I don't think he said that.

He said the first successful penalty shot.

And again, this is like you guys finding it incredible that there's never been a successful penalty shot in any other random series of games.

When you think about how rare penalty shots are & even rarer that successful penalty shots are then it's not such a big deal IMO.

But it doesn't matter. My only goal was to get Chuck's head exploding.

I'm 136% sure we did that.

Oh, that's different.

Never mind.

Chuck?

http://infinitecoolness.com/gallerie...ers/scan04.jpg

I think we have an easier way to explode Chuck's head:

Melky Cabrara

Tsk, tsk, tsk....

I just heard on PTI last night that former MLB umpire Eric Gregg died after a stroke. Here's one story on him.

http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/story/9480765

First off, good job on studiously ignoring the few previous posts. ;)

I think the first time I heard he had the stroke was on Sat. or Sun., and the first thing I thought of was his issue with weight. It wasn't until I read the story that I heard he had even been up close to 400 lbs., although it sounded like he wasn't that heavy when this happened.

A sad story, but it sounds like he kept his good humor throughout.

Monday night, Ken Griffey, Jr. hit a home run in the Cardinals' new stadium. It was the 43rd different major league ballpark in which (or out of which?) he's hit a home run. That ties the record set by Fred McGriff. It's not a real big deal, since much of it is due to whether or not a lot of new ballparks are built during your career. But it's still pretty cool.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=260605124

BTW, I'm studiously ignoring all the goings-on in New York while I concentrate on my daughter's 5th/6th grade softball team; which is currently in the middle of a 5-game winning streak. How I got roped into coaching first base, I'll never know. . .

Here's some advice you can use while you're standing there in the 1st base coaching box:

Tell the runner on first that when she steals second just keep going. Even the pro's don't know how to handle that type of thing...

btw, I vote for "out of which".

I had not heard about Griffey's accomplishment. I'm sure another factor is being traded in between leagues as well. But it still amazes me that someone, somewhere, is keeping track of stuff like that. I know computers help, but that means someone's inputing the info...

Ok, there are a few questions I have to ask about your daughter's softball games:

First, are you one those 5th and 6th grade parents that feel this is a life-or-death situation?

And second, do the players see your signals, or do you need to stand on a stool?

JR made me do it. It's true...it's true...

ROTFLMAO

"Hey! Where did Mr. Elias go??"
"He's standing behind Melissa."

It's true...it's true...

"Can Mr. Elias come out and play? We need a second base."

It's true....it's true....

You guys are all shortaphobes...it's true...it's true!

And that comes from a guy that works as a garden gnome during the summer.....

It's true, it's true......

Damn! He figured us out!

Btw, one of the scariest movies of all time:
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/oz/images/vc52.jpg

Nice shoes on the Munchkins. I wonder if you can get them in patent leather. How cool would that be- for your next game?

Hmm...camps are coming up. I could get those shoes in patent leather, along with those striped socks...

Think that would get me noticed?

I saw a link here the other day that advertised these very shoes made by Puma. Very cheap.

Probably....you already have a haircut like the Munchkin on the end. All you need is something to time the games at camp- maybe like the watch that the fat Munchkin standing behind Dorothy has...you know, the one that looks like he's waiting for Dorothy to bend over. Wait a minute....that fat Munchkin.....is that Ron Jeremy? :eek:

Do you know how much I have to spend on hair gel every year just to keep that curl in place?
He had to start his career somehere, right? Some get their start on the stage, others in commercials. (Uh oh, now people know that I know who Ron Jeremy is...)

There's no Ron Jeremy in my Baseball Encyclopedia. So, uh, who are you talking about?

Hmmmm....we finally know what a couple of tra la la's are...it all makes sense now...

Ha Ha Ha, Ho Ho Ho and a couple of tra la la's.
That's how we laugh the day away in the Merry Ole Land of Oz!

