Whine & Cheese

Anything Possible

Late yesterday afternoon, Todd pulled up the MSNBC website and we immediately laughed at the juxtaposition of the two headline stories:

Shortly after they won the NFC Championship game and earned a birth to the Super Bowl, I twittered that I am not sure what I least thought I would see in my lifetime... a Black President or the Cards going to the Super Bowl?  After some further thought, I decided it was the latter that was more likely... ha!

While I am happy that the Cards are going to the big game, I can't say that I am terribly invested in it... nor will I be squeezing myself on the bandwagon.  Sure, I would like them to win (now that would be a Cinderella story), but I am not going to lead anyway in astray that I have been along for the entire "chumps to champs" road or that I am in any way responsible for their success this year.

What I have found terribly amusing, is how crazed this town is over the Cards.  You'd think this week that Phoenix was a town filled with faithful fans with their dreams crushed year after year, decade after decade... ala Chicago Cubs fans.  When only a few years ago, we rarely got to see a televised Cardinals game since the team never got close to a sell-out... or if they did, it was only because a popular opponent was in town, in which case their would be more people dressed and cheering against the Cards. 

So it totally cracks me up to see everyone strutting around in their Cardinal gear and acting like they've been waiting for this moment all their lives.  Now, I am sure they are folks out true-blue, through thick and thin fans out there... but it's so easy to see through the fair-weathered fans... perhaps because I have seen these same up-and-downs with the Valley's other sports teams... the Suns and Diamondbacks and to a lesser extent, the Coyotes.

We also watched the We Are One Obama inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial and I have to say I was very impressed.  Often these celebratory or benefit concerts drag on endlessly and/or there is wavering quality, but I really thought this was excellent from start to finish.  I was amazed by the authentically hopeful and positive vibe/spirit come off the screen... in the crowds and the performers, that I only wondered what it would feel like if things weren't so much in the crapper.  But then I quickly realized, that one big reason we are at this moment is because of where things are right now... definitely one of those watershed moments.  I was going to say for the first time in my life, but then I recall scenes of the Berlin Wall being knocked down and that certainly seems to qualify as well!

Anyhow, even if a word was not uttered or not a song sung, the gatherine would have been quite moving... and I hope that for folks that didn't vote for Obama could at least acknowledge what an amazing bookend this concert provided in our nation's history... a concert at the Lincoln Memorial... honoring the man who, among other things, signed the Emancipation Proclamation... on the steps where one of the greatest speeches of all-time and on the eve of a national holiday honoring the man who only "dreamed" that one day people "not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character"... to this day, 45 years later (a blink of the eye in the big scheme of things!)... where an African American man is hours away from taking a seat in the Oval Office.  And not that that's saying everything is all fine and dandy.. but it's still pretty darn incredible!

Express Lane: Issue 58

Kathy Griffin-Anderson Cooper New Year's Eve: Did she just say...? - I was kinda surprised that they had her back, but I think this reply to a heckler - where I think Kathy genuinely thought she was off-mic - will probably earned her a ban from CNN. (1/1/09)

Ballas Benched By Dancing Injury - I'm glad we didn't have tix to the tour stop in Phoenix on Sunday, would have been VERY disappointed. Mark's groin will just need some rest (biting tongue) and he and band buddy Derek Hough are expected back on the the next season of DWTS starting on March 9th. (12/29/08)

Creator of Usain Bolt's Olympic victory dance shot to death - I am not sure what is more shocking... the murder or that victory dances apparently now have choreographers?! (12/27/08)

Lindsay Davenport Expecting 2nd Baby - Just last week Lindsay announced she was headed to Australia for the first Grand Slam of the year, today word of "this unexpected but exciting surprise" - in other words, whoops! (12/18/08)

HBO, Winfrey's Production Company Reach Deal - Oprah signs a 3-year deal to make movies, documentaries, and series with the cable network. No word yet if the channel will be re-named HBOprah. (12/16/08)

Olé to Old

Over this past weekend, it was sad to see the last baseball game to be played at Yankee Stadium.  Even though I grew up a train ride (or two... or three) away from it and my Dad has been a life-long Yankee fan, I never did get to the House that Ruth Built. 

