Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy the movie Head of State full movie 
Archive for the ‘Sports’ Category
2008 MLB Predictions in Tiny Little Helmets
Monday, March 24th, 2008Spring Now Please Thank You
Friday, February 29th, 2008It was warm today.
There was baseball – high def baseball – on my television.
It didn’t snow. For once.
The Cardinals won.
I went outside. In short-sleeves. Without a jacket.
The Limits of Control movie download This is nice.
Reactions From The Mitchell Report
Thursday, December 13th, 2007• Albert Pujols was not named in the report. Neither was Darryl Kile. No matter what the list circulated before the report erroneously stated. For that matter, neither were Kerry Wood or Mark Prior. Given the limited number of witnesses, this doesn’t exonerate anyone. And more names may come out in the future after federal investigations are complete. But after years of random, pointless speculation about Pujols I’m hoping it shuts a few people up. At least for now.
• Roger Clemens is the ass we always thought he was, and his two month wait to join the Astros in 2006 was probably the widely speculated super-secret steroids suspension from Selig.
The Freshest Kids movie download City of Rott divx
• Don Fehr is the ass we always thought he was, and he should be fired as head of the Players’ Union.
• Good timing, Houston. Enjoy your new shortshop.
• The Mitchel Report joins the chorus of recent studies that seem to indicate that HGH is pointless as a Performance Enhancing Drug and does nothing to help a player: King Kong movie download
A number of studies have shown that use of human growth hormone does not increase muscle strength in healthy subjects or well-trained athletes. Athletes who have triedhuman growth hormone as a training aid have reached the same conclusion. The author of one book targeted at steroid abusers observed that “[t]he most curious aspect of the whole situation is
that I’ve never encountered any athlete using HGH to benefit from it, and all the athletes who admit to having used it will usually agree: it didn’t/doesn’t work for them.”
The report goes on to discuss the negative aspects of HGH, namely the side effects that include cancer, impotence and arthritis among others. Mitchell seems to feel that HGH should remain a banned substance because of the potential for adverse health effects, and that’s fine with me. But the public needs to finally embrace that HGH IS NOT A PED. Call Rick Ankiel a cheater all you want, but every study indicates that HGH does not enhance your ability as an athlete in any way. Perhaps it is a minor aid if you want to use it in tandem with a real PED like anabolic steroids, but without the presence of that greater sin you cannot accuse one of cheating. And the use of HGH does not imply that the player used steroids. It simply implies that he attempted to gain an advantage through the common incorrect opinion that HGH does a damn thing to help you build muscle mass.
Goodnight
Tuesday, September 18th, 2007
The sun sets on Busch Stadium and the Cardinals’ 2007 season. Three hours later St. Louis would defeat the first place Cubs, their first win in ten games, only to lose the next two. The Redbirds will have their first losing season since 1999.
No Pressure or Expectations Beneath the Letters
Tuesday, September 11th, 2007As much as it annoys me when the masses deflate the Reigning World Champs by speaking ill of their mediocre 2006 regular season, I think I’m beginning to enjoy the idea of rooting for a sub-genius ballclub. It takes all the pressure off.
The author of the now-defunct Redbird Nation blog wrote in August of 2004 that the Cardinals that season seemed to win “every. damn. day.” and his summation was dead-on. Imagine how anxious and bored fans can get during the last week of the season once their team has clinched a playoff spot and how the subsequent four-game series at the fifth place club’s ballpark seems to exist only to delay the upcoming fun of October. Then take that feeling and apply it to the entirety of the year’s eighth and ninth months. That’s how Cardinals fans felt in 2004, starting on July 20 after the Pujols Game at Wrigley when the Redbirds came back from 7-2 and 8-3 deficits to sweep a two-game series with the 2003 division-winning Cubs, putting Chicago ten back in second place with no more meetings between the two. The Champs are dead; long live the Champs! Just two more months before a game matters again!
Children of the Corn 666: Isaac’s Return dvd
(I know. You’re totally sympathetic towards the fans being forced to root for such a successful club. I know. Anyway…)
After 105 wins and six months of dominating the Senior Circuit the Cardinals lost Chris Carpenter and the offense got tired, and the Red Sox promptly swept the NL Champs, dancing with Jimmy Fallon on Bob Gibson’s mound and inflicting three years and counting of smarmy Bill Simmons columns onto the world. God, I hate the Red Sox even more than the Yankees.
A year later St. Louis won 100 games, but again the offense struggled, this time a series early as the Birds fell repeatedly in Houston, winning a single game there only thanks to Albert Pujols Brad Lidging the shit out of Brad Lidge and giving me the opportunity to turn “Brad Lidge” into a verb just in time for Scott Podsednik to go and use it in the World Series. Congrats on that five-year contract extension, Ozzie!
To sum it up: two seasons, 205 wins, just one pennant, no world title. Each year that last best-of-seven series turned a campaign of joy and high expectations into a disappointment ready to be filed away in the same folder as 1985, 1987, and pretty much every year since 2000.
