Cubs in 2011
So it has been over 4 months since I have found the time to blog…. I would like to say that I have been busy (which would be moderately true) with trips to Arizona, Vegas, NYC, Hawaii, Seattle and a couple of weddings in the past few months, not to mention indoor soccer, outdoor soccer, city league softball, my son’s first T-ball season and various other timesucking commitments. No major excuses, but the last time I wrote I had faith and hope that the Cubs were going to be relevant this baseball season. As of today, 7/28/2010, the Cubs have played 101 games, going 46-55 and sit 9.5 games back. The trade deadline is looming and there is a ton of buzz about who the Cubs will trade. Ted Lilly could be gone by the weekend; Ryan Theriot too. Will they dump Zambrano? After his conversation with Pedro Gomez this week on ESPN where he apologizes to everyone for his actions in June before his teammates, I would dump his crazy ass. But it is not my $42million that he is still scheduled to earn, errrr receive.
I have read numerous blogs and tweets talking about who the Cubs can get, what they want, who they need, who has a contract that is unmovable and so on. What I have decided to do is develop a list of the ten Cubs that I feel are most likely to be on the opening day roster in 2011 barring an injury in spring training. This factors in whether or not the Cubs could trade them as well as whether or not they would be willing to trade them. A lot can change for sure as there will be a new manager and possible a new GM as well. In the spirit of David Letterman, I will start this list in reverse order.
10. 3B Aramis Ramirez. As was first reported yesterday, Ramirez is likely to exercise his $14.6 million player option for 2011. Really? I mean a guy who was batting under .200 deep into June would take a guaranteed 14 mill? No player this bad turns down money this good. Fortunately, ARAM has hit well in July and may not be totally washed up, but I would still like to see him succeed going forward.
9. CF Marlon Byrd. The Cubs lone All-Star this year, Byrd has been everything Hendry dreamed of and more this season. Byrd has performed well at the plate, in the field and in the clubhouse as a valuable mentor to rookie Tyler Colvin. The only reason Byrd is not higher on the list is that his contract for the next two years is only $11million total. He may be one of the few tradeable assets that would not require Hendry to take back someone else’s Oliver Perez or Carlos Silva.
8. LHP John Grabow. Speaking of bad contracts. Grabow is owed $4.8 million next year and while on the DL currently holds a 7.36 ERA in 25.2 IP. I am not sure what kind of leverage Grabow had on Hendry when this contract was offered, but I have to believe it involved naked pictures. Who would have though that Tom Gorzellany would be the big piece of last years deadline deal with the Pirates?
7. SP Randy Wells. To say that next year’s Opening Day rotation will look different is a major understatement. I hope/believe that Little z is gone. Lilly will be a free agent at the end of the season. Silva is not likely to be around and Gorzellany could be another tradeable asset. Wells has pitched well as of late and I believe that a club like the Cubs who are now investing in developing their own players value their own more than other clubs.
6. SP Ryan Dempster. And your 2011 Opening Day Starting Pitcher for your Chicago Cubs is Ryan Dempster. Dempster has been the quintessential team player since he signed with the Cubs in 2004. Only DLee, little z and Aramis have been with the Cubs longer.
5. LF Alfonso Soriano. I have been pleasantly surprised by the play of Soriano this year, although this is the healthiest he has been since he came to the Cubs in 2007. He still has 4 more years on his deal which makes it unlikely that he will be traded. He has been a valuable mentor to SS Starling Castro. With the young OFs coming through the system and the lack of an obvious replacement at 1B for Lee, I wonder if the Cubs would consider returning Soriano to the infield next year.
4. C Geovany Soto. Soto has bounced back this year to have a very solid 2010 at the plate. Behind the plate he could use a little more seasoning, but the improvement from 2009 to 2010 is clearly because he didn’t feel the need to clean his plate last offseason, as he dropped 40 pounds. Whether it was diet change, no more steroids or quitting smoking marijuana, his play is certainly something to build off.
