Nathan and Wife

They wanted a shout out on the blog, so here it is.  The three of us are on the couch watching the Yankees game.  DWTS will be a commercial break option.  Linds is drinking some vino, got me a Miller Lite, and Nathan has a cow's ear and a bowl of water. 

Family Time.

Monday Madness

Looks like we got a game in Montreal tonight.  Habs lead 3-2 after two periods and are looking to extend this series to a seventh game.  They already took down Ovie and the mighty Capitals.  Can Sid the Kid (1 shot through 2 periods?) and the Penguins be the next victim?  NHL Playoff hockey is great - and this is coming from a guy who doesn't watch a single regular season game. 

Meanwhile, in Atlanta, the Orlando Magic have yet to meet any sort of resistance through 7 playoff games.  They're up 8 at the half tonight in Game 4, 53-45.  #12 has only 9 points and 2 rebounds.  Charlotte got beat by an average of 9 points and so far, Atlanta is getting pumped by a tune of 29 points a game.  I mean Dwight Howard didn't have a good series by any means against Charlotte (9.8 PPG, 9.3 RPG, and 5.5 Fouls/Game)  and they still closed it out 4-0, but this series with Atlanta he's averaging 23.7 PPG, 15 RPG, and 4 Fouls/Game.  Superman needs to show up and the Magic will keep winning.  They should have more trouble with the Hawks, not the Bobcats.  It's all lies on the 6' wide shoulders of one Dwight Howard.

Meanwhile, in Yankee Land, Sergio Mitre is not the answer to the fifth starter spot - he made a spot start for Pettitte tonight against the Tigers and lasted all of 4.1 innings.  5 H, 4 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR (to ex-Yank Johnny Damon) - respectable but the thing that stuck out was that he only threw 37 of 69 pitches for strikes.   Time to switch from DWTS to the Yankee game, see if they can't get a comeback going.  Vazquez is on the hill tomorrow, so tonight is as close to a must-win as there is - who the hell knows what Jaaaavy is going to do.  That'd be a 3-game skid - no bueno.

Game Time.  Later dudes.

Mother's Day Reflections

Seniors? Really? This weekend we had seniors pitch like freshman, and a freshman who pitched like a senior. Here are the stat lines for our starting pitchers:
Game 1: 3 IP, 3 H, 6 R, 5 BB, 3 K, 82 Pitches - we were up 5-0 after two and a half innings.
Game 2: 6 IP, 10 H, 10 R, 2 BB, 3 K, 114 Pitches (101 FB) - 89% FB's? Seriously?
Game 3: 8 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K - 2 dropped fly balls led to 2 of the runs, a PB led to another.
I mean those lines are what you expect from kids who have never pitched in a big game before. We had a chance to go up to Buffalo, play the best team in the conference, and our so-called seniors pitched like crap. We have six conference games left, changes will be made, and we will find a way to get in - 4-2 will be good, 5-1 would guarantee a spot in the postseason.

Perfect! Oakland A's LHP Dallas Braden became just the 19th pitcher in MLB history to throw a perfect game, against the best team in baseball, the TB Rays. His fete came on Mother's Day, and it was a good moment for everyone when he hugged his grandmother in front of the dugout following the win. He lost his mother in 2001 to melanoma when he was just a teenager. Good for him.

Big Eye, Big Game Nash. Steve Nash is tough. He played the entire fourth quarter with on a left eye. His right eye began swelling shut and by time the game was over, his right eye was closed. And all this in the deciding game 4 of their series with the SA Spurs. The Spurs run of dominance is over, I think they need to get a little younger, but they'll be back. The Suns put to rest all the demons of past playoff failure by advancing to the Western Conference Finals, where they are sure to meet the LA Lakers. If the team can learn from Nash's toughness, they will be a tough out for the Lakers. I'll be rooting for the Suns. Then again, as much as I respect the Lakers as winners, I tend to root against them.

Indy Scene. In Bridgewater, NJ, the Somerset Patriots staged a huge comeback, erasing a 10-2 deficit over their final two at-bats to defeat and demoralize the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 14-10. The Pats scored 6 in the 8th and another 6 in the 9th, ending the thrilling comeback with a walk-off grand slam by Matt Hagan. It was Hagan's second bolt of the year. He finished the game with 4 hits and 5 RBI, the last 4 sending the 4,044fans home happy.