE

-Osama Bin Laden: Yeah, remember this guy? It seems to me that in a "post-9/11 world" we might want to catch the guy who caused 9/11.

-Iran: We aren't slowing their nuke program any.

-Same minimun wage as about 40 years ago. $5.15 an hour is an absolute joke.

On the other hand he has some notable accomplishments:

-Record profits for oil companies.

-Having a crazy person as Secretary of Defense for record number of years.

-Having Dick Cheney take Senator Palpatine lessons.

-Having delightfully out of control daughters.

-Not doing any crack.

Alright Nebraska, there's my case. I'd like to hear what you think. Give me some positives from this administration. No gay marriage? Is that it? Is that what all this is about? Now I thought you guys were for staying out of Americans' bedrooms. Let's not flip-flop here. If we went to a crazy war, didn't find the terrorists, have terrible health care and have $3.00 gas because you 51% think the world will end if boys kiss, once again I'm going to be pissed off.

JT

Stay Away From 28th and P!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-04-12T22:14:00.000-06:00

As I perused the newspaper today I found an article so shockingly funny, brutal, and terrifying that I had to share it with the rest of the world. Lincoln, Nebraska, is a sleepy little college town, population 250,000. Apparently though, some Lincolnites out there have gotten a little freaky. So without further ado, here's what happened.

"Soft drink lodged in man"

A 38-year-old Lincoln man showed up at BryanLGH Medical Center West on Monday, claiming he had been assaulted last week, police said Tuesday. The man told hospital staff he was in the area of 28th and P streets Thursday when someone punched him in the head from behind and kicked him when he fell.He said he temporarily lost consciousness and came to, only to find his pants down to his ankles. An X-ray at the hospital Monday revealed a 20-ounce soft drink bottle lodged in the man’s lower intestine. He was to have it removed Tuesday.

Here's the link in case you don't believe me: http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2006/04/12/local/doc443d33b397d7a377103384.txt

I have several questions about these occurances:

1. Why in the wide wide world of sports did this guy wait four days to go to the hospital? There's no way he could have had a normal crap in those four days, so that's a red flag right there.

2. That had to hurt like a bastard. I've drank my fair share of 20 ouncers, so I know the general size and contours of a bottle, and let me tell you, there's a little girth there. Let's say that this guy is telling the truth and he didn't know when, ahem, insertion occured, well how did he not notice when he woke up?

3. Do you think the bottle was unopened? or empty?

4. What kind of pop was it? This is important because of the different bottle types. Was it that pyramid like Dr. Pepper bottle, or the curvacious Coca-Cola shape?

5. Does this guy seriously expect anyone to buy this story? I mean, come on, you can't be serious right? I just want to know what the nurses on duty were saying when they saw that X-ray.

BBL's all-knowing MLB predictions

2006-04-01T22:28:00.000-07:00

Well I'm sure all of you are dying to know who I think will win it all in baseball this year, especially after my stellar bracket predicting and betting in Vegas. JH Naners and JT have both given their takes, so I'll chime in with mine right now.

AL East
New York Yankees - The pitching isn't that great, but the offense is and they still have Rivera. I'm guessing they'll pick up another arm at the deadline even with hardly anything to offer from their farm system.

Boston Red Sox - Naners has shown me the light on the BoSox and I think they could be very solid this year unlike what many experts are saying. If Schilling and Foulke stay healthy, then the Sox and my fantasy team, will both have successful seasons.

Toronto Blue Jays - Solid offseason should result into a very competitive team, but still not enough offense to overcome the regulars. Glaus is my favorite acquisition of theirs.

Tampa Bay Rays - The perennial doormat rises a notch this year on the strength of their offense, which is absolutely loaded. If they ever find any arms to put behind Kazmir, they could challenge for third in a year or two.

Baltimore Orioles - Even with Mazzone, I don't think the pitching will be improved enough to make up for an average offense. Tejada will be traded at midseason.

AL Central
Chicago White Sox - Won it all AND picked up Jim Thome and Javier Vasquez, so look great on paper again. Problem is that Bobby Jenks showed up to Spring Training fatter than he already was and hasn't lost any weight still and Dustin Hermanson's career might be over, so the bullpen appears shaky.

Cleveland Indians - Sizemore, Martinez, Hafner, Peralta, and Michaels should make up a very solid lineup now that Michaels is getting full-time action. The staff and bullpen should be very good as well, but not good enough to catch the Sox.

Minnesota Twins - After Johan Santana, they have just enough offense and pitching to not completely tank, but not enough to truly contend for the division title. Francisco Liriano is a pitcher to watch though as he could be a special talent assuming he stops drinking and driving.

