The Daily Dose: April 2008 Archives

I didn't forget it, like April 28, and I wasn't drifting somewhere in the ether, like April 29...
So I figured it was a perfect day for a list of some kind...

So here it is - People, places and things that should get a one-way ticket to ... well, you can pick the place....

David Blaine.
The BCS and the people running it.
Everything about MMA.
Miley Cyrus and/or Hannah Montana...whatever one is real

and here's something refreshing, from Redskins tight end Chris Cooley...

it's only appropriate that today's Daily Dose comes a bit after we've already entered tomorrow...it's just been one of those days.
So, i called the "suspended game version" because it's been a lot like the Sox's suspended contest with Baltimore ...
It existed. It was there. It can be proven...like Juan Uribe's on base percentage... But yet, it didn't seem real...Like it was an invisible aura that left you feeling like Snoop Dogg in a phone booth...a little groggy, a little slap happy...really, really hungry...maybe feeling like the street is somehow angled down, and to the left...or that you don't even exist at all...like Juan Uribe's on base percentage...

(oh - the Snoop D-Oh-Double G- is strictly, strictly telling new Cardinals draft pick Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie "Dude, tell the people at Starbucks to not put whip cream on your Brazilian Ipanema Bourbon - you just can not get it out of your mustache. But try this cinnamon stick - it's dee-lish!)

to further prove how ridiculous today has been - who pulls into a Dunkin Donuts drive through at 11:48 p.m. and then has to wait in line? Exactly....And I must have had one of these things take a dump on my car...which just added to the joy of paying $3.79 a gallon as I tried washing it off with one of those ratty window washer things....

and anyone ever notice that mattress stores always have the "Open" sign glowing all hours of the night? At first, I thought it made no sense, but then I thought - if it's 2 a.m. and you realize your bed sucks, what are you gonna do? Then you're lovin the fact the mattress store is open...but then again, you really don't have room to negotiate at that point do you?

alright, alright - so missed april 28. it happens...

I spent a rainy, cold afternoon with Australian golfer Aron Price out at the Bank of America Open media day at The Glen Club. Despite the weather, it was a great event and Price was fun to play with (he said yesterday's beautiful weather would have been the coldest day in Sydney in 10 years, easy).

Price won on the Nationwide Tour earlier in the year, is 5th on the money list and seems like a good kid. I'd say look his group when you visit the tournament at the end of May - you probably are looking at a 2009 member of the PGA Tour.

And, finally, I don't know exactly why I felt the need to share this with you since you might be eating when you see it...but I don't think you'd expect anything else from the Daily Dose (tape delayed)...

I didn't watch the draft...really.

Didn't know my beloved Iggles stole from the Carolina Panthers either, until I heard something about it on the radio. That's great news - any time you can line up 2 first round picks (like they did for '09), all the better.

I am waiting for the other shoe to drop next week though - which will either be Anquan Boldin or Roy Williams or Chad Johnson in Eagle green (which would be lovely!)

I will say this - how good is Rashard Mendenhall going to be with Pittsburgh? I say 1,200 at least next year, and then when they deal fast Willie Parker he'll rush for 1,500 the next few years. What a steal at No. 23 for the Steelers....

anyway - that's all i have for now on this mess. I won't watch anything tomorrow - I'm headed out to Comiskey Park to see the Sox v. Orioles - hopefully there'll be some Fire and Passion there to warm it up!

tomorrow - the NFL Draft - suckfest.

what a waste of time. Who really cares. Mel Kiper Jr and Chris Berman will be breathless over quick hips, fast twitch and dead lifts - who gives a sh#@?

so watch something else this weekend...anything else. (for some great blooper moments; click the 'read more' linky at the end of this post)

Finally - me and a buddy were talking about if it would be illegal to pitch underhand (like in fastpitch softball) at the major league level. Afer some rather half-ass searching over Coors Light and Hpnotiq (not together, mind you) we kind of figured out that it's not really illegal...and we decided it'd be pretty sweet to see that.

along those lines - a fun video on the "greatest pitch ever thrown"...which is kind of related...

So I was listening to the radio last night and hear that the Cubs were still playing - so I switched over to see what was happening (Despite being a Sox fan, I'd rather listen to a ballgame than regular radio) and, as we all know, there's a good chance Ron Santo will give us something to laugh at (i.e.santoohno.mp3"> .)

Anyway, Ronnie confused these two guys in the on-deck box...which is really funny if you think about it...
You have Daryle Ward, listed at 6-2 and a generous 242 pounds...but I'd say he's closer to 260, 265...


Then you have Felix Pie, listed at 6-2 and a monstrous 172...