A couple of years ago on a trip back home that included a quick jaunt over to NYC, we were hoping for that chance but unfortunately the Yanks were out of town - so instead we saw a Mets game -- which at least provided a first and last visit to Shea.   

While I know we must continue our march into the future, it is still sad to see these sports cathedrals fall to the wayside.  Shea certainly had lots of "character"... but having visited our share of more recently built venues, we could certainly how things have changed... some for the better (bigger bathrooms, wider walkways, better sight lines) or worse (corporate boxes and higher ticket prices to pay for it).

So it was kind of cool to see that 'old' is not necessarily a bad thing when I saw pictures of the USA vs. Spain Davis Cup (that's tennis) match in Madrid.  One of the cool things about our travel adventures this year has been a real appreciation for the 'old'... seeing stuff that pre-dates the birth of our country... and sometimes by centuries!   

Granted the Las Ventas bullring - the venue for this match-up - built in the 1930s, it is likely considered "new" by European standards, it was still cool to see... and I would have loved to have been there, as watching tennis would be much more enjoyable for me personally than seeing bulls speared...

Okay, now this post devolves into just another reason to post a picture of Rafael Nadal - who won both of his singles matches to advance Spain into the Davis Cup final (vs. Argentina).  Here is a picture of Rafa practicing... but what I loved about this shot -- well, in addition to the shorter shorts -- was his "Kiss My Ace" t-shirt.  Okie dokie!

And here is a picture of the Spanish Davis cup team -- Fernando Verdasco (hardly recognize him with clothes on), Feliciano Lopez, David Ferrer, Rafa ... and coach, Emilio Sanchez (who sadly is my age peer in this group). 

In its next life, my hair would very much like to come back as a Spaniard....

... or else, I'm thnking we need to plan a trip to Espana... though that would likely result in me walking into light poles!

Seeing Red

One of our weekend activities was a Diamondbacks game.   

After nearly 10 years in the MLB and with some mild changes along the way, in 2007 the Diamondbacks changed their team colors from purple/teal to red... or more specifically Sedona red.   

I am not sure how it went over with the general public, but it was a little frustrating for this particular fan.  Needless to say over nearly a decade I had a decent collection of attire in the old team colors - including stuff from their World Series championship in 2001 - and it also marked the end of an era, in that the team was also under new management after the Phoenix sports legend/owner was somewhat unceremoniously squeezed out of the organization - and some popular fan favorite players were also sent packing...

So in a bit of protest, I have yet to purchase anything in the new colors... largely ineffective since only needs to attend a home game to see that the majority of folks have been more than happy to refresh their team-wear.

But over this weekend, I decided to at least simmer down a bit and wear something red to the game - granted it was Beijing Olympics tee, which was probably more Communist red than Sedona red... but, believe it or not, there's really not much difference between the two shades.

As we approached downtown Phoenix, we could see all the folks walking from the parking garages to Chase Field in the red attire.  Then one fan, turned around and I saw he was wearing a shirt of our opponents... granted I knew who we were playing against... but it didn't fully hit until I saw this Cincinnati Reds shirt! 

And that's the biggest problem I have with this team color change ... red is just too common of a uniform color in Major League Baseball.  Cardinals, Nationals, Angels, Braves, and, of course, the Reds and Red Sox are just some of the teams that I can think of off the top of my head (and that's saying something) that have predominantly red uniforms... and if I was flipping the dial quickly, would probably confuse with the D-backs...

... and alas, a home game against any of these teams would have the stands awash in red... much like it was for this particular ball game.  It's not like it particularly matters, but I still mourn the loss of that little something that made the team unique.

QT QBs

For some ungodly reason, I watched a lot of football over the past week or so.  Responsible for this odd phenomenon was a virtually non-existent backlog on TiVo and that there seemed to be a football game on every other frickin' channel!

But before you think I got all hetero on your ass, I spent a good deal of time making the predictable jokes about "tight ends" and gigglin' like a school girl each time a commentator used any form of the word "penetrate."

However, the majority of my energy was pondering whether quarterbacks were required to pass some kind of male beauty pageant before earning their... umm... position.

Let's look at some of what caught my eye by category...

