Friday, April 25, 2008

Friday 5, Tribe, Other Junk

The Tribe swept Kansas City to pull with in 2 games of the .500 mark, and now will start a 4 game tilt with the Yankees. I am glad to see CC pitching better, and Cliff Lee continues to be out of his effing mind (4-0 0.25 ERA). I think once we start hitting with more consistency we'll see the Tribe team we all expected. Hopefully the Bullpen will come around also, because everyone has looked shaky from Betancourt on down.



The Cavs got whupped on by the Wizards last night, but maintain a 2-1 lead in the series. I am a big fan of NBA basketball when both teams truly dislike each other and their is something on the line. Regular season NBA basketball is kind of boring to me, but the playoffs are pretty enjoyable. The ongoing feud between the Wiz and the Cavs is fun to follow.



This is draft day weekend, and I can honestly say I probably won't pay much attention. I am sure the largest reason is because the Browns don't have a pick in the 1st 3 rounds, but I am cool with that. I have read up on what people believe Phil Savage's mindset is going into this draft, and I am down with it. He basically focused on the D-Line, and felt that he couldn't drastically improve our defensive front with any of the potential picks we would have in rounds 1-3, so he took that money and moved it towards signing Shaun Rogers and Corey Williams who are 2 established 3-4 defensive linemen. Either way I think we have become better defensively during the offseason, so no its time to sit and wait for trainning camp, and THE 5 NATIONALLY TELEVISED games the Browns have next year...Good times.



Now without further Adieu I give you my Friday 5.

1. Rocky IV




2. The emergence/comeback of Cliff Lee




3. Pumas


4. Garlic Tabasco



5. The GI Joe 25th Anniversary Collection




Monday, April 21, 2008

Weekend Wrap Up

I checked out Forgetting Sarah Marshall this weekend and was pretty entertained. I don't know where it ranks against Knocked Up or Superbad, but it was a pretty decent flick all and all. Mila Kunis was pretty good in here role as the other woman, and in my opinion is an upgrade over Kristen Bell. In that situation A guy couldn't really lose in that situation. I could have done without the 10 or so scenes of male frontal nudity, but it did add to the akward feeling of the scenes. I also saw previews for another flick upcoming by the guys who have done these movies called Pineapple Express, and it looks hilarious. It is sort of a combination of the old cheech and chong flicks but with a Midnight Run action flavor to it. I am definitley looking forward to seeing this movie when it drops in August.



The Tribe is killing me right now. Criaggers and I headed down to the finale of the Tigers series to see Fausto pitch a gem, and the bats actually come alive. I wish this team could put together complete games, because lately either one facet of our game shows up like pitching, and the other doesn't. It is good to see Pronk starting to take good swings, and I am also happy Garko hasn't hit a sophomore slump, but the 2 headed monster in Left field is sort of killing us right now. Hopefully either Michaels or Dellucci get it together, or I wouldn't be suprised to see Ben Francisco get the call from Buffalo. I also have been watching Barfield's stats, and he is hitting well in AAA. Shouldn't he be a good enough athlete to play left? Whatever the case is, I am trying not to go into full out panic mode, but it is tough, April is coming to a close, and this team just seems to be stuck in neutral.



I haven't had a Friday 5 post since I was knee high to a grass hopper so here goes:

1. Sasa Matsu- The Sasa Fire roll is absurd, it is probably the best sushi roll ever



2. Lupe' Fiasco- I-Rocco Baldelli has been blasting "Superstar" non-stop



3. Matt Holiday- Single handedly carrying my fantasy baseball team



4. My Prescription Kaenon Variant's- I am psyched for sunglass weather again


5. The Ultimate Fighter 7- Having the contestants fighttheir way on to the show was an awesome idea.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Weekend Wrap Up & Junk

Checked out some NCAA tourney action and a lot of baseball this weekend. I was pretty suprised with both Memphis and Kansas beating UCLA and UNC respectively. I had UCLA/UNC playing for the title, but both seemed to shit the bed in the national semis. I was pretty shocked that Tyler Hansboro got beat up pretty bad on the boards and offensively. I have seen him play probably 3-5 times, and he always seems like the scrappiest player on the floor, but against Memphis he just looked outclassed.