Finally, there was that great Pat & Ronnie moment when they were talking about a foul ball that Fukudome couldn't quite track down that landed a few rows off the rail in Colorado. Pat mentioned that a fan nearly caught the ball in a hat...

then a few moments later, Santo says "I can't tell if that's a boy or a girl, with the hat. Was that a boy or a girl?..."

- pregnant pause -

"I don't know Ron."

Great stuff....

that Tayshaun Prince struck an eerie similarity to Gollum?

...that the Vikings are doing everything in their power to take over the NFC North?

Meanwhile, the Bears are re-signing Rashied Davis and haggling with old man Brian ...

So, does this all stem from the fact that the Old Man isn't allowed to talk in his many commercials? Is that why he's so talkative now? You decide...

maybe it all goes back to this commercial, when he did actually talk...and sold nothing...

especially since blog entries can be little more than directing its readers to such great, great, links, such as this....

and show just idiotic sports fans, such as the guy below...

Sometimes we sports writers get to talking about rather inane things after games, or between phone calls.

So, is Frank Thomas a 1st ballot Hall of Famer after his recent release from Toronto?

Will there be another 300 game winner in the next 30 years?

Is John Smoltz a Hall of Famer?

Will Greg Maddux hang on for another year to pass Warren Spahn for most victories by a pitcher in the modern era?

For The Big Hurt.
It's kind of a surprise, but not really. Not at this point in his career.

I had a discussion with Jason Bauman about him a few days ago.

I'm 27 and grew up in the prime of Frank's career with the White Sox. The guy was a machine. So much so that when I talked to legendary baseball writer and official MLB historian Jerome Holtzman about it, he called Thomas the best right handed hitter he had ever seen during a 10 year period from 1990-1999.

Now that's saying something.

Jason and I talked about the conscious choice Frank made toward the end of his tenure with the Sox - the decision to become a straight up slugger, rather than the guy who hit .330 with 30 homeruns.

I struggled with his decision at first - I mean, how do you just do a complete 180 and become a totally different - and in my opinion - lesser hitter? But Jason brought up a good point. Frank's health was severely declining. He was never a speedster, but he was a doubles machine back in the day.

Closer to 40 now, doubles don't do him any good. He can't run them out anyway and he never really had a good shot at 3,000 hits with all the walks he took early on. So he made the choice to become a slugger in order to prolong his career.

I give him credit for that. It's weird to see him hit .265, .270 now...that's for sure. But he's a Hall of Famer, and I guess that's what HOFers do - they adjust. I still love watching him hit though - and I'm fortunate to have grown up watching him.

or not. ...

this was just too funny to not share with everyone.

and for good measure, the most famous Big Head of all time...

alright, alright, something sports - you didn't think my GrindUnderground wouldn't hook a brotha up ...this from some surveillance at MIller Park....can't you feel The Fire and The Passion from hundreds of miles away!?

and dumberer....Alfonso Soriano....almost as bad as one of My Favorite Martins but not quite, because Soriano's hop shouldn't be career ending...

but, I can't help but wonder if this iswhat 'So is thinking.wav">. when he does that hop....

hip hop....hip hop anonymous?

You know Sox fans, in recent games Nick Swisher and Carlos Quentin have hit home runs, slid into bases, and - crashed into walls!

So you know where this is going...do they have the fire....and....the passion? Yes or no?

Swisher is quickly rising up the ranks, but surprisingly, he has some work to do to catch Quentin

and, in an ode to GrinderPast meet GrinderPresent, the flame of passion past vs. torch of passion present...scroll down a little further

Oh yes - that's GrindErstad, diving head first into first base...showing the Fire and the Passion...and that's GrinderSwish, diving to tag out GrindErstad...
Which is akin to the Superfans asking themselves who would win a fight - Ditka, or Hurricane Ditka?...

Several colleagues and I were talking about the Masters and major champions in general the other day, and I got to wondering - what happened to all the golfers in Tiger Woods' age bracket?

I asked The Powerhouse - "Is he the lone light in a generation of suckiness?"

So, I got to looking....and no, he's not one in a generation (which is usually calculated at about 20 years) but he's pretty damn close...Read on....

From the Masters was this, from Tiger Woods: "I learned my lesson there with the press," he said. "I'm not going to say anything."

He was referring to his pre-Masters Grand Slam talk about how winning four majors in one calendar year was "easily within reason." (Which it is, by the way).

i'm sad to hear this. I don't know about you, but I want the best athletes to tell me how great they are, and what they're going to do...and even if they fail, I love the anticipation of waiting for it.

I mean - how great was Muhammed Ali? Click here for a great compilation of his speeches of greatness. We love it. We want to hear it. And then we want to see it.

I hope a year from now, Tiger (or any other golfer for that matter) comes out and says winning the Grand Slam is "easily within reason."

