That Didn’t Work (and Other Stuff)

There I was Tuesday night – all set to start my new podcast.  I called in and started talking.  The chat room wouldn’t load.  The switchboard wouldn’t load.  I was getting IMs and emails saying that they couldn’t hear the show.

I will be doing a test show over the weekend.  Once the glitches have been fixed, the new show schedule will be posted.

In other news:  Phineaus J. Whoopie Thaddeus McCotter, a congressman from Michigan, has decided he is running for President.  Rumor has it that Rick Perry will also run.  Whether Sarah Palin will run remains to be seen.  (I still doubt she will, but everybody loves a circus.)

Casey Anthony – When will this story end?  Can we be talking about more important issues of the day like Kim Kardashian’s gym outfits?

Don’t look now, but the Washington Nationals are still above .500!  The bad news is that they are in the toughest division in baseball.  Things are on the up-and-up as Stephen Strasburg will be around for opening day 2012.  Go Nats!

Doctor’s appointment for my hamstring tomorrow.  I thought I would try rest, but my dog had other ideas.  He has a sudden urge to chase cute little critters like squirrels, groundhogs, bears, and cats.  He’s yanking me and my hamstring around.  Vacation time starts after the doctor visit.

My birthday is Monday.  I want a pony!

Advertisement

My “Al Michaels Moment”

“Do you believe in miracles?…  YES!!” – Al Michaels

I didn’t get to watch the 1980 Olympic hockey game between the United States and the former Soviet Union.  I was in the first grade and had a strict bedtime of 8:00PM.  I had this bedtime until I graduated from high school, when my bedtime was moved up to 9:00. But I remember hearing my father tell me that we beat the Soviet Union the following morning.  I finally heard Al Michael’s quote just before the gold medal game between the United States and Finland, I got excited, as if I actually saw the entire game.

It would have been cool to watch that game.  The next best game would be to to find a game that Al Michael’s quote could be applied.  The game was between the Nationals and the New York Mets.  It shouldn’t have reached miracle status because rookie phenom  Stephen Strasburg was pitching against a 35-year knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.  One is a dominant pitcher with a 100 mile-per-hour fastball while the other throws a knuckleball in two speeds: slow and not-so-slow.

Strasburg didn’t have his best stuff today.  He allowed 2 runs on four hits along with three walks.  He would last only five innings and leave with the Nationals losing 2-0.  While Strasburg struggled, Dickey and his knuckleball breezed throw the first five innings and allowed only two singles.

The tide starting to turn a bit in favor of the Nationals.  The Nats’ bullpen held the Mets in check and the batters started getting to Dickey in the sixth inning, tying the game at 2.  The eighth inning was a nightmare.  Tyler Clippard pitched 2/3 of an inning.  In that short span, he allowed three runs on four hits.  Doug Slaten stopped the bleeding, but the damage was done.  The Mets lead 5-2.

The Nationals managed to manufacture a run in the bottom of the eighth and Matt Capps retired the Mets in order in the top of the ninth, making the score 5-3.  Then the miracle happened.  The Nats was facing the Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez.  The bases were quickly loaded when Adam Dunn tied the game with a double to deep center field that hit the tippy top of the fence.  Josh Willingham was walked intentionally to reload the bases for Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez.  Pudge blooped a single to right and the Nationals scored the winning run and won 6-5.

Why was this a miracle?  Because even with this win, the Nationals are in last place 12 1/2 games behind the Braves.  This is the first time inthe last 40 games the Nationals trailed after the eighth inning that they won.  My father was at the game and the Nationals never seem to win when my father goes to games.

“Do you believe in miracles?…  YES!!” – Ahmnodt Heare (via Al Michaels)

Live from DC

I arrived at my parents’ house in DC about 10 minutes ago.  This is going to be a busy weekend.  There are some work-related things I have to do and a lot of personal stuff to take care of.

It didn’t take long for me to receive bad news.  Patricia has to go to summer school if she wants to go to second grade next school year.  This threw me for a loop because neither Patricia nor her mother told me she was having problems in school.

When I went to pick up Patricia, neither her nor her mother were home.  I took a quick peek inside and noticed nothing was packed.  They were supposed to move in with me when I head back home on Sunday.

I heard that Stephen Strasburg was pitching tonight and I wanted to give my father an early Father’s Day present by getting tickets for the Nationals’ game against the Chicago White Sox.  The only problem was the game was sold out and I didn’t want to pay scalpers’ rates for a ticket that might be counterfeit.  This happened to me when I lived in North Carolina and paid $200 for a $5o ticket when the Redskins played in Charlotte.  The tickets turned out to be counterfeit and could not attend the game.

I’ll pick up something for my father tomorrow.  Probably some Redskins paraphernalia.  It’s been a long day and I still have some things to do before heading to bed.

Milestone Sneaks By

I was looking at the homepage of this blog this morning when I made a startling discovery:  I have surpassed 70,000 readers.  I normally am able to countdown days in advance. but the last time I noticed, I was only at 69,827 and figured I had plenty of time before I reached 70,000.  The truth is I reached 70,000 on Monday and it had slipped my attention until now.

Let’s look at my week in review:

• Sports – The NHL Playoffs concluded with the Chicago Blackhawks winning the Cup in six games.  The Celtics and Lakers are in an intense NBA final.  Stephen Strasburg made his major-league debut for My Washington Nationals.  The World Cup tournament started The USA tied England (which is not to be confused with Great Britain.)
• BP Oil Spill Disaster – The oil will take weeks months years to clean up.  I’m not going to comment any more because this ticks me off.
• “Super” Tuesday Primaries – Other than my not being allowed to vote, the big stories were the Tea Party and Barbara Boxer’s hair.
• Preparing for my radio show – My on-again, off-again radio show will be on again starting a week from Tuesday.
• Joran Van der Sloot – A note to the media:  Fewer Van der Sloot stories and more Amanda Knox stories.  At least Amanda Knox is cute.

On to 80,000!

My New Hero

I was born and raised in Washington, DC.  I was raised on following the Washington teams:  Redskins, Capitals (and to a lesser extent, the Bullets/Wizards and Georgetown).  The then-Bullets won a championship when I was very young and I don’t remember them winning it.  The Capitals have been close a few times, but they have never won a championship.  The Redskins have won three Super Bowls  (against Miami, Denver, and Buffalo) , but their last Super Bowl victory was 18 years ago.

Washington would get a baseball team in 2005 when the Expos left Montreal.  The Nats’ were a .500 team the first year in Washington, but had gone downhill since.  Things were looking better for 2010.  They were playing close to .500 baseball when they brought up my new hero Stephen Strasburg.  They’re currently 30-31 and are 5 games out of first.

The Nationals have a “once-in-a-generation” pitcher.  Not just a “once-in-a-generation” pitcher for the Nationals (Expos), one for the entire league.  Strasburg has brought more buzz to baseball than Dwight Gooden did when he started with the Mets and Fernando Valenzuela did when he was a rookie with the Dodgers.

Strasburg’s first game was Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Aside from allow two runs, he was a freak.  He struck out 14 Pirates with a blistering fastball and a wicked curveball.

My hero!

For the first time since the Nationals started baseball, I feel like they will win a World Series before I get old.  I’m just hoping that they don’t choke like the Caps did.