The Tribe had an up and down opening week. Opening day they took a 7 run lead on the Chi-Sox, relinquished the lead, and then Casey Blake bailed them out in full out baseball savior mode. More than anything I am bothered that our bullpen has looked shaky, and CC has looked erratic. I also am worried that Victor is hurt worse than the Tribe is letting on. Hopefully things gel without him in the lineup. More than anything else there are still 157 games left, so I am not even close to panicking, but alot of the mental check marks I had about the 08 Tribe are not question marks.



The new Jet Li Jackie Chan flick "Forbidden Kingdom" looks bad ass. Uusally Jackie Chan plays more clownish loveable figures, and Li is more the anti-hero type. I am kind of psyched to see what direction they go in with the story in this one. Having two of the best martial art stars in the same movie can't be a bad thing though.



Greg Giraldo comments on getting old, man-boy whores, and bitches...good times.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Friday 5, Opening Day, Fantasy Baseball

Opening Day is 3 days away, and I am getting psyched. I really hope the weather is semi-cooperative with the game, because last years snow out, although fun, was a little bit of a downer because I was totally looking forward to watching a full baseball game, and not freezing my ass off. This year it's looking like 40 degree temps, and a chance of rain. I can deal with the 40 degree temps, rain would suck hard though.



Speaking of baseball which will probably be 90% of this post and this blog for the next 6 months, Craiggers and I drafted a pretty solid team last night on CBS Sportsline. I will be serving as Craig's assistant GM, which is a cool way to run a fantasy team because being the HNIC in fantasy baseball gets tough especially with drafting, trade requests, and working the waiver wire. All and all I think the Cleveland Sports Curse Team has a helluva chance of winning the entire league...Plus we drafted Kevin Kouzmanoff, so there is no way we can be beat!



There is a sweet article in ESPN the Magazine on CC Sabathia, I realize he is probably headed out of Cleveland, but it is hard to read this article and not like the guy. Just like it was hard not to like Jim Thome before he left, and just like it was hard not to like Manny Ramirez before he left. Basically what I am saying is CC's grace period with me will only last while he's wearing the red, white, and blue of the Tribe...go elsewhere and feel my wrath Carsten!



Now without further discussions on players who rue the day they ever messed with me...I give you my Friday 5.

1. Opening Day in Cleveland



2. Ninja Gaiden "Dragon Sword" for Nintendo DS.



3. The Ultimate Fighter Team Rampage Vs. Team Griffin April 2nd



4. Arizona Diet Iced Green Tea with Ginseng



5. Sumo Boy's King Spider Roll


Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Wicked Awesome Hat Wednesday

This weeks Wicked Awesome Hat is from Major League Baseball in the late 70's an era where Reggie Jackson wore killer sweet brown sunglasses, Oscar Gamble's afro reigned supreme, most players were on cocaine, greenies, or completely liquored up, and they even experimented with a neon orange baseball. Despite all of this chicanery the Seattle Mariners came out with an awesome hat with a simple down turned trident that forms an M. I love this hat because it is simple, but at the same time screams I am a long shoremen looking for VENGEANCE! If you rock this hat with yellow hip waders on, with a flannel underneath, and throw in an eye patch for good measure people will not mess with you.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Weekend Wrap Up

My wife and I got to check out No Country for Old Men this weekend and were pretty blown away. If you haven't seen the movie I would definitley recommend it. If for nothing else than to help explain the last 10 minutes to me. Seriously though this movie didn't pussy foot around, you were basically dropped right in the middle of a completely effed up situation between a bunch of eccentric characters. I was also very impressed with Travis Hafner's acting ability as he turned in an Oscar caliber performance as Anton Chigurh.