3. RHP Andrew Cashner. Clearly the Closer of the Future. When that future is anyone’s guess as current closer Carlos Marmol is only 27. Marmol would be another tradeable asset for Hendry which is why he may not be back (although I would like to see him return). Cashner can hit 100mph and has transitioned nicely to the Major League Club this year. He slots in as a 7th or 8th inning guy next year with Sean Marshall(?), to provide a terrific set-up combo.
2. OF Tyler Colvin. Currently leading all rookies in all of baseball with 16 HRs, Colvin has made an impact on the 2010 Cubs. He was not expected to make the roster in Spring Training , but hit everything in sight forcing Lou Piniella to bring him north with the big club. Colvin is currently miscast as a leadoff hitter as his OBP needs improvement and to cut down on his strikeouts. He has played all 3 OF positions this year, eventually taking over RF for Kosuke Fukudome. Colvin may be the answer at 1B next year, depending on other roster moves, but wherever position and lineup spot he plays in 2010, it will be with the Cubs.
1. SS Starlin Castro. I am trying hard to imagine what kind of player Hendry would need to be offered to be tempted to trade Starlin Castro…. Stephen Strasburg? Tim Lincecum? Albert Pujols? And I am not sure he would be available for any of them. This 20-year-old rookie SS has taken the National League by storm since his debut game. Castro has made adjustments at the plate and since Piniella moved him to the 2 hole in the line-up, he has taken off. Castro should be a member of the Cubs infield for the next 10 years.
I would still like to see a few other Cubs return next year as well: Marmol, Marshall, Gorzellany, rookie James Russell and any of the young RH relief pitchers who have learned on the job this year: Berg, Adkins, Caridad and the unfortunately name Brian Schlitter.
and so it begins
So this year my son will begin his career in team sports. He signed up for 6-year-old T-ball and I am cautiously optimistic that this will be a good experience for him. I am not sure how much he will love the team sports world; he may be better suited for golf, but that is another story. His coach is a great guy that I know from campus and I believe that he will facilitate a positive overall experience. My greatest concern is that they are the Nationals.
WTF? The Nationals? Is there a MLB franchise that has a greater stink/taint than the one in DC? George W. Bush threw out the first pitch. They have only 1 postseason trip in their 40 year history: strike shortened 1981. That’s it, that’s all. Their country gave them up and sent them to Washington. They didn’t even choose the logical name of Washington Senators that has a history in the area. They chose a “patriotic” name while deep in the Bush Administration’s bastardization of America.
Anyways, I was dismayed at the notion that my team will play on a team with the name of one of the worst franchises ever. I mean I played on the Dillard Demons and Winston Warriors. Mildly alliterative, but at least they reflected the area. In Corvallis we must choose MLB franchise names, I guess, so here is my list of mascots I would have preferred:
1. Cubs… clearly would have been #1. Vince would have had mad gear and I would have been well dressed at every game…. in fact the whole fam would look sharp.
2. Dodgers… a great franchise… Vin Scully, Kirk Gibson, Fernando, Orel, Tommy Lasorda, Fat Pedro Guerrero, Mike Piazza’s jhericurl. They are my dad’s team and my #2.
3. Mariners… might be hard to get around here given the proximity and how many local kids have grown up watching M’s games. Thankfully they were so awful when I was impressionable.
4. Pirates… Sure they suck but kids like Pirates
and
5. Tigers
and
6. Diamondbacks.
7. Yankees would be better than Nats, but thankfully I wouldn’t be forced to yell “Go Yankees”. It has been 38 years of not combining those words. I would like to keep that streak alive.
8. Brewers… Not good for the kids; great for me.
9/10. SOX… White and Red. Either is fine for a group of kids who can’t even tie their own shoes.
11. Devil Rays… If it weren’t for Finding Nemo, would he like a Ray?
12. Giants… perfectly suitable, but may need HGH tests forever after Bonds.
13/14/15 Bird teams Orioles, Blue Jays and Cardinals. I find birds dirty, but kids like them.
16. Angels…Would be just fine except that I played on a team called the Demons when I was a kid. No need to remind me that he and I are a little different.
17. Marlins. Fine name. They wear teal which is nowhere near fine which reminds me that
Purple has no place on a baseball field for #18 Rockies.