<font size = -2>Ooh, I can't wait to see the picture JR's gonna post now!</font size>

Look it up. Ron Jeremy hit .300 for the Mariners in 1992. Without using a bat either. He used.....nevermind.

I wanted to be Ron Jeremy when I grew up.....but I flunked the physical.

You weren't fat and hairy enough?

Yep...batting right behind Ken Griffey, Jr. if you know what I mean...one of the many reasons he was injured so often!

Move over steroids. Here comes Jason Grimsley and his HGH.

Wow. Chuck, you never cease to amaze me with your steely concentration. Your ability to keep this off-topic thread on-topic in the face of every attempt to derail it is just short of amazing. And I admire that. Because if it was up to me, I would've just handled it as follows:

Ron Jeremy, eh?

Oh, yea, speaking of wood, can anybody get some of that HGH that Grimsley is using to help Kerry heal faster?

:D

This one could get real interesting if some names get leaked, like the BALCO situation. Apparently he's already implicated quite a few others, from what I've read.

Btw, imagine Ron Jeremy on steroids and HGH.:eek:

Being just short is what Chuck does.

Looks like ol' Kerry is a-heading for the DL again.....

http://www.suntimes.com/output/sports/wood07.html

What a surprise.....

Yep.

Death, taxes, the sun rises in the east, the bear sh!ts in the woods, and Wood has a sore shoulder.

Definites in life.

Boston avoided a sweep at the hands of the Yankees today by employing their best tactic -- praying for RAIN! :D

No way. That was the OTHER Boston team. Spahn and Sain and pray for rain!

Oh, maybe I got them confused with the Boddicker-and-Clemens-and-two-guys-who-suck-lemons team. :D

Gary Sheffield to go under the knife.....gone until probably September now at the best. Along with Matsui, that's one big pile of ribbies to be missing.

I guess we'll get to see if Melky Cabrera really is legit.

And in the news today, Kerry Woods is placed on the 15 day DL.

Also, in other news...
http://www.sodamnfunny.com/Picture/Animal/BEAR.jpg

"South Carolina homered eight times, including a record-tying five in a row (in the second inning), to rout host Georgia 15-6 Saturday in the first game of their NCAA super regional." Pretty amazing.

Also amazing is David Ortiz, who pulled Boston's fat out of the fire with a 2-out, 2-strike 3-run homer in the bottom of the ninth this afternoon. Woo-hoo!!

And former Sox star Nomar Garciaparra is batting .367 for the Dodgers, which is also pretty amazing to me, considering how bad he looked in Chicago. I'm very happy for him. Hope he can keep it going for a full season.

What I didn't know about the Dodgers is that their manager is Grady Little!!! I can see giving him an assistant job, but trusting him with the reins is risky, at best. Wow.

I was listening to the Yankees pre-game radio show yesterday, b/c the Sox were in such a long rain delay. Susan Whats-her-name says, "In a short series, who do you have behind Mussina as a 2nd starter?" I realize that Randy Johnson had a minor meltdown in the fourth inning of his last start, but is he now considered a #3 starter? That would shock me.

I didn't think he looked bad at all; he was just injured quite a bit and didn't play as often. He was still popular while he was there. I was a little disappointed to see him go.

Here's one of those "who figures these things out?" kinda stats - Carlos Marmol had his first major league start for the Cubs (taking the place of Kerry Wood), and had an impressive outing for his first win as well. Well, here's the stat: this was the first time since 1992 the Cubs had 2 starters with the same first name get back-to-back victories. Carlos Zambrano and Carlos Marmol, and Mike Morgan and Mike Harkey in '92.

Ok, I'm going to get some sleep now.

Chien-Ming Wang(or Scotty, as he's called) would be the second starter. Johnson looks like you can stick a fork in him- he's done. He used to scare people- no longer.