My NCAA brackets are still semi-intact which I feel pretty good about, especially with the rash of upsets this year. My Cinderella pick of Siena didn't come through as I expected, but if someone would have told me that the sweet 16 would include Davidson, Western Kentucky, West Virginia, and Villanova, I probably would have taken that bet.



1 week from today is opening day folks, and I honestly CANNOT WAIT! I looked at the forecast and it is supposed to be in the upper 50's next Sunday, so I am just hoping that we can enjoy a game without snow or rain that is played in temps above freezing.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Friday 5, Wicked Awesome Hat Wednesday

I was in Orlando on business this week, so WAHW was postponed. Good times were had in Orlando as I exposed my glowing white skin to some actual sun shine and temperatures above 30 degrees. The question begs to be asked though, if I lived in a warm climate permanently would I ever be motivated to do anything productive? The weather in Orlando was frigging awesome with temps in the 80's, light breeze, and only one day with some reasonable cloud cover. I got to check out the city a bit after business hours, and got to rock the pool, hot tub, so I can't complain.

A few pretty hysterical things happened on the trip which I will list below:

When we asked an Asian waitress at the hotel bar if she recommended any good local non-touristy sea food places she replied with the options of either Red Lobster or Arbys. Because I was 1/2 embalmed with Red Bull and Stoli it was pretty hard not to laugh hard enough to soil myself. I scratched my chin to feign deep thought and said "Red Lobster...interesting?!?". I am still trying to figure out Arby's as a sea food recommendation. I am sure they have some 2-$5 fish deal going on with the Lenten season, but even if you are completely foreign wouldn't Arby's not come off like a sea food place?



For some reason alot of the local places in Orlando card EVERY person who orders a drink. Not just people who look younger than 38 or whatever number. Later in one evening I was carded and submitted my AAA card for age verification. Not sure why I did this, but it took the waitress, at least 2 minutes to realize my chicanery. Good times.



This actually happened to my boss, not to me, but it is worth mentioning. A guy sitting next to him on the flight was asked if he would like the in flight snack. He responded with "As long as there is enough for everyone." Of course this was pretty odd, but no one paid it much mind, until he later requested a glass of water under the same stipulation. The same guy had a pretty rough time during the flight, and pretty much was convinced that the plane was going to burst into flames at any moment. He closed and opened his window shutter at least 30 times during the flight.



We went down to a city near Orlando called Celebration, and were kind of weirded out with how nice it was. Imagine being on the set of the movie Pleasantville but more perfect than that. Usually you'd think being in such an amazing setting would be cool, but it was strangely disconcerting. I wanted something bad to happen just to feel more normal about things. While we were there I don't think I saw one car older than 2005, and most of the cars driving around were luxury models. There were also an insane amount of the "Smart Cars" or souped up golf carts on the roads which just made things weirder.



The security guards at the Orlando World Center Resort all rock Segways. Which was pretty hysterical. There is nothing like chilling poolside with a beer in awesome weather, and having a dude in a 3 piece suit roll past you on a segway.



This weeks Wicked Awesome Hat comes to us from the AAA Affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. The Iron Pigs look honors Lehigh Valley’s role in producing much of the steel that built America. The primary logo includes a stylized pig head made of iron and the words “IronPigs” riveted together in bold letters. The team’s official colors Brick Red, Furnace Blue and IronPigs Steel are colors of the old Bethlehem Steel mills. “Iron Pigs” is derived from “Pig Iron,” the raw iron used to make steel. The iron was called Pig Iron because it ran into a row of molds, said to resemble a litter of pigs.



Now without further discussion on the delicious sea food from Arby's I give you my Friday 5.

1. Cadbury Eggs



2. Ashley Judd



3. Fight World Magazine



4. Rob & Big




5. Hero with Jet Li