Detroit Tigers - Jim Leyland is a great manager, but not great enough to get the Tigers over the hump. The staff has potential, but the offense and bullpen aren't good enough to finish any higher than 3rd.

Kansas City Royals - They might have signed a few veterans, but they still will suck hard with that starting rotation. The Alex Gordon watch is on.

AL West
Oakland Athletics - Everyone seems to think this team will be awesome and are talking World Series, but I'm not quite that high on them. The rotation should be superb assuming Harden can stay healthy and the bullpen is great, but can Chavez and co. put up enough runs to reward that pitching? Enough to win the West and that's it.

LA Angels - Will the young prospects finally step up? If they do, they could win the division, but I don't see that happening and they'll need Vlady to carry them to second place.

Texas Rangers - The record seems to be broken in Arlington: all offense and no pitching keeps occuring every year. It's possible that the hitters can carry them to the title, like they almost did two years ago, but I'm not counting on it.

Seattle Mariners - The offense should be ok, the starters should be ok (Felix Hernandez being the exception), and the bullpen should be ok. That makes for an ok season in a fairly difficult division.

AL MVP - ARod, Yankees
AL Cy Young - Rich Harden, A's
AL ROY - Ian Kinsler, Rangers
AL Manager - Ken Macha

NL East
New York Mets - Offense is loaded, rotation is solid, and the bullpen is good enough. All of that, combined with a pretty weak National League, make the Mets a legit NL pennant contender.

Atlanta Braves - The bullpen will be their downfall and could sink them even further if they stick with Rietsma too long at closer.

Philadelphia Phillies - Very solid offense, but not enough pitching across the board to really contend in the East.

Florida Marlins - Surprise pick here, but I'm thinking all the youngsters come together a lot sooner than some think and like JT said, they will be winning the Series in 2008.

Washington Nationals - Jim Bowden sucks as a GM and being owned by MLB isn't helping things either. An average team that will get worse when Soriano is traded in July and Livan's arm finally falls off after so many innings.

NL Central
St. Louis Cardinals - I'm a Cards fan and I've been very pleased by the past few years, but I'm much less confident in this team. They will still win the Central and maybe even the pennant, but that's only because the NL is so weak.

Houston Astros - Teams 2 thru 4 are all about the same in my mind, but I think the Astros have just a bit more in all the phases of the game to finish here. They won't make it to the postseason again though.

Milwaukee Brewers - Tons of great young offensive talent that should finally break through completely this year. The bullpen is a concern though and should keep them from making any legit run at the playoffs.

Chicago Cubs - If Prior and Wood are healthy... When Mark and Kerry finally come back...blah blah blah. A better offense will not make up for their lack of a rotation right now.

Pittsburgh Pirates - Brewers Jr. with lots of young talent (mostly on the pitching side though) and will be fun to watch a couple years from now, but won't be all that good this year.

Cincinnati Reds - More homers and more losses as is the case with this team every year since they've moved into the GAB.

NL West
San Francisco Giants - It won't be pretty, but they have enough pitching to win a weak division. The bullpen might be their downfall though.

San Diego Padres - Good enough offense and Jake Peavy will get them into 2nd place, but a suspect remaining rotation and bullpen will keep them from repeating as division champs.

Los Angeles Dodgers - They could possibly be really good, but they'll need all their pitchers and JD Drew to stay healthy, which is a big problem for them.

Arizona Diamondbacks - A mix of old and young will keep them around the race for a while until they realize it's best to trade Gonzalez and Green to get better next year.

Colorado Rockies - Tons of hitters that will be let down by yet another crappy year from their pitchers. If they find a few more Jeff Francis', then maybe they could finally win something.

NL MVP - Albert Pujols, Cardinals
NL Cy Young - Chris Carpenter, Cardinals
NL ROY - Joey Devine, Braves
NL Manager - Tony LaRussa, Cardinals

MLB Playoffs

Yankees over A's
Red Sox over White Sox

Red Sox over Yankees

Cardinals over Braves
Mets over Giants

Cardinals over Mets

World Series - Cards over Red Sox in 7 (I'm assuming Walt Jocketty makes a big move to enhance the offense.)

BBL

Jamie's MLB Predictions

2006-04-01T10:31:00.000-07:00

Quicker than JH Nan's, but more info for you fans to noodle. I start with the NL because they play real baseball.

NL EAST

1. Atlanta Braves: Staff is good, Roger McDowell looks like a great pitching coach. If Andruw Jones can produce anything like last year they'll be there. You know last year's rooks are just going to get better.

2. New York Mets: We'll see on these guys. The key is Billy Wagner, if he's healthy he anchors a bullpen that is not deep. Beltran must bounce back, he has the protection now.

3. Philadelphia Phillies: Well, they have the Phanatic. They also have a darn good lineup. I don't trust their staff at all though. Abreu MVP?