History in the Making Edition: Two favorites on the gay blogosphere are Tom Brady and Brett Favre.  As mentioned, I don't follow football all that much... and while I could obviously see the reasons why he would be "popular" I didn't get the spontaneous orgasm appeal of Brady...  but okay,  I saw much of the history making Patriots-Giants perfect season game... and I get it.

And while I knew Favre was a hottie back in the day... but lately I've thought he's been looking old and scruffy... and not necessarily in the good way... more like, any minute now he'll be doing commercials for penis-centric health-related/drug commercials or arthritis medication (granted he's already pitching the prescription heartburn med Prilosec) kind of way.... but now I find out he's two years younger than me... so okay, he's hot... and I couldn't find a bad picture to prove my original point anyhow!

Hometown Arizona Cardinals Edition:  I never got on the Matt Leinart (right) bandwagon.  He came off as sort of a prima donna when he was miffed that worse teams than the AZ Cardinals (which is saying something) skipped over him at draft time... and while being BFF with Nick Lachey during his USC days earned him some point in my book, he lost them immediately thanks to "friendships" with a pair of hotel heiress sisters.  The "golden boy" (another strike against him) has spawned with someone else and had a season-ending injury in the first game (or one of the first games) of this past season.  But that's okay... since I have grown to appreciate Kurt Warner (left).  While I can understand the boy-ish charm of Leinart, Warner is definitely "all man"... and in the very best way.

All Manning Edition:  While there's certainly nothing wrong with Peyton (left)... after watching that above mentioned Patriots-Giants game, I have to say younger brother Eli is my pick in the eye-candy department. In researching this topic, I have learned that attractiveness is not directly correlated with ability and skill as a quarterback.  But is it really such a bad thing that Eli is the easier brother to sack?

Collegiate Edition:  When did college quarterbacks come with "ready to go" porno names?  Even in my wildest brainstorming sessions, I don't think I could have come up with John David Booty of USC (left) and Colt Brennan of Hawai'i (right).   These two were on opposite ends of Bowl routs yesterday.  Booty victorious in the Rose Bowl, while I think it would be "take a number" for those of us wishing to console Brennan after his first loss of the season at the Sugar Bowl.

Oh, Just Suck It

(Link: Hello? Any Diamondbacks fans out there? )

This isn't the Diamondbacks' fault, and it's not Major League Baseball's, either. Sometimes, it's incumbent upon a city to adopt a franchise, and even if the fans chuckle at the public address announcer's imploring fans to chant along to the "Anywhere, anytime" catchphrase and roll their eyes at the team's theme song with the chorus "It's a fact, Jack, I back, you back, we back the D'backs," they should support the team by, at very least, showing up.

Okay, here's the "whine":

• "Apathetic and rowdy"... pick a side?   While throwing stuff onto the field is certainly not acceptable behavior, this certainly seems way overblown.  Go to a European or South American soccer game and locals would say the Dback fans made a "mockery" of being "rowdy."   I guess we need to follow the example real baseball fans like those prim, proper and polite fans in New York or Chicago or Boston fans. One man's "rowdy" is another man's "passionate."


• You will have empty seats before gametime (as pictured above) if the game is scheduled in the middle of frickin' rush hour (5:30pm on a Thursday).  Traffic sucked!!   What should have been a 20 minute ride, took me 1.5 hours (leaving work at the same time as me, Todd got to the game even later!)... Downtown Phoenix is an absolute disaster thanks to light rail construction.


• Ummm... the "Anywhere, Anytime" chant and the new "theme song" are LAME!!  Kudos to the crowd for having the good taste and not being Pavlonian for a change.  And don't try to get fans to chant "anytime, anywhere" when the team is down and playing like crap.  When they tried to start the chant, I was thinking "How about NOW, and the Rockies."


• I believe that children our the team's future.  Until a father, and his father's father, and his father's father father have been Dback fans, there is going to a certain degree of apathy when it comes to team support... and truthfully, I am not sure if that will ever happen. 


• Maybe folks see the decision to totally change team colors this year as a thinly masked attempt by the organization to make some money by forcing people to have to totally re-do their entire Dbacks wardrobe.  Something that this household has refused to do.


• Granted it is a business, but current management did not ingratiate themselves with fans... or spin it very well/do a good job at PR...  with the ousters of former owner Jerry Colangelo or franchise World Series hero, Luis Gonzalez.