The Yanks do have their problems. Both corner outfielders-Matsui and Sheffield- gone, and maybe for the year. Their 4th outfielder-Bubba Crosby- is still on the DL. Johnny Damon is playing with a bad foot, and he throws like a girl anyway. Derek Jeter and Jason Giambi have been hurt and unable to play. A-Rod is aptly named; best player in baseball- my a$$. As for pitching, Tanyon Sturtze is done for the year and Carl Pavano never threw a pitch this year- and won't. Other than that, everything is going fine.

Sigh......

Don't matter to me anyway. I'm off to coach Togo in the World Cup. They reached out to me as the best replacement available. Wish me luck.

Let's see, a couple of pitchers hurt and one of them hasn't even thrown a pitch this year...where have I heard that song before? The Cubs have started 5 different pitchers this year where it's their first major league appearance.

Need an assistant for your new coaching gig? I think I (vaguely) understand what offsides is.

Guess what the traditional meal is in Togo after a loss?

Assistant coaches....:eek:

And in today's games:

Bunch of Furriners- 3
USA-0

And France surrendered right after their game started.......

We couldn't even beat those Furriners after we beat up their star player and sent him to the hospital...pretty sad!

Oops, I just remembered - I have to count my paper clips. Sorry I won't be able to help you this time.

The only reason I'm watching this year is to see if Brandi Chastain takes off her shirt again! :D

Not to worry......Bush has already made plans to invade the winner.:D

Why do we even have Julian Tavarez on the roster? Good gracious, that was as painful as it was predictable. :(

To throw <b>at</b> people now that Pedro is gone?

Um.....how do you feel about letting Pedro get away now btw? Miss him? How about Bronson Arroyo? D'ya think you coulda maybe have used him this year?

Speaking of throwing at people - did anyone hear the story about the White Sox/Rangers game last night? I guess A.J. Pierzynski got hit twice earlier in the game, and both benches were warned in the 4th. Then, with the White Sox down 6-0, Ozzie sends in a recently called-up pitcher, Sean Tracey, in the 7th to face Hank Blalock, and gets him to ground out. Ozzie then comes out and replaces Tracey, then proceeds to go back to the dugout and rip into Tracey, yelling at him and throwing water bottles around, and Tracey is just sitting there pulling his jersey up over his head. Apparently Ozzie was mad because he had ordered Tracey to hit Blalock, and he didn't get it done. Now the rumor is Tracey is being sent back to AAA after just being called up last week.

Hmm, so, John Chaney gets ripped for sending one of his players out to do something to a player on the other team, but Ozzie gets a pass?

The Standard
 

Ugh John Cheney is a college coach. Ugh his player injured another player. In professional baseball throwing at each other is considered to be part of the "game". The colleges still serve up the development of young athletes into fine young adults blather....
Not that I believe that very much anymore.

Yeah, I saw that on SportsCenter this morning. While I don't approve of throwing at people (and even less of ordering someone else to do it), I think this is a little different from the Chaney incident. First of all, it's a difference between pro's vs. collegiate athletes. Second, hitting someone in retaliation is a long-standing tradition in baseball, like it or not. Third, hitting a guy in the backside isn't going to injure the guy; unlike sending a big guy to knock down an opponent on the court.

I would not complain, however, if Ozzie were disciplined somehow.

I may (grudgingly) agree with you on that point, but I'm not sure it's too far apart. Now, maybe it's still to early to say Ozzie's getting a pass, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out. But hazing in college is also a long-standing tradition, so does that make it acceptable?

Hazing
 

This link might point out some of the more obvious differences betwwen grown men participating in a sport versus hazing.

http://www.stophazing.org/laws.html

I am thinking it is about context. When I hang with my adult male friends my language is a little different than when I am around young ladies that I coach in tennis.

Ozzies wanting something to be done is not the same as hazing or the injuring of a college student athlete.

Wasn't it Cheney who threatened to kill another coach ?

