After a year away from the biggest softball tourney in the state...Tenacious D was back in the Tier 3 bracket. Long story short...we went 2-2...here are some of the highs and lows (depending on your perspective) over the weekend:
* Ugly facial hair galore!! I don't know if guys did it because they missed Fireman's so much or maybe it was the Carl Pavano steam, but we had a crew of 6-7 members or our team sporting a vast array of facial hair that was quite horrendous to say the least. I showcased the "handlebar".
* Tier 3 has evolved. I'm not sure if the actual play on the field is all that better, but just the shear planning with the team "uniforms" is ridiculous. The majority of teams had brand spanking new uniforms (with some over the top design), with matching pants and bags included in the deal. We are not one of those teams...which I prefer.
* In four games, we scored an average of 5.75 runs a game. And we won two of those four games...and our defense wasn't all that stellar either. Kind of a weird weekend.
* We were stuck at Dred Scott for our first three games. It probably worked out well, because we were playing on fenced fields and were able to play a five man infield. However, you don't get the same atmosphere that you get while playing at Valley View. After every one of our games at Dred Scott, everyone pretty much left after every game because there was nothing to do other than bake in the sun.
http://www.softball360.com/pdf/firemans2010_Tier3.pdf
SBG
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
At least we don't live in Cleveland...
I used to like LeBron James...that was up until he just took a dump on the whole state of Ohio (did we mention he grew up there) with a national television broadcast revealing that he's jumping to Miami. Minnesota sports fans have been dumped (more like farted and/or sharted on) on plenty of times...nothing of the LeBron James magnitude...but, here's a reminder of our sourest moments as Minnesota sports fans:
* Lou Holtz resurrects the Gopher football program only to leave it for greener pastures (Notre Dame) after two years. Program has been stuck in neutral for decades.
* Stephon Marbury demanding a trade (preferably New York/ended up going to New Jersey) because he claims he was homesick or he was simply jealous of Garnett's outrageous new contract. What a head case either way...not sure if we would've consistently won with him in the fold...probably should have just kept Ray Allen as our pick that year...
* Norm Green moves the Minnesota North Stars down to Dallas. We get rewarded with an expansion team years later and then market ourselves as "The State of Hockey". Am I the only one that finds this comical...?
* Carl Pohlad throws in the Minnesota Twins organization as possible candidates for contraction. Our only current professional team still in town that has actually won championships is being put out on the chopping block by our very own owner. ESPN was publishing mock dispersal drafts to see where our players would go...it still stings even though nothing happened.
* Laundry List for the Vikings (no particular order): 1. Lost 4 Super Bowls 2. 1998 NFC Championship 3. 2001 NFC Championship 4. 2010 NFC Championship 5. Running out of time during your 1st round draft pick and having two teams leapfrog you because of it. 6. Love Boat 7. Herschel Walker trade 8. Red McCombs trading Randy Moss (the most marketable player on the team) in the same summer he sold the team.
* Latrell Sprewell turning down a healthy-sized (around 3 years/30 million) contract extension because he needs to feed his "family". He didn't even get a sniff of another NBA contract after turning that offer down.
* The Joe Smith under the table signing scandal leaves the Timberwolves with no 1st round picks for five years (I believe Stern ended up giving us one back, so technically only four picks/years were taken away). Combine that with our awful drafting and that means our franchise is crippled for years...even with Garnett on the roster. Stern sets a precedent with our pathetic franchise, but has yet to punish any team to the extent of ours in 10 plus years. He's only had to deal with a melee in Detroit, corrupt referees, a gun party in Washington and the collusion of the top 3 free agents in the class of 2010 all going to the same team. Yeah, I think the Joe Smith scandal is the worst of them all.
* Not only does Russ Archambault cost the Gophers from getting Khalid El-Amin (punching him in the face during a scrimmage)...him and Jan Gangelhoff are the focal points on why the men's basketball program gets turned upside down because of breaking NCAA violations. I'm not defending the program, but it took Jan just 400 papers and helping 20 different players to figure out that maybe she's doing something morally wrong.
SBG
* Lou Holtz resurrects the Gopher football program only to leave it for greener pastures (Notre Dame) after two years. Program has been stuck in neutral for decades.