19/20/21. Reds, Indians and Braves….mmmmm no. Certainly not in PC Corvallis.
22. Twins… too split personalityie
23. Rangers… I suppose this could be higher on the list. They are so forgettable that I only just now thought of them.
24. Padres… Um… the logo of the bald priest in the robe creeps me out. A lot.
25. Royals… Never been an Anglophile.
26/27. Just flat stupid names: Phillies and Mets
28. A’s I am still too sophmoric to “support” a team called the ”Athletics”… Jocks. huh huh
29. Astros. I am not even sure why a team that was named after their previous buildiing is still named Astros. Shouldn’t they be called Minute Maids now?
and 30. Nationals. I am no Patriot and will never be accused of anything like it.
Remembering Gabby
I wrote this a year ago, when I had to put my dog down. A week ago we welcomed a new dog into our home… Miss Dutchie. May we feel the same about her then as we did about Gabby last year.
Even though I’ve never been a big believer in the Hallmarkization of the world, I do participate as a true believer in American consumerism. I have dutifully purchased gifts for Tish, the kids and others. Today I have had to dig down deep inside myself for this gift.
Almost seven years ago Tish and I were blessed with a gift of Gabby. Her name was Gus when we met her, but her previous owner Jack was unable to keep her and needed a good home. She was a 2-year-old dog,well-trained and mannered, but quite hyper. I had never known a boxer before and was pretty sure that she wasn’t the prettiest dog I had ever seen. Her scrunched up face could not contain her ridiculously long tongue. She had a food allergy to meat and protein, but we took her in. It was one of the best things that has ever happened to me.
We changed her name to Gabby that first weekend and she responded to it immediately. Gabby has always been a very bright dog. Tish and I knew that we wanted to have kids and felt this would be a good move in the process. She truly is my first baby. She and I have wrestled and run in the backyard and she may be the best 55 pound lap dog in the world.
One story that reflects how much I love her: The first time Tish and I left her with a housesitter or with my parents on a long trip, we were driving and found ourselves talking about her nonstop. We felt that we were doing it too much and threw down the challenge of not talking about her for the next half hour. Seven minutes later, I asked Tish, “what do you think Gabby is doing?” I couldn’t even make it 7 minutes without thinking of her.
As our family grew, Gabby loved our babies. She would even retract her massive tongue when around them so that it fluttered like butterfly wing. Vincent and Kelsey truly love Gabby and I am so happy to have raised them with a dog in their lives. I have seen other kids who are so afraid of any dog and I am happy that mine have had this opportunity.
Gabby almost left us two years ago. We got back from a summer vacation and she wouldn’t eat, was walking around really slowly and looked sick. We didn’t know what to do.The vet took an X-ray and found an obstruction in her intestine the size of a tennis ball. They did the surgery and found a wad of catpoop mixed with sand (If someone can ever explain to me why dogs eat poop, I would like to know). She has a nice scar on her abdomen now but will still eat some poop if given the chance.
Her back legs have been failing her in the last year. Many boxers get hip displaciea as they get older and she certainly has. Gabby can’t run like she used to. She struggles up and down the many stairs in our house. I have been lifting her into the car for rides, when she used to jump right in. Her legs will go out on her and she needs to be picked up. It has been grueling watching her go through this pain. Tish and I finally decided last weekend that the end was near. Gabby has been on pain medication since the summer, but the bad days have outnumbered the good days lately. I’m doing this today because I can’t bear to watch her in pain anymore. We are going to the vet in 2 hours. It should be peaceful for her. She knows.
I will miss everything about her:
The way she dances like a pup when you ask about going for a ride.
Her jumping up and down when I get home from work every night.
Pawing at me to get me to play or take her outside.
Watching her dream.
Even the gas.. now who can I blame things on?
She has been the best dog I have ever known.
The decision to do this on Valentines Day is a little odd. I needed to do it on a weekend so that I may be functional at work. Next weekend is Vince and Kels’s birthday. I couldn’t do that to them. She can’t take the pain any longer and this will put her at peace. It will be the hardest gift to give her. From now on Valentines Day will always have a special place in my heart for my girl.