Then came 2006.
On May 25, 2006, the Cardinals had a record of 31-16, the best in the NL and second in all of baseball only to the Tigers, whom the Cards trailed by only a game and a half in the meaningless overall standings. They led the Reds by four in the Central and were considered by most favorites to run away with the Central for a third straight campaign, especially with Houston off to a tepid start. This time they had to win it all.
Over the next month, the Cardinals went 11-16, reducing their lead to just two games over the Reds. While they would stabilize in July, by August 25 they were only seven games over .500 and had a one-game lead over Cincinnati. After a summer of lackluster play, they were still considered easy frontrunners for the Central crown. Mediocre as they were, so was everyone else in the division.
We know how this ended: St. Louis struggled mightily in September, dragged down by injuries to Rolen, Edmonds and Eckstein, and limped into the last day of the season needing Atlanta to beat Houston in order to avoid a makeup game with the Pirates and a potential one-game playoff in Houston. While Anthony Reyes was shelled at Busch, Bobby Cox did his duty, and the Redbirds, somehow, won their third straight division title, making everyone in Mound City roll their eyes and say, “Fuck, now we get really embarrassed!”
Then their team went 11-5 in October and won their tenth world title. OMG WTF? How?
This 2006 club, good as it was for most of the season, was not a club that seemed to win “every. damn. day.” Or even, at times, every. few. days. And, in retrospect, it made the playoffs a hell of a lot easier to live through. In 2004 it was not only heartbreaking but even almost embarassing to see the Cardinals lose in the World Series, as it seemed to invalidate everything they had accomplished over the previous six-and-a-half months. Falling short in ‘05 against the perenially underachieving Astros, a team that they bested just one year prior, was even more humbling. But who really expected the Redbirds to do anything in 2006?
It sucked to see ESPN’s experts all pick your team to get drummed out in the NLDS, but on the other hand it released a lot of pressure. If San Diego had beaten the Cardinals in the playoffs (an admittedly laughable premise that causes my sides to hurt,) Cards fans could have shrugged their shoulders and said “yeah, we sucked this year.” A loss to the Mets in the second round would be even more explainable, and losing the Series to the Tigers, while certainly not enjoyable, would have been an acceptable finish as well as, at that point, almost anticipated. The 2006 playoffs, unlike the two previous years, were a pressureless,
expectation-free zone.
Which brings us to 2007. After tonight’s latest impotent performance by Mark Mulder, the Cards will sit four games out of first place with an upcoming four-game series at home against Chicago that, much like the five-game series at Wrigley in ‘03 that ended the Birds’ hope for October, could knock the Cardinals out of playoff contention. I’ll be there Saturday night along with two Cub fans who will certainly give me loads of ha-ha shit on the ninety minute drive back to Effingham.
But you know what? So what. This Cardinal team sucks, and, for that matter, so do the Brewers and the Cubs. Just maybe not as much. The winner of the Central, thanks to the way the MLB playoffs work, could go far just like the Birds did last year, and if they do then it’s because they’re the better team by virtue of doing what no other team could: winning when it counts the most. But who really thinks any of these teams will? While it helps for St. Louis fans that their club won the World Series last year and the aura of that victory will hover for a while, Brewer and Cub fans can take the same comfort if (when) their team falls short in September or October: it’s great to have a dominant, feared club, but ultimately for those teams it’s win-it-all or be ridiculed. When your team sucks, you can sit back and enjoy whatever success they achieve without being humbled by their failures.
It’s kind of nice having this weight off your shoulders. Now I know what it’s like to be a Pirates fan.
The 10:30 Curse
Wednesday, August 1st, 2007With the Cubs now in first place, let me tell you how they got there.
On Monday, June 11, 2007, the second day of our honeymoon, my new bride and I awoke in Milwaukee, planning to head up the western coast of Lake Michigan as part of the Circle Tour. Later in the day we planned on touring Lambeau Field in Green Bay, since I figured we wouldn’t be in that neighborhood for a while. First, though, we would stop by Miller Park, home of the Brewers, and take their tour that included a trip through the clubhouse, dugouts and press box. This was, to me, to be one of the highlights of our trip.
Buying our tickets on the internet in advance, we arrived about a half-hour before the tour’s start time of 10:30. Killing time, we looked around the team store and wandered into the seats for a minute, as they failed to close off that part of the concourse. A few minutes before tour time, we made our way to the starting point along with five or six other people.
After about fifteen minutes of waiting, those five or six other people marched over to the ticket window and wondered what was going on.
Another fifteen minutes.
And another ten.
Finally, thirty-five minutes after our tour was set to begin, we were informed that there would be no 10:30 tour. Nor one at noon. No, if we wanted to see the secrets that Miller Park held for us, we would have to wait until 1:30. The Mrs. and I had fancy plans and could not wait that long, meaning we would be denied our fun in Milwaukee.