* Stephon Marbury demanding a trade (preferably New York/ended up going to New Jersey) because he claims he was homesick or he was simply jealous of Garnett's outrageous new contract. What a head case either way...not sure if we would've consistently won with him in the fold...probably should have just kept Ray Allen as our pick that year...
* Norm Green moves the Minnesota North Stars down to Dallas. We get rewarded with an expansion team years later and then market ourselves as "The State of Hockey". Am I the only one that finds this comical...?
* Carl Pohlad throws in the Minnesota Twins organization as possible candidates for contraction. Our only current professional team still in town that has actually won championships is being put out on the chopping block by our very own owner. ESPN was publishing mock dispersal drafts to see where our players would go...it still stings even though nothing happened.
* Laundry List for the Vikings (no particular order): 1. Lost 4 Super Bowls 2. 1998 NFC Championship 3. 2001 NFC Championship 4. 2010 NFC Championship 5. Running out of time during your 1st round draft pick and having two teams leapfrog you because of it. 6. Love Boat 7. Herschel Walker trade 8. Red McCombs trading Randy Moss (the most marketable player on the team) in the same summer he sold the team.
* Latrell Sprewell turning down a healthy-sized (around 3 years/30 million) contract extension because he needs to feed his "family". He didn't even get a sniff of another NBA contract after turning that offer down.
* The Joe Smith under the table signing scandal leaves the Timberwolves with no 1st round picks for five years (I believe Stern ended up giving us one back, so technically only four picks/years were taken away). Combine that with our awful drafting and that means our franchise is crippled for years...even with Garnett on the roster. Stern sets a precedent with our pathetic franchise, but has yet to punish any team to the extent of ours in 10 plus years. He's only had to deal with a melee in Detroit, corrupt referees, a gun party in Washington and the collusion of the top 3 free agents in the class of 2010 all going to the same team. Yeah, I think the Joe Smith scandal is the worst of them all.
* Not only does Russ Archambault cost the Gophers from getting Khalid El-Amin (punching him in the face during a scrimmage)...him and Jan Gangelhoff are the focal points on why the men's basketball program gets turned upside down because of breaking NCAA violations. I'm not defending the program, but it took Jan just 400 papers and helping 20 different players to figure out that maybe she's doing something morally wrong.
SBG
Friday, July 2, 2010
Target Field Review #3...Left Field Bleachers: Part Two
Eight family members attended the Twins/Rays tilt on July 1st. Due to some late planning, we were scattered by two's all over the left field bleachers. Here are some of my random observations on the night:
* Dead patch of grass in right field (probably from Magglio Ordonez butchering plays out there during the Tigers' series) was covered with brand new sod...right field kind of resembled the Metrodome playing surface if you stared at it long enough.
* I'm starting to finally come around on Delmon Young. It doesn't hurt when you throw a runner out at home from left field, plus hit a home run to tie the game late (7th inning, I believe) to help sway me. I really hated Delmon Young last year, and even the end of his first year here (he casually jogged in the ninth inning after a fly ball down the left field line in Kansas City/which ended up as an inside the park homerun to tie the game...I believe we eventually won the game, but Joe Nathan was steaming...then, combine that incident with the fact that the Rays came out of nowhere to dominate the AL with Garza and Bartlett as major cogs). So, I don't know if I've ever hated a local athlete (past or present) more and had that same athlete turn his career around/my feelings towards him while he was still a member with the local team. Normally, a trade to another team would maybe blossom a career...but, to Delmon's credit he has resurrected his career wearing the same uniform and has really supplanted himself as an everyday player.
* Good: Two guys were sporting the baby blue and bright orange tuxes worn in Dumb and Dumber. Bad: Rays apparently have fans that travel...? Four obnoxious idiots cheer everything pro-Rays...and by everything, I mean EVERYTHING...like balls and strikes. Ugly: Two intoxicated women were wearing eye black underneath their eyes, while sitting under an overhang in left field, during a night game...they should've been the ones sporting the Dumb and Dumber gear.