Geeze, it was just Pierzynski. Hell, everybody throws at him. People take time out of their normal every-day routine(hello there, nameless Cubbie catcher:D ) to take a punch at him. Presidents throwing a ceremonial first pitch try to hit him in the head. Pitchers ask to be traded from the National to the American League so that they can throw at him again. The guy is a hemorrhoid.

Now if Woods or Prior throw at him......

Or.... if Woods or Prior throw at anybody.....

Or..... if Woods or Prior ever throw a baseball......

Now, <b>that</b> would be news!

Pierzynski is the Bill Lambeer of baseball. If he's on your team, you love him. If he's not on your team, he's the worst jerk that ever lived, he's a cancer to the sport, he's a scum-suckin' lowlife, he's a...er,...um...oh, never mind. You know what I mean.

Hey, careful now, I see that the "Injury Karma Bus" has been through N.Y. as well. And Prior just got done doing a couple of minor-league rehab starts, so there's a chance he might pitch Sunday against mick's Tigers.

1) I don't think Laimbeer was ever loved in Detroit. He was tolerated. You know- like a vaginal wart.

2) The big difference though is that the Yankees' injured players might actually play again some time.:D

Back to England vs. Trinidad&Tobago. The excellence, the excitement, the sheer drama....

Still scoreless at the 75 minute mark. Fun game.

Sure better than the US's first game. That was embarrassing. :(

One-nil for Queen and Country.

One-nil?

I can't believe that I just said that.....

Someone shoot me.....


Final was 2-nil.....

You're catching soccer fever - I can tell. Next thing you know, you'll be bouncin' balls off the top of your head. :D

Why did they even bother playing the France/Switzerland game the other day? We all knew France was going to surrender, and the Swiss just want to stay neutral, so what's the final? 0-0. Go figure.

Good call, M&M. :)
mick

1) Joke involving Ron Jeremy censored by Mick.

2) England and Germany have now clinched spots in the second round. If they play each other, the game will be in France. Again. And Frenchman will just watch. Again. :D

Please speak American.

The "nil" affectation is something that announcers misunderstand. It is not a futbol term, it is Britspeak.

It you start saying zed instead of zee, you're a goner.

Huh? <font></font>

Detroit beat the Cubbies, Mick.

Enjoy.....they're still lookin' good.:)

Isn't everyone beating the Cubs? What's special about that?

Sigh...

What's special about that is the number of Detroit fans at Wrigley Field.

Of the 42,000 that showed U.P. on Saturday, [from the sound on the radio] Tiger fans were very, very noisy. But, of course, what's not to be happy about in a picture perfect setting like that?

The Friday TV game showed a lot of fans in Tiger uniforms. That says a lot for Cubs fans. None of the Detroit fans' uniforms had any blood on 'em.

mick

Also special is the fact that Mark Prior is supposed to make his <b>annual</b> start for the Cubbie's today.

Don't you dare miss it!

Like Christmas, it only happens once a year.

In other news.....
A Different Bunch of Furriners- 1
USA- 1

Yankees blow a 9-2 lead? How often does that happen? And Mariano coughs up the save! Wish the Sox were building a little cushion while the Yanks are so dinged up.

As far as all the furriners, I thought the officiating was a little weak in the US/Italy game. While I agree that Pope's second yellow was deserved, the red card against the US in the first half was a joke. I saw the replays after the game, but at the time I was listening to the game on my XM and after the Italian was ejected, the US broadcaster said, "The Americans need to be careful here, b/c referees tend to look for a reason to even up the sides." I don't really believe that, but boy it sure looked like prophecy when the US got that red card on a marginal foul.

Think we should have a poll on that?

Sigh....you fanboys will never change, will you? Blame the poor official....:rolleyes:

I read in somebody's column today somewhere that this particular official was one of the ones that got tossed from the 2002 Cup. Maybe it's a case of "He's baaaaaack!":D Personally, I don't have a clue whether a call is OK or not. Don't know enough about the rules or the game.

Good call, JR.
 