Gabby
Puppy
Puppygabby
Gabbygus
Gabelina.
OMG I have not written
In the back recesses of my mind… you know the area where I still try and believe Steve Bartman never gets in Moises Alou’s way to catch that damn foul ball… I realized that I have not written to the blog in a great while. I opened the blog today (1/22) and noticed that the last thing that I wrote about was Tiger at the onset of the controversy, (12/1) and my what a few weeks will do to alter your perspective. So in order to revive the process, I do not have a specific topic to rehash. (No need to tear into OSU’s poor performance in their bowl game, the extension of Mike Riley, Christmas, etc, ). I think I will start anew from whence I left:
So Tiger is now going through sex addict rehab (according to E! News). I guess that is what happens when you hit the volume that El Tigre did. Last night a co-worker and I were discussing a former student that worked with us and how he was a dead ringer for Tiger. Why didn’t Tiger hire a look-a-like to announce that it was him that was sleeping with all of these skanks? I mean it worked for the Prince and the Pauper… or something like that. Anyways Sex Addict Rehab makes me think of Sam Malone form Cheers or
Over/under on the length of nuptials? 6 months?
Russell Brand, British comedian who sometimes acts in Disney movies.
Last summer I read his autobiography, “My Bookywook” about his addictions to smack and sex. Well Mr. Brand has cleaned it up enough recently to become engaged to miss Katy Perry of “I Kissed a Girl” fame. Now it baffles me to believe in actual rehabilitation for sex expecially when you are a celebrity and have that much opportunity, but if you had to settle down, Ms. Perry is quite fine. Her recent song and video about Waking up in Vegas was a fun pop song.
Which takes me to the Hangover. When I saw that movie this summer I took my wife. I tried to play it off as a “date movie” with her to get to go. What would you have me do? See something with Meryl Streep? Anyways after about 5 minutes she began to give the sigh of “this is immature, childish and stupid” which went on through the movie as she continued to ask what time it was. Obviously this did not make for a great movie experience. I liked it but began to believe that the hype was way overblown.
It came in Netflix this past weekend and I busted it out on Tuesday night as a protest to watching American Idol or Biggest Loser. I believe that it was funnier the second time. Perhaps because of the circumstances. No one was looking at me as if I were a fool for laughing at childish things. I like stupid humor; pretty much a big fan.
Anyways I freaking loved Alan in this. Zach Galifinakis, (makes me feel like the late great Harry Caray when I attempt to say his name), steals every scene in this which is saying something because Ed Helms is damn funny. I watched Bored to Death on HBO this fall which Zach G was on. Dude and Ted Danson rocked the show so much that I even enjoyed Jason Schwartzman which is saying something. I’m thinking Zach G will be around for a while and that I may need to score a copy of Hangover on DVD.
But not Blu-ray. I have a movie collection that goes into the several hundreds. I have a ton of them on VHS, several hundred on DVD and now 10 or more on Blu-ray. At the price of Blu-ray, I am believing that there is a difference of which kind of movie to purchase on that format. Visually stimulating films have to be purchased on Blu-ray: Star Trek, Watchmen, Avatar. But not garden-variety celluloid. Quentin is for Blu-ray and Kevin Smith for DVD.
Those are my lines and I am sticking with them. And I will not waver from them. At least as long as NBC can keep their plans and promises.
Get a Life
So Tiger Woods hits a fire hydrant with his car. BFD. Why should I care? Why should you? As more of these sordid details come out about Tiger, his wife, the other woman and the Florida State Police, you realize this is much ado about nothing. When I first saw about this on the scroll on ESPN, I was certain that NIKE had a team of lawyers sent to Orlando to get this as buried as possible. They have too much money involved in Tiger to lose any of it.
If the man didn’t do anything illegal, I say big deal. If he cheated on Elin, it’s between him, her and their child(ren). Although why would you cheat on her. She is hotter than heat itself. This isn’t an issue of national security like when Clinton and Lewinsky… wait that wasn’t either. When Brad Pitt has an affair, it’s accepted; why can’t the same thing happen for Tiger?
