Wednesday, May 09, 2007

pulling double-duty

You may or may not have noticed that I've been lured by one of the web's more attractive siren calls to multiple identities. A new blog has been started up by yours truly, with a mission, and the truth is I hope it doesn't need to be functional for too long.

You see, in the days of my youth I was taught what it is to be a man. Also, I latched onto my dad's rooting interests in my favorite sport, baseball, which providentially brought me the only sports championship for a team I've ever really cared about in the Toronto Blue Jays. Sad thing is, we're a far cry from the times of Molitor, Devon White, Dave Stieb, and C&C Music Factory. We're not even battling for second place these days, our gaze fixed upward upon the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, they who are searching for their first .500+ record.

I witnessed the events that set in motion John Gibbons' debut as interim and now manager three seasons ago at Yankee Stadium. Pat Hentgen got rocked into retirement and Carlos Tosca, no great shakes himself, joined the unceremonious ranks of ex-Jays managers. Most mid-season replacements arrive in tenuous circumstances, but I could tell a few years ago that there was little to recommend Gibbons for a secure job at the helm of Toronto baseball.

Three years later, I've not been proven wrong and it saddens and angers me, and most of all bores me to tears. So, my crusade: firegibbons.blogspot.com. Join it while the pitchforks are hot.

Friday, May 04, 2007

Useless baseball cards

From the fine Jays' blog the Tao of Stieb, through a tunnel of other sources comes this link to useless baseball cards. Ruminations on Pete Incaviglia's lucky jean shorts? Eminently readable and nostalgic. Of these worthless cards, I've purchased more than a few. And I have two-thousand pounds of granite-hard bubble-gum to show for it.

And as an aside, am I wrong here, or did Fleer's late 80s/early 90s design team include a five year-old, a blind man and Balki Bartokomos? Those had to be the worst-looking pieces of cardboard ever sold to young sports fans.

Who knew?

No, seriously, who knew that one of the more cogent wraps of the Republican debates would come from a site better known for displaying goth girls in burlesque-style skivvies and less? Not that I, ahem, frequent SG often, this honestly just came across when searching for coverage of the debates. Really.

A sampling:

I believe the best way for a brilliant SG editor like myself to cover the debate is to take one measly quote from each Republican that makes them seem as creepy as possible. Here we go.

How about Mitt Romney talking about Osama bin Laden?
"He will die."

Settle down. McCain then had to top dead…and he did.
"I will follow him to the gates of hell."

Have fun with that. And please tell me where the gates are, as I would like to avoid them. Speaking of the gates of hell, Tom Tancredo was asked about the day Roe v. Wade is overturned.
“It would be the greatest day in this nation's history."

Wow. What about the day we freed the slaves? That wasn’t any good? How about the Fourth of July thingy, where we became independent? No? Fortunately, that was not the dumbest answer. That award went to Mitt Romney, who was asked to tell us one thing that is wrong with America. His answer:
"I love America."


That's four men who would be President, folks, and even soft-core sites are taking more notice than a saturated news media as to how messed up this is. If that's not enough to sour the milk in your cereal, I'm not sure what is.