* Bottom of eighth...Rays are jogging out to take the field. I start thinking to myself why the hell Carl Crawford doesn't play centerfield for this club. They currently have lanky, but athletic Ben Zobrist patrolling centerfield. As if the Baseball Gods were answering my exact thoughts...Carl Crawford, while warming up with a bullpen arm in the outfield...not only overthrows his partner once...but, twice...consecutively...drawing great applause from the left field bleachers.
* Bottom of ninth...Rauch comes on for the save in a 4-3 game...he easily gets the first two guys out. Then, some asshole turns another set of the stadium lighting on (the lighting directly behind home plate). The whole stinking game they only had the stadium lights on down the lines (1st base and 3rd base lines) and now they turn everything on with one more out to get in the game...in a middle of an inning too...does that make any sense...?? Carl Crawford proceeds to single and then score on Evan Longoria's double down the left field line...all with two outs...tie game. It was as if they were prematurely prepping for the postgame without the game actually being over yet...doesn't anyone learn that nothing is in the bag when you're a fan of a Minnesota sports team.
* Game went into extra innings...however, a good percentage of the fans left before Rauch even took the mound in the ninth inning (when we were leading)...our fan base sucks...we get a new stadium and we're not even a year into it and everyone is still consumed about beating traffic. Do us all a favor and don't show up in the first place if beating traffic is your main objective.
* Gardy gets tossed on a "Jim Joyce" type call by the third base umpire.
SBG
* Dead patch of grass in right field (probably from Magglio Ordonez butchering plays out there during the Tigers' series) was covered with brand new sod...right field kind of resembled the Metrodome playing surface if you stared at it long enough.
* I'm starting to finally come around on Delmon Young. It doesn't hurt when you throw a runner out at home from left field, plus hit a home run to tie the game late (7th inning, I believe) to help sway me. I really hated Delmon Young last year, and even the end of his first year here (he casually jogged in the ninth inning after a fly ball down the left field line in Kansas City/which ended up as an inside the park homerun to tie the game...I believe we eventually won the game, but Joe Nathan was steaming...then, combine that incident with the fact that the Rays came out of nowhere to dominate the AL with Garza and Bartlett as major cogs). So, I don't know if I've ever hated a local athlete (past or present) more and had that same athlete turn his career around/my feelings towards him while he was still a member with the local team. Normally, a trade to another team would maybe blossom a career...but, to Delmon's credit he has resurrected his career wearing the same uniform and has really supplanted himself as an everyday player.
* Good: Two guys were sporting the baby blue and bright orange tuxes worn in Dumb and Dumber. Bad: Rays apparently have fans that travel...? Four obnoxious idiots cheer everything pro-Rays...and by everything, I mean EVERYTHING...like balls and strikes. Ugly: Two intoxicated women were wearing eye black underneath their eyes, while sitting under an overhang in left field, during a night game...they should've been the ones sporting the Dumb and Dumber gear.
* Bottom of eighth...Rays are jogging out to take the field. I start thinking to myself why the hell Carl Crawford doesn't play centerfield for this club. They currently have lanky, but athletic Ben Zobrist patrolling centerfield. As if the Baseball Gods were answering my exact thoughts...Carl Crawford, while warming up with a bullpen arm in the outfield...not only overthrows his partner once...but, twice...consecutively...drawing great applause from the left field bleachers.
* Bottom of ninth...Rauch comes on for the save in a 4-3 game...he easily gets the first two guys out. Then, some asshole turns another set of the stadium lighting on (the lighting directly behind home plate). The whole stinking game they only had the stadium lights on down the lines (1st base and 3rd base lines) and now they turn everything on with one more out to get in the game...in a middle of an inning too...does that make any sense...?? Carl Crawford proceeds to single and then score on Evan Longoria's double down the left field line...all with two outs...tie game. It was as if they were prematurely prepping for the postgame without the game actually being over yet...doesn't anyone learn that nothing is in the bag when you're a fan of a Minnesota sports team.
* Game went into extra innings...however, a good percentage of the fans left before Rauch even took the mound in the ninth inning (when we were leading)...our fan base sucks...we get a new stadium and we're not even a year into it and everyone is still consumed about beating traffic. Do us all a favor and don't show up in the first place if beating traffic is your main objective.
* Gardy gets tossed on a "Jim Joyce" type call by the third base umpire.
SBG
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)