Go Phils??

So, I am watching the game. Nothing else worth watching on the tube tonite. Pat is out and I sit here with a Yuengling and watch. And guess what? I am totally invested in the Phils. Is it because Pedro is pitching? Maybe. But as I said in my last post my dislike for the Yankees runs a lot deeper than it does for the Phils. Up until a few years ago the Mets main opponent was the Braves, so the Phils have only come on as a hated rival recently. But the Yankees, that dislike (spelled h-a-t-r-e-d) has been there for more than forty years.

Hours to go

A few hours to go til the series begins. I will not be watching, but will check in for scores. And I will be rooting against the Yankees. Not for the Phils, but against the Yankees. My dislike for the Phils is no where near as longstanding as my dislike for the Yankees. And as one caller into WFAN this morning said, "If the Yankees were playing Al Qaeda I wouldn't root for them".

And the dilemma is here

I went to bed last night at eleven with the Angels behind as well as Big Blue. This morning I woke up and checked the scores and found myself glad I didn't stay up for two losses. But with the series now set with the Yankees vs. Phillies I found myself leaning toward hoping the Yankees lose more than the Phillies. Notice I didn't say I want the Phillies to win. I think perhaps it matters that I live in the NY area and hear all the Yankee praise on the radio, tv and in the papers. If I were near Philly and was still a Met fan I might lean toward the Yankees. So, with all that said, I will not watch the series, but will hope for rainout after rainout until it becomes just too cold and too late in the year for there to be a series.

We mourn with Pookie

Yes, we mourn with Pookie, White Fang and Black Tooth. I am sure they will all be doing the Soupy Shuffle one more time in Soupy's honor. For those who have no idea what I am talking about, google Soupy Sales. Yes, Milton Supman passed away today.

I didn't watch but.........

After watching The Office and 30 Rock, and checking the score at commercials, I flipped over to the game to watch an inning. It was 4-0 and I turned it off and went to bed. Good thing I did because if I had started watching the seventh inning I would have turned it off anyway, not waiting for the Halos comeback in the bottom of the inning. Nothing new here so far that someone couldn't find in any coverage. But, in the morning I was in the car with the radio on and I heard that fans could start ordering World Series tickets. Jumping the gun? Being over confident? Now I know it is probably standard practice to do that for all teams, but I wondered if this was the jinx, the death knell, that would send the Evil Empire spiraling to another series debacle. Oh, to hope.

Oh crap!

A huge dilemma looms ahead. Both LCSes are three games to one. With one more win each it will be the Yankees and the Phillies in the World Series. For those who know me, you can see my dilemma if that happens. Who do I root for? Try to decide which team I dislike more? Try not to care? True, I will not watch, but only check in from time to time to see the score. But without a rooting interest that even seems unlikely. Whose loss will give me the most pleasure? If that were the only question to be considered I would have to say I would root against the Yankees; but that would mean rooting for the Phillies, which goes against everything being a Met fan stands for. Oh well. Maybe the Dodgers and Angels will pull it out.

Bad sports weekend.

It began on Friday when I watched some of the Rutgers game and watch them lose to a very good Pitt team. Then Saturday I watched the Irish lose a very close game against their nemesis, USC who they haven't beaten in eight or nine games. Then Sunday Big Blue got a dose of reality by being blown out by another undefeated team. Shows they might have been a bit overrated and overconfident after their first five wins against losing teams. And then......and then...... Gang Green reached an all time low. Losing to the Bills. Horrible game. Just horrible. But when the dust settled on the weekend and I checked the sports scores this morning I found that it was even worse than I thought. Not only is the Evil Empire up two games to none, but the hated Phillies are up two to one. Is there no hope?

59 days - 16 miles

[First let me say I wrote this post on Wednesday the 14th, but forgot to post it]

Today I finally got back on my bike after fifty nine days. Yes fifty nine days. This has to be my longest stretch without riding in quite a few years. Moving, painting, back ailments and California were the contributing factors that prevented me from enjoying a ride. And my first ride back today was a sixteen miler and it felt great. But it looks like rain for the rest of the week which will mean inside on the trainer. I want to get back to riding three times a week, and outside as long as the temperature is above thirty. That would be a calm thirty. With a bit of wind the temperature would need to be a bit warmer.

BWS

The first few days we were in CA it was too warm for the boys to go outside, and in actuality they haven't been out for a while due to the high temps and the smoke from the surrounding fires. But finally it was a nice day and everyone went out to sit and enjoy the balmy weather. Kevin took the cover off the water table and saw in the umbrella hole a spider. Closer inspection led to an identification; black widow. He shook the table so the spider dropped onto the ground where it was squashed like the bug it was. Following this execution Kevin and I began a search of the other outside toys, beginning with the picnic table. Underneath there was one in each corner of the benches. That makes five. Then to the slide, the push toys and sandbox. I lost count but Kevin said there were a full dozen. Welcome to California. After we came inside I did some Googling and found that the majority of people who have lived in California have seen at least one in their lifetime and such discoveries as we made were not uncommon. It is scary, but most information says that the widow is nocturnal and nonagressive. Still on the few days since then we have checked everything for the thin gossamer webs that identify the BW.