The only question I have is… After all of those years pimping Buicks, why was he in an Escalade?
Ketchup
And the award for least original title goes to...
So I haven’t written in what seems like a while. Work has been going nice and strong, battling illnesses in the house, it seems like there is always a relevant football game on the TV in the evening, and I have read about 500 pages so far in Bill Simmons new book creatively titled “Book of Basketball.”
There really isn’t a great composition that needs to come out; just some random bullet points of things I have experienced, observed and gone through in the past week or so…
*Last weekend I turned 38. Now 38 is an age that seems to hold no actual value or significance. My kids were more excited about giving me my gifts before I was awake at 6:30. And then we had a catered tailgate with 30 or more friends and family members. A nice and sunny Saturday with the Beavers beating the Huskies for the sixth straight time…. I must digress and say that when I came to OSU in 1997 I could never have imagined a day when the Beavers would own a 6 game winning streak against the mighty UNIVERSITY of WASHINGTON…. Ok, back to getting older. So at 38 the thing I am concerned with is when do I have to start going through the male roto-rooter doctors appts. This is not something that I look forward to in the slightest. I wanna believe this is something that happens at 50, yet I am fairly certain it is 40, so I’ve got that to look for in 730 plus days or so.
* I rewatched Good Will Hunting for the first time in many years last Friday night. Still a great movie, yet I was stunned how much time has passed since 1997. Matt Damon really looked much younger and smaller without having gone through his Jason Bournes transformation. Ben Affleck hadn’t gone through his Gigli/J-Lo cycle. It was fun seeing him interact with his brother Casey. They really should do more movies together. The Hairiest Man in Hollywood gave a true performance rather than his recent forays into cinema like RV and the crapathon that is coming out with Travolta this holiday season. But the real surprise and delight for me was Minnie Driver. Over time I had forgotten just how attractive she was in that film. Her smile and accent with the cute and intimate dialogue made me wonder why she was never in a Top 10 for me in the past.
:
* Playing songs on the Ipod in the car with the kids has been a lot of fun lately. I try and expose them to various sings from different genres and eras. They are hearing the similarities in Superfreak vs. U Can’t Touch This and Beat It and Eat It. They do get confused as to which song cam first. I am clearly going to have purchase some more Weird Al Yankovic before we go on our roadtrip next week to SF for Thanksgiving.
* I belive I have made the move that will take me to the promised land. I have been after the Holy Grail in my Fantasy Football League for the last 6 years. I ahev had truly great regular seasons, but could never put it together late in the playoffs. I have had a nice run through the first 10 weeks based on my strategy of drafting dominant WRs with my 1st and 2nd round picks. I have built a strong RB and have good D matchups for down the stretch. The areas I was concerned with were TE where I had played 5 different guys in 10 weeks and QB. I mortgaged the future by trading Donovan McNabb, Kevin Boss and a future pick in next years draft for Antonio Gates and the one and only Peyton Manning. This is it… I can feel it in my bones. Gonna win.