• Since the departure of Gonzo, there is no "heart"/face of the franchise.  Granted Randy Johnson did return (and not exactly with warm/open arms), but has been out with an injury.  Even my Dad, a huge follower of baseball, has said he doesn't recognize many names.  Heck, there were even a few starters in last night's game that I wouldn't have been able to put a name to the face.


• There wasn't a huge buzz about the Dbacks going into the playoffs... and they were lucky it didn't slip out of their grasp (they only clinched their division due to a loss by another team). 


• The Dbacks are a victim of its own success.  In our first 10 years, we have won our division 4 times and have a World Series.  While this should be applauded and supported, it isn't something terribly new... other cities have been waiting (hoping, praying) for this longer than the Dbacks have even been existence.  Heck, this is only the 2nd time the Rockies have even made the playoffs.

While I do "get" what it looks like to an outsider and "sports expert" like Passan and agree with some of what he was saying, I was miffed about the tone of the article and where he is laying all the blame. 

This well-behaved fan who just happened to be at last night's game waves "Hello" to him, and any other detractors, and concludes with a saying seen on an early American flag, that just happened to have a snake on it... Don't Tread On Me. 

Hanging Up My Jersey

Whoops... didn't mean to scare you with that title post... no I am not retiring from W&C... in fact, tomorrow is my 3 Year Bloggi-versary (and they said it wouldn't last... wait a minute, maybe it was me who said it wouldn't last?)...

No, I am literally hanging up my jersey... my Luis Gonzalez Diamondback baseball jersey...

There is no joy in our own little "it's a dry heat" version of Mudville today...

The Diamondbacks decided not bring back Luis Gonzalez next year.  Now granted Gonzo he had a $10 million option ... which even I would admit was a tad much for an aging (gasp! 39 year old!) left fielder... but the buzz is that Luis was willing to negotiate/take a pay cut to stay with the team... but word has it, he was pretty much shown the door before he or "his people" could open their mouths.

The irony in all this?  The agent who negotiated that boffo deal for Gonzalez now owns the Diamondbacks! 

Now, I am no Polly-Anna here, I know this is a "business"... its all about "the future" and cost-cutting... and we've certainly seen Valley popular athletes come and go... after the Diamondbacks won the World Series in 2001... as seems to be the case with most Championship rosters, the dismantling of the team began... and these new owners also managed to boot out former owner and Arizona sports icon Jerry Colangelo... who was largely responsible for bringing a MLB franchise to the Arizona in the first place (let alone his interests in the NBA Suns and NHL Coyotes).  This new "corporate" handling of the Diamondbacks certainly leaves little (if any!) room for emotion... and it certainly doesn't appear to grasp the concept of intangibles.

Gonzalez is the "face of the franchise" and most certainly in the upper echelon of Arizona professional sports history.   He is wildly popular with fans, more often than not receiving the biggest cheers when the starting line-ups are announced.  He seems to be genuinely nice guy... though there have been unsubstantiated whispers of illegal substance use and he has had a whiny streak or two (what major professional athlete hasn't?!)... but in a sports world where it is increasingly difficult to find anyone worthy of "role model" status, Luis was always worthy of admiration.

And, for goodness sakes, he is on milk bottles for the local dairy... and, as the father of adorable triplets, has even done commercials for child safety car seats!

Oh... one other thing...  he made the frickin' hit that won us the World Series... in Game 7, in the bottom of the 9th, with two outs against the Yankees!   And I just got goosebumps just writing that...

For that reason alone, he was worthy for another year or two of astronomical salary... heck, the just let the guy talk and seen how much of a pay cut he was willing to take to remain with the team.  He pretty much has just another season or two left... so instead of retiring as a Diamondback, he will close out his career with some other team.

And it is not like he is exactly washed up at the moment... he leads the leagues in doubles... with 545 career doubles, he is currently 20th on that all-time doubles list... many times this season one of his doubles moved him passed some Hall of Famer (umm... do Willie Mays, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, and Babe Ruth ring a bell?) on this list... so that alone was exciting aspect of this otherwise (and another!) lackluster Diamondbacks season.