4. Washington Nationals: If Bud "I'm a huge piece of crap car dealer masquerading as the leader of MLB and I hate the Expos/Nats organization" Selig would ever get this team and owner and let them move on they could improve in a hurry. As it is the rotation and bullpen are horrifically thin. The loss of Luis Ayala was an absolute killer (Thanks World Baseball Classic, what a great idea). The offense will be better however.

5. Marlins: Terrible this year, better next year, World Series 2008.

NL CENTRAL:

1. St. Louis Cardinals: They're still good, I don't understand why people think they're on the decline. If Rolen is even mediocre they'll be better.

2. Pittsburgh Pirates: I love Jim Tracy as the new manager. The key will be the rebound of Oliver Perez. Keep his foot away from hard objects!

3. Milwaukee Brewers: They will win the Wild Card in 2007. Ben Sheets should sleep in a hyperbolic chamber or something, get healthy Sheets!!!! Plus, Kolb is back.

4. Chicago Cubs: Dusty Baker has destroyed a potential multiple World Series team but letting Kerry Wood and Mark Prior throw 130 pitches a game, they aren't named Livan, Dusty!!! Jim Hendry should take some blame too for having such a crappy bullpen (Joe Borowski???) that Dusty had to stick with the starters, but what else would you expect from someone associated with Creighton University.

5. Houston Astros: How the hell did they get to the World Series? Roy Oswalt is awesome, but man they are boring besides that.

6. Cincinnati Reds: What is this team trying to do? Do they have a direction? BORING.

NL WEST

1. SF Giants: Matt Morris is consistant and moving to Candlestick/SBC/Pacbell will help. Plus Barry Bonds will probably hit 80 HR's just to piss people off.

2. SD Padres: The next three teams are pretty even. But Peavy and Giles will carry the Pads. Bruce Bochy is the man.

3. Arizona D'Backs: Getting better, improved 26 wins last year.

4. Dodgers: Too many injury risks in the rotation, although I like the Seo pickup. Also smart to get Baez. I just have the feeling that this team won't score runs.

5. Colorado Rockies: I bet they score a lot of runs and have a 6.00 ERA. Call me Nostratallman.

AL EAST

1. Yankees: So many runs, a rotation that's healthier than last year and a solid bullpen add up to the Yanks back in the playoffs.

2. Red Sox: It will be a duel to the death between the Jays and the Sox. I love Josh Beckett if he stays away from blisters. The lineup is fine and the defense is better. Coco is better than the overrated Damon.

3. Blue Jays: Their most important moves were in the lineup. Adding Glaus and Overbay takes some pressure off the kids.

4. D'Rays: Alright D'Rays, get some pitching for goodness sakes. I love the lineup, could use one more power bat, or have Aubrey Huff hit some more bombs.

5. Orioles: Screw the Orioles.

NL CENTRAL

1. White Sox: They are good, damn good. The vulnerablility is the bullpen, gotta sure that thing up, they could be in the market for someone like Baez or Mesa around the deadline.

2. Twins: Best starters in the league get better with the addition of Liriano. The lineup is improved, Morneau and Mauer will just get better.

3. Indians: I really really don't like their rotation. People don't realize how good Millwood was last year. Jason Johnson is not good. Their offense is scary though, could be as good as the Yankees if Victor Marinez steps up his game.

4. Detroit Tigers: Leyland will help, he knows his stuff. If Mags hits they will be right there for second place.

5. Royals: How does Allaird Baird still have a job? Does David Glass look at the direction of the Royals and say, "Wow, that looks super." Baird has had lots of time and he's built a rotation where the best starter is Joe Mays. They are my second favorite team, but man do they piss me off.

AL WEST

1. Angels: Time for McPherson and Kotchman to step up. Erstad must remain healthy in CF. The bullpen is rock solid, but the rotation is cause for worries. This team will be in the market for a starter come trading time.

2. A's: Not sure why they gave all that cash to Estaban Loiza, but he'll probably be awesome for them. Another well constructed team from Beane, Will they trade Zito??
Milton Bradley will not be a distraction in this tight clubhouse.

3. Texas Rangers: The offense is really good, the pitching is really bad. Can't the Rangers figure out that you have to have a good starting staff to accomplish anything?

4. Seattle Mariners: They won't be in last again in the next ten years. Felix Hernanadez is freaking unbelievable.

PLAYOFFS

NLDS
Giants v. Braves
Mets v. Cards
NLCS
Cards v. Giants
ALDS
Angels v. White Sox
A's v. Yankees
ALCS
White Sox v. Yankees
World Series
Cards v. Yankees
Champs: In a rematch of the 1926 World Series the Cardinal again beat the Yankees 4-3.

jt