* Since I work with New Media at OSU, I get sent a fair number of links that give you time to think about the evolution of the digital world. This video captures a lot of my feelings about the evolution and makes me reflect about my life and how it has changed. Only now as I try to write some semblance of a conclusion to this piece am I truly aware of the digitality of my world. I am reading a book written by an author who built a fanbase and a career as guy who wrote a fanbased website, (Simmons) that I pre-ordered off of Amazon. (Simmons tweeted today about the continued discount through Amazon). Now I watched Good Will Hunting on a VHS tape from the vault. When I was done watching the movie, my impatience was palpable as I waited for the VCR to finish rewinding the tape. What an ADD lifestyle I have grown to? I use my Ipod to connect with my kids in the car and even tonight my 2 year old was trying to play Guitar Hero. Fantasy Football wouldn’t work without the CBS website. I can talk trash with guys from across the globe about whether or not this trade will turn it around for me. After the Beavers beat the Huskies down again, (sounds better if you imagine Forrest Gump with the tone retelling the tales of going to the White House and meeting the President of the United States again…) and one of my friends posted a great link of the 1985 upset of UW that was the only significant OSU win (non Civil War variety) in 25 years to my Facebook account. It’s a digital world and I am just living in it.. check out the video
Finger prints
So I had to get fingerprinted the other night. In order for me to volunteer in my son’s kindergarten class or chaperone a field trip I need to pass a background check and one of the steps involves getting my fingerprints checked. Now I am all for this as I want to make sure that other parents that participate are not convicted pedophiles and other such deviants. Per the usual, my wife researched the how, when and where for me and I drove downtown to the Benton County Emergency Services Office last night to get this done. I showed up shortly after 7 and was blown away at the number of people that were there. There were people from many different ages and in the 45 minutes I was there I was surprised that at least 20-25 people walked in to get this done. There were obviously college students who were doing this for internships working and volunteering in the community. In true bureaucratic fashion, there were 2 separate unmarked lines which made it ridiculous for the 2 staff members to keep track of who was where in line. The process included getting the appropriate card first with instructions, having your work checked by one staff member while collecting the $10 fee and then ultimately the fingerprinting with the black ink. One fellow printee asked the woman taking the money if last night was particularly busy and she said that this is always busy although there was one night in July that wasn’t so bad. There was a second background check if you were interested in obtaining a concealed weapons permit. I was caught off guard when asked if I wanted to get that, especially since I was surrounded by so many people. If I were to obtain a concealed weapons permit, I am not sure I would want it shared with others. In my opinion, the whole purpose of having a concealed weapon is to have it hidden from others. Yet in my time there, at least 2 people coming through the door applied for the permit… Hooray… 2 other people in my city may soon be legally carrying firearms! Who doesn’t live for the right to bear arms?
Finally after all of my waiting, I reached the front of the line. It was my turn. I stepped forward to the ink wheel of blackness and had the trusty volunteer help me with the prints. He held my hand like I hadn’t had it held in a long time and got each finger and all of the necessary prints. When he was finished he looked at me and said that there was an 80% chance that it would be approved as is. 80%… How freaking awesome is that? I think I will now adopt that strategy in my job.
Student: “Does this class count for that requirement?”
Me: “There is a 60% chance it does.”
Maybe they should get my kindergarten son and his classmates down there. They are far more precise.
Should the Cubs get Little Sarge again?
So… reading the master Rob Neyer this morning he referenced a story from the LA Times about Gary Matthews Jr. and his recent request to be traded. Now Matthews is a fine defensive CF and has a history of playing with the Cubs in 2000-01, not to mention his father as a member of 1984 Cubs and a former hitting coach. He has moderate power and generally unremarkable stats. The worst thing that can be said about him is his contract is too large for his production as he is scheduled to earn $23 million in the last two years of his five year deal. The Angels haven’t even used him as a starting outfielder for the past two years. But having said that, the Cubs have a couple of outfielders who could make for an interesting trade scenario. One is Milton Bradley, who could DH, although I wonder how he would do with Mike Sciosia as manager not to mention playing in a large market. After the 2009 Bradley fiasco, the Cubs have to trade him and the money is close to a match for the two years. But the other option would be to discuss Alfonso Soriano for Matthews. If the Cubs and Angels were able to make this trade straight up, it would create a savings in salary that would allow the team to address an additional area in the lineup (2B perhaps? Chone Figgins?). Apparently the Cubs will not dramatically increase the payroll this year so this move would help them in 2-3 spots in the lineup and have more payroll flexibility in the next 2 years.
Soriano never made a catch like this
If Matthews comes to the Cubs, Kosuke Fukudome would move to RF, improving the defense at 2 positions… not to mention the potential combo in LF of Chone Figgins, Jake Fox, Reed Johnson, Sam Fuld and Micah Hoffpauer being an upgrade in LF over Soriano. Soriano would be a great DH replacement for Vlad Guerrero in LA. This flexible lineup would require Lou Piniellia to play matchups and ultimately blend in the younger outfielders over the next two years so that Tyler Colvin and Brett Jackson should be starting in 2011 or 2012 at the latest.