Here's another fantastic Ali clip - actually listen to him. It's great stuff.

Blogger's note: This post is actually courtesy of Jim Owczarski, who had issues getting this to work from home. So he typed it up on his typewriter and then dictated it to me over the phone. Technology is your friend, Jim.

Some technical difficulties kept me from posting this sooner - but that's OK - if you're a real sports fan you haven't had time to check until about now anyway...because really, who cares about Ted Lilly's problems?

First - how about Gavin Floyd? The youngster took a no-no into the 8th against the hapless Tigers (who are quickly finding themselves in a big hole). A friend of mine and I were thinking - who does Floyd look like when he delivers the ball from the windup? The first thought was Mark Prior...but I can't recall the last time I saw Prior actually pitch...but his delivery does look familiar...maybe you can help me out...

And who would have thought that Tiger and Phil could not mount a charge today at Augusta National? Some guy named Steve Flesch, of all people, will be paired with Trevor Immelman in the final group...which is good news for the South African who won the last Western Open in 2006 at Cog Hill.

Tiger seemed to find a groove on the back stretch, so it'll be interesting if he gets out and running early to see how those two react....

Golfers are masochists, without a doubt. It's a game that can humble you for sure, but don't lie to yourself - we go back time and again despite the damage we do to our psyches (and sometimes, our wrists, backs and shoulders).

but far and away, we take pleasure in other golfer's misfortunes. On this, there can be no debate!

look at today's Masters.
First, there was Zach Johnson recording a double bogey at No. 17. Sitting in the fairway off the tee, he finds a greenside bunker. Then he thins it over the green into the other bunker. Then he chunks that and it stays in the bunker...for a double bogey 6.

Then Justin Rose on the par 5 15th, a reachable green in two. After a perfect drive, he elects to lay up to about 60 yards. Then he chunks it into the water. So he moves back to get a better look on the drop, then flies the green! Then he chips back over the green. A 2-putt later, the Wilting Rose scribbles a Snowman on his card.

I've met and interviewed both of these men - they're genuinely nice guys and very, very good golfers. But you know - you can't help but laugh a little when you see it. Because we darn well know that in a week, at our favorite muni - we'll knock down at least 1 Snowmen and a handful of doubles!

and so did the puking....by me...when the crappy instrumental music came up and Mike Tirico spoke in hushed tones...only matched by Jim Nantz's annual syrupyness (if that's a word)....

look - I love golf's majors. I love watching them. I absolutely love Augusta National's power to only have four minutes of commercials per hour. But I really, really hate the tone the announcers have to take when calling the action and describing the course.

But - Nick Faldo and David Feherty are so good, you can't mute it...

Round 1 was a great one - a jammed leaderboard with big names everywhere and some young guns in the mix. Tomorrow will be interesting for sure.

The Masters Tournament starts tomorrow - and you can't think Masters without thinking of Greg Norman. He's on your mind the whole tourney - will a guy rush out to a huge lead, and then pull a Norman?...

Will a guy no one heard of or cared about hit a shot to dash the hopes of a serious contender and one of the world's best? Will Phil or Tiger get Norman-ed?

No wonder this guy founded a wine company - if I lost out this many times to a bunch of schlomoes on bogus shots, I'd want to dunk my head in a cask and just get hammered...

Fore more "Greg Norman gets screwed videos," read on...

To the participants of the 1988 Masters....or the clothes....or the music....or the production value of the broadcast....yeesh.

Joe Crede!

It's Masters week - one of the four greatest in a summer of golf!

This is something I never, ever want to see again bayyyy-beeee! But this has to give santoohno.mp3">Ron Santo some kind of hope, right?

And, in closing - rest among Reese's Pieces, Charlton Heston.
Who knew Moses loved the peanut?

I sat out at Waubonsie Valley this morning and watched Batavia win 15-5 in six innings...

Unfortunately - print can sometimes be restricting, so here is more from some of the principals in that game

Went to my first ever Opening Day (as a fan) today, and it was definitely something.

Where was I you, you ask? The Sox were in Detroit...Cubbies opened a few days ago....

Well, it was my off day, so I hit the road and saw the Brewers open up at Miller Park against the Giants, which Milwaukee won 13-4.

As a Southsider, much about the scene at Miller Park was familiar - tailgating, bags, beer, burgers, brats - it was a lot like The Cell, which was comforting in a way. And a lot of fun.

Only difference is - the people in Milwaukee are loving their team right now. They're talking about not only winning the division, but going to the World Series!

That kind of talk brought me back to my Chicago reality about as quickly as a broken down Accord in the left lane on 294 ... a reality of Juan Uribe, Jason Marquis and hopes(!) to at least win 85 games, somehow, maybe.