But get this... the owners allegedly have offered him a front-office or broadcasting job when he retires... well, this is certainly not a nice way to treat a future employee.

So Gonzo has 7 more home games with the Diamondbacks and I am sure he will some comfort (and hopefully a fair share of smug satisfaction) from what will be a rousing fan tribute every time he steps up to the plate or walks out to left field.   

tags:  luis gonzalez, diamondbacks

Goodbye, Hello Hello

Yes, a rare missed blogging weekday for me yesterday... ya know, every so often "real" work does rear its ugly head... and since it does pay the bills, I had to give it my full attention yesterday... it definitely put the labor into the day after Labor Day weekend!

So here's just a few thoughts on my mind that I couldn't let pass for the day...

Well, despite my bold prediction that Andre Agassi would be an "overwhelming favorite" in my last post... of course, if you turned on the television, read a newspaper, or went to a news website... you know that Andre Agassi lost his third round match vs. Germany's Benjamin Becker on Saturday.

It was an emotional on-court goodbye... and though I have not been the biggest Agassi fan in the world, I have to say I have warmed up to him more in the last few years.  And heck, I'm a sucker for a guy crying... so it didn't take much for that good 'ole lump in my throat.  But we did have a little chuckle in our house during Andre's on-court goodbye speech... had he also read one of my recently finished novels (one that Todd is currently reading as well)?  Here is Agassi's U.S. Open goodbye...

"The scoreboard said I lost today, but what the scoreboard doesn't say is what it is I have found. And over the last 21 years, I have found loyalty. You have pulled for me on the court and also in life. I've found inspiration. You have willed me to succeed sometimes even in my lowest moments. And I've found generosity. You have given me your shoulders to stand on to reach for my dreams, dreams I could have never reached without you. Over the last 21 years, I have found you. And I will take you and the memory of you with me for the rest of my life. Thank you."

What made us laugh was that in the fictional Amazing Race-ish reality show, Lost and Found, the icy hostess Barbara Fox asks the eliminated team... "You've lost the race, but what have you found?"  Coincidence?  Hmmm....

And yesterday we had two hellos... as two familiar face returning to television in new jobs... Katie Couric heading the CBS Evening News and Rosie O'Donnell joining The View.

I have no strong thoughts about Katie... don't love, don't hate her.  But wasn't too sure about the direction of this new evening news.  Again, I am probably just thinking of Today Katie... but it seemed a bit soft.  And while I love two of her "guests" last night Thomas Friedman and Morgan Spurlock... there just seemed to be too much opinion for a newcast, basically I want the news. I'll tune into some other program to get editorials (btw, I whole-heartedly agreed with the two men).  And the "Snapshot" feature seemed a little weak... could have done without the tribute to baby Prince Charles in 1949 and just get to that damn Cruise baby photo.  And also had a little fatigue by the 3rd time Couric plugged the CBS News website... the last time encouraging viewers to write-in with sugggestions a signature closing line?!   Can we vote someone back into the Big Brother house while we're at it?  Needless to say, my evening news loyalties will remain with ABC.

Then we had Rosie in a free-for-all first day... and we definitely have the answer to what The View has lost... Meredith Viera.  While Rosie was certainly entertaining, the show is clearly entering a brand new level when it comes to decibel levels... and that's saying something for this already loud show!  At one point, I think the ladies totally forgot that Jessica Simpson was on the couch... everyone just seemed to be talking loudly to someone.  Who... I am not sure?  Bu it definitely wasn't the croaky-voiced divorcee.  And Rosie is bringing her A.D.D. with her... the new "moderator" brought up Steve Irwin... but somehow the next 5 minutes turned into a discussion about the George Reeves/Superman Ben Affleck movie Hollywoodland.  Eventually they got back to Irwin's tragic death, but it took awhile.

So we'll see... I don't think either lady is going anywhere anytime soon... but I am not sure about the long-term prospects for either of them.

Why Is A Strikeout A "K"?

This particular search hit seems to come up at least once a week...

So I figured it was time for it to be an official "Googlemania" post... where I try to fulfill a search hit request that was never really addressed here at W&C (this is post that this particular search hit is going to).  And heck, every so often, I should do one that does not involve a visual with someone without a shirt on!

So in scoring a baseball game, why is a strikeout in baseball referred to as a K?