Your author was (slightly kinda) heartbroken (well, almost,) and his wife could tell. Together, they decided to place a curse upon the Brewers, that they would not stay in the comfy first place position they currently favored in the NL Central Division.
On Monday, June 11, 2007, the second day of our honeymoon, the Brewers were playing .539 ball, with a record of 34 and 29. Since then, they have played .533 ball, going 24 and 21.
Not much of a difference. Some curse, huh?
Actually, this is a Curse that works in Reverse.
On Monday, June 11, 2007, the second day of our honeymoon, the Chicago Cubs were playing .451 ball, with a record of 28 and 34. They trailed Milwaukee by five and a half games in the NL Central.
Since then, they have played .667 ball, with a record of 30 and 15. They are in first place in the NL Central.
Milwaukee has company.
There’s still two months to go; the Brewers haven’t blown it yet. But they will. The Cubs will win the Central Division, all because our curse, the 10:30 Curse, is far more powerful than any once laid down upon the North Siders. Our curse is powered by Love, and Love beats a billy goat any day of the week.
Red Line
Saturday, May 19th, 2007The current series in Chicago between the Cubs and White Sox (while, oddly enough, no games at all are being played in Detroit) made me think of this joke I ran across a couple years ago:
An elementary school teacher starts a new job in Milwaukee and decides to make a good impression on her first day. She explains to her class that she’s a Brewers fan. She asks the class to raise their hands if they too are Brewers fans. All the students raise their hands except one little girl.
Surprised, the teacher turns to the girl and says: “Mary, why didn’t you raise your hand?”
“Because I’m not a Brewers fan,” says Mary.
The teacher is stunned. “Well, if you’re not a Brewers fan, then who do you support?”
“I’m proud to be a Cubs fan,” Mary replies.
“A Cubs fan?!” the teacher exclaims. “Mary, perhaps you would explain to the class how on Earth you came to be a Cubs fan?”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III psp Wolf Creek film
“My mom and dad are from Chicago. My mom is a Cubs fan, my dad is a Cubs fan, so I’m a Cubs fan, too!”
“My goodness,” says the teacher, obviously annoyed. “That’s no reason to be a Cubs fan! You don’t have to emulate your parents in every respect! What if your mom were a prostitute, and your dad were a drug-addicted car thief, what would you be then?”
Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story video
“Then I’d be a White Sox fan.”
Memorandum #755
Monday, May 7th, 2007 MEMO Saving Grace film
From: Peter Stork
To: The increasing number of people who think that folks don’t want Barry Bonds to break the all-time HR record because he’s black
Re: Race of Barry Bonds vs. Race of Hank Aaron
Barry Bonds is black.
Hank Aaron is black.
Barry Bonds used steroids.
Tales of the Riverbank download
Hank Aaron did not use steroids.
Discuss.
Following Tony's Lead
Sunday, April 29th, 2007Headline on Cardinals website: Sudden Death film
Wainwright struggles in loss
Headline on Cubs website:
Care Bears: Journey to Joke-a-Lot
Game postponed due to death of Cardinal pitcher
Someone in St. Louis drunk? When a team member DIES IN A CAR ACCIDENT and your game is postponed, IT’S THE LEAD STORY.
All we’re asking you to do is use editorial judgment, not get a timely hit. Jeez.
Old Versus New
Tuesday, April 10th, 2007It’s way early, but…
Old Cards Rotation vs. New Cards Rotation – Update 1
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
THE OLD:
Jason Marquis, CHC
0-1, 3.27 ERA, 11 IP, 8 H, 0 HR, 1.5:1 K:BB, $4.75 mil
Jeff Suppan, MIL
0-2, 4.15 ERA, 13 IP, 15 H, 1 HR, 1.5:1 K:BB, $6.25 mil
Jeff Weaver, SEA
0-1, 31.50 ERA, 2 IP, 7 H, 1 HR, 1:2 K:BB, $8.325 mil
TOTALS
0-4, 5.88 ERA, 26 IP, 30 H, 2 HR, 1.3:1 K:BB, $19.325 mil
THE NEW:
Braden Looper
My Blueberry Nights on dvd
1-1, 2.08 ERA, 13 IP, 10 H, 1 HR, 1.5:1 K:BB, $4.5 mil
Adam Wainwright
1-0, 1.29 ERA, 7 IP, 5 H, 0 HR, 1.33:1 K:BB, $410,000
Kip Wells
1-1, 1.38 ERA, 13 IP, 6 H, 0 HR, 2.8:1 K:BB, $4 mil
TOTALS
3-2, 1.64 ERA, 33 IP, 21 H, 1 HR, 2:1 K:BB, $8.91 mil
DIFFERENCE
+.600 winning pct, +7 IP, -4.25 ERA, -9 H, -1 HR, $10.415 million cheaper