Oh - and if you want to hear some good music that you can't get here in Chicago (unfortunately) - visit here and listen live.

I will say this to whoever buys the Northsiders - take a good look at your neighbors to the south and north - that's how you do baseball.

have the passion and....the fire?

If anyone cares, the Chicago Fire are about to begin their MLS season in Bridgeview.
I sure don't - but, this may, may, get me to do something like check an internet scoreboard once this season...

after all - they play almost year round.

If you didn't see it - this was written by the 2008 season ticket link - "Being a Chicago Fire Soccer fan means being a part of a community of tradition, honor and passion."

So, if your name contains Fire, and you talk about passion - do you automatically have The Fire and The Passion like Aaron Rowand, or even GrindErstad?

Or do they have to say, The Fire have The Fire and The Passion?

Can The Passion ignite The Fire within The Fire?

Or - do The Fire create The Passion, which stokes The Fire?

unanswerable questions perhaps - but one thing is sure: It's Chicago, and we still have The Fire and The Passion ... even...if....we're on....fire?...

I give up

Time for a Rico rant:

We've all heard it, but it's wrong.

With the Cubs and Sox both 0-2 heading into today's action, I heard this on the radio this morning: "The season is 162 games long. It's not a sprint. It's a marathon."

Aaaarrrrgggghhhh! No, it's not. I repeat, NOT!

A baseball season is a GRIND.

You know why?

Because it consists of 162 almost back-to-back sprints. Not, one marathon.

I'd love to love ya Love...but I can't...I won't....So don't ram it down my throat.

Poor Davis Love the 3rd - his Masters streak will end this week after he doesn't win the Shell Houston Open.

For four days (if he makes the cut) we'll hear all about how it's so sad that Love x 3 won't tee it up at Augusta for the first time since 1990, how he's a great guy, how he's great for the game, how talented he is blah blah blah.

OK - the guy is...or was...good. He's won 19 times on the PGA Tour, 31 times total.

But how are golfers defined? By majors. He has one. Which is great for him. But so does Shaun Micheel. And Todd Hamilton. So does Rich Beem...Paul Lawrie....Wayne Grady....Jeff Sluman....David Duval...Justin Leonard...Olin Dutra...Art Wall, Jr...Cyril Walker...the list goes on.

And it's a good list - it's really hard to win a major. But for all the fawning The Davis gets, you figure he should have won at least two.

You know who has more majors than DL3? John Daly....Andy North...Hubert Green...John Henry Taylor...Denny Shute...

Who are they?

Really good players, obviously, but c'mon. The last time DL3 was relevant for an entire season was 2003, when he won four times - but even then he missed the cut in two majors.

I guess you can say he was "a factor" in the majors as late as '05 (t6 at the US Open, t4 at the PGA Championship) but he's had more missed more cuts (13) than top 10 finishes (8) in majors the last seven years.

It's over. I hate to say it, but it is. He's had injury and he's going to be 44 on Masters Sunday and let's face it - old guys don't win majors..

I'll watch the Shell Houston Open - that final Masters invite is enough of a hook for me - but don't be looking for Love. - he's as played out as the fish-eye lens in music videos.

It's April Fool's Day, but there's no joke here - even though many Chicago baseball fans won't believe it.

here are the top 8 teams payroll in 2008:

1. New York Yankees - $209.1 million
2. Detroit Tigers - $138.7
3. New York Mets - $138.3
4. Boston Red Sox - $133.4
5. Chicago White Sox - $121.2
6. Los Angeles Angels - $119.2
7. Chicago Cubs - $118.6
8. Los Angeles Dodgers - $118.5

* Payroll figures don't include cash transactions between clubs.
Figures included salaries and prorated shares of signing bonuses and
other guaranteed income, and for some players, deferred money was
discounted to present-day value.

That's right folks - so put away all the bellyaching about Reinsdorf or the Tribune Co./Sam Zell not spending money, and "We're in Chicago, why can't we spend like teams in New York or LA?" because, guess what, they are.

Only difference is, those teams spend their millions on guys like Johan Santana, David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Torii Hunter, Miguel Cabrera, Alex Rodriguez, Josh Beckett, Gary Sheffield, Mariano Rivera, Jeremy Bonderman, Jorge Posada, Vlad Guerrero, Pedro Martinez, Magglio Ordonez, David Wright and Carlos Beltran.

I'd say, oh, 10 of those guys will be Hall of Famers.

The Sox and Cubs? Only the Dodgers have bungled their dollars as bad as the hometown heroes...hello Juan Uribe, Jason Marquis, Jermaine Dye, Ted Lilly, Jose Contreras, Octavio Dotel and Kerry Wood.

Well, at least fans can say both of those teams were in the top third in baseball in something.