In 1861, Henry Chadwick invented a scoring system which used a series of letter symbols.   He selected "K" for "struck out".   He explained that "K" was the prominent letter in the word "strike" and it would be easy to remember.   The reason a strikeout isn't a "T" is because "struck" was the preferred term of the day. Also, a "S" was already used for a sacrifice... and "SO" for a shout-out shut-out. Stories have circulated that M.J. Kelly of the New York Herald was the first to use "K" for a strikeout and that it was because it was his last initial.    Actually, Mr. Chadwick was the first baseball editor for the New York Herald and Kelly learned it from him.

But what about forward and backward Ks?

The forward ("as is") K, is used for a batter swinging on the 3rd strike. 

The backwards K for a called third strike is a more recent scoring devise. The backward K signifies the batter was caught looking - the K is drawn as if looking back to see the ball go into the catcher's mitt.

Hope that helps!

Weekend Update #60416

As I wrote on Friday, it was a pretty busy weekend... one of those where you seem to need a weekend to recover from it... so I guess it only makes sense if I tell you all about it (whether you like it or not).

Friday
... it was off to see Valerie Harper starring in the one-woman play Golda's Balcony.  I figured it would be pretty good and it was all that and more.  With season tickets we often see quite a few clunkers, but this was most certainly a nice case of where we saw a really good show that we probably would not have seen if it wasn't part of season ticket package.  As with most one-person shows, I am constantly impressed how the heck these folks memorize the material. 

From the minute Valerie (I guess I should add... playing Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir) took the stage and opened her mouth, she rarely took a breath for the next 95 minutes (no intermission!) -- and she voiced 30+ other characters!  Truly amazing... a tour de force, I would say.  The show was compelling, sad, funny, and educational... I couldn't even begin to create a list out things that I never knew about Israel and Meir (and I consider myself to be a fairly educated person!).

And it was a thrill to see "TV's Rhoda"... even thru the heavy make-up and a prosthetic nose, you still had the essence of Rhoda Morgenstern in there.  Harper's encores were a bit odd... she came back twice, but left the stage for maybe 2 seconds before running back to the stage.  Seems like it would have been a better strategy to at least "counted to 10" before returning... I think she missed that thunderous wave of applause by returning so soon.

Saturday
... was our first Diamondbacks game of the season.   We have new seats this season and while we had our doubts about "upgrade" ... they are really quite good (pretty much right off home plate on the first base line... row 30).   Alas, the actual baseball game was not much to talk about ... the hometeam got shellacked by the Houston Astros 10-0... yikes!   

Unfortunately someone tipped off Brad Ausmus, the scrumptious Astros catcher and latest object of my lust affection...  he played on Friday and Sunday, but not our game.  That was really not fair... and we even missed the equally do-able Andy Pettitte by one day.  But enough of this catcher and pitcher talk... instead, I drowned my sorrow a brand new food option at the ballpark this season... Cold Stone Creamery... yum!

Sunday
... was time to head down to Tucson and return Lucy the pug to Todd's parents... and this served as Toby's first major road trip (probably his previous longest car ride was 15-20 minutes).  He was pretty whiny for a good part of the trip, but settled down after some time on I-10, but then got a little more agitated back on the local roads.  He really did a good job at Todd's parent's house... but I think part of that was just that he was in unfamiliar territory and that he was pretty wiped out from the car trip (and hosting Lucy for a little over a week)! 

Needless to say, it was pretty strange when we got back... with the exception of the first 10 weeks or so, for 4+ years we were a two dog house... heck, now that I think of it the 3 pets that we moved into this house with are now all gone... but anyhow, it was very weird to be down a dog... which arguably is a much bigger presence in the house than a cat.  We definitely had our twinges of sadness throughout  the evening and certainly this morning...

Toby, who views eating a doggie meal as some form of competition and/or endurance challenge, was without an "opponent" for the first time this morning.  He eventually mosied on over and finished his breakfast... 25 minutes after it was served!  He's been pretty much crashed out this morning... so I'll try not to read any "human emotion" into that... but I know it is now absolutely essential that I get him out for walks...  he certainly won't be running around on his own... and I am guessing the cats are not going to be helpful filling the exercise gap either.