The last positive thing about this potential trade is reuniting Matthews with the Cubs new hitting coach, Rudy Jaramillo. The best season in Matthews career was playing with the Rangers in 2006 under the tutelage of Jaramillo:
SEASON TEAM G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
2006 Tex 147 620 102 194 44 6 19 79 58 99 10 7 .313 .371 .495 .866
Bradley must go… even for a case of baseballs for batting practice, but I like the upgrade in defense for 2010, versatility and transition opportunities for the farm system if this kind of a trade can go through.
And then there was one
So the other day I discovered that for some unexplainable reason, the Portland Trail Blazers had signed F Juwan Howard for this upcoming season. I wondered why would they want someone so old. I mean I remember watching him play as a member of the Fab 5
Juwan in the middle
Here in descending order are the 5 oldest players in the league (which would have been a championship level team in 1999). Surprisingly Juwan is not in the top 5, but here we go.
5. Grant Hill, Phoenix Suns, born 10/5/1972. He could be a point forward in this imaginary team.
4. Kurt Thomas, Milwaukee Bucks, born 10/4/1972. One day older than Hill, who else was surprised he was still in the league? Perhaps he was the most surprised.
3. Shaq, Cleveland Cavaliers, born 3/6/1972. The highest-paid and marginally most relevant of this list. With the amount of money he makes annually, can you ever see him stepping away from the NBA?
2. Brent Barry, Houston Rockets, born 12/31/1971. An Oregon State alum like myself, he is just a mere 47 days younger than me. I hope he make the final Rockets roster even though they clearly need to be rebuilding through youth.
and #1…
the immortal Lindsey Hunter, Chicago Bulls, 12/3/1970. I am totally rooting for him to make the team for purely selfish reasons. A journeyman who was on a Laker championship earlier this decade, I can honestly say I remember no big shot in his career or any career defining imagery. The only reason to root for his continued existence in the league is my own mortality. Come on Lindsey… keep hanging on. 
Why Facebook can take you away….
So… as I have been looking forward to taking my son to see Where the Wild things Are tonight, I was aided by the world of Facebook taking me back to a place when I too was a wild thing. I have read this book hundreds of times over the last five years to my two kids. We have two copies at my house and one at my parents for the nights over. It used to be read every night for both kids and we even added our own material for it. During the three wordless pages of the wild rumpus, we sing the mahna-mahna song from the Muppets.
- doo doo doo doo
I am not sure where the origin of this idea began, but I do remember an episode of the British Office with one Gareth Keenan starting the song off in Slough and finding it very cool as David Brent, Tim and others joined in….http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28ZSMAtzBSY
Anyhow… muppets, sophomoric David Brent, and the night Max wore his wolfsuit and made mischief of one kind…. takes me back to being a kid. And today Facebook greatly facilitated that by the list of birthday friends in the margins. Having gone to my 20 year high school reunion this past summer, allowed for me to reconnect with people that I grew up with from the third grade on. Facebook has been a reconnecting much greater than Classmates.com, MySpace or any other Social-stalking site. Tomorrow is the birthday of one of my best friends from elementary school, which triggered an awesome memory for me. This was probably 5th or 6th grade and we had a sleepover party at his house that was a little bit out of town. His parents lived on a large piece of property and there were 10 or 12 of us there after school on Friday for an army party. We dressed in his dad’s extra hunting gear, split into teams, snuck out and around, ran missions and captured each other. This was a week or 2 into the beginnings of an Oregon winter, so we had had plenty of rain to muddy things up. The army game ended up in a tremendously muddy ditch. This is when the real fun began…. the mud wrestling.
Now I had seen Stripes by then and mud wrestling was something that appealed to me in my prepubescent life, but this was truly awesome. We were tackling each other in the mud, throwing it at each other, shoving faces in mud, splashing, jumping, embracing the moment with total joy. One kid was late to the party and showed up in his school clothes. We immediately threw him into the mess and covered him in mud. This was a joyous memory as was the rest of that weekend. Thanks Facebook for digging into my subconscious and let the wild rumpus start.
army training sir