JR,
Your pre-game seems quite accurate.
Top of the first, 6 runs (3 HR) in, 1 out, one E by Prior.
YU.P. ... a lot like Christmas.
mick

I just flipped it on; it's the <b>second</b> inning and he's still in there.

Who was it that said "Do you believe in miracles?".:D

And in other sports news...while touring the net....

Tiger Woods don't stay in a hotel like no ordinary tour golfer. Nosiree, BiilyBob. Tiger had his crew bring his yacht up and anchor it a mere stone throw away from the course for this week's Open. Gotta cut down that nasty ol' commuting time. Of course, Tiger's l'il rowboat is 155 feet long, has 6500 sq. ft. of space, can sleep 21, and is probably equipped with a missile system also to keep the riff-raff away.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/18/nyregion/18yacht.html

I'm impressed. It's a foot and a half longer than Mick's bass boat.

Good one, JR !
Actually my boat is only one 5 shorter than Tiger's.
... But I bet he doesn't have a foot control for his trollin' motor.
:)
mick

Fwiw
 

...Third-base umpire Tim McClelland said to [3B] Inge during the game that of a crowd of 39,938 at Wrigley Field, it sounded like 30,000 were pulling for the Tigers.

Baseball?

What's baseball?

Right on. Real men watch all those furriners in their funny shorts and knee socks running around in circles, falling down and grabbing their heart and dying, and then making a miraculous recovery from their death to finish the game. And the game always ends up either nil-nil or 1-nil(what's a nil?:confused: ). The rules don't allow any other scores. And if someone makes a mistake and does score, that player has to run around the field three times with his arms waving, then fall on his face and all his teammates pile on and get to screw him doggy-style. That's a rule too, I think. And when the game's over, the players on both teams display their sportsmanship by kicking the sh!t out of the officials, who try to defend themseves by the swords that they got hidden in their flags. Meanwhile, the supporters of the losing team are rioting, followed shortly by the supporters of the winning team also rioting. And after the stadium is burned to the ground, they all go drink beer somewhere and sing nursery rhymes.

Yup, real men like yourself watch <i>futbol</i>....or NHL hockey.:D

Wow, I'm impressed. You really do know about soccer. Here I was thinking you were being an ignorant American, when in reality you just foolin'. :D

Notice they haven't televised the Scottish team - that's because they don't wear those cute shorts. Real men wear the traditional kilts when they play soccer. :eek:

I've just decided baseball isn't worth watching anymore. When the score ends up 12 - 3, and every run was scored via the home run, and the majority of the home runs were hit by the visitor's 7th and 8th place hitters, I figured it's time for me to pick a new sport to watch.

mick - I did notice all the Detroit fans at Wrigley the entire weekend. The only time I see anything like that is when the Cardinals and Cubs play, both in Chicago and in St. Louis, and of course during the Sox/Cubs games. It's good to see another team's fans travel well. But, after all, it is something new for them this year. ;)

Just throwing in the fact that Tiger's little boat was built right here in Vancouver, WA, by Christensen yachts - which until my neighbor added another floor to his house I could see from my bathroom window...sorry, just bored and wanted to post something unimportant!

Does your neighbor work for Christensen, and did build the second floor after Tiger's boat was delivered?

I had some minor eye surgery this weekend, to the delight of many local coaches I'm sure.

In any case, the doctor mandated that I do NOTHING this past weekend. So I sat at home and watched the:

US Open (How do you double bogey on the 72nd hole and lose? Hit a damn 3 iron!)
College World Series (Tar Heels looking good)
Stanely Cup (Canes maybe in trouble)
World Cup (Wow! I thought I was watching a diving competition)
NBA Finals ('Nough said)
NASCAR race at Michigan (Looked for ya but didn't see ya mick)

I think that was it. Helluva weekend. OH! And I made homemade ice cream for the family last night. I'm such a wonderful father! :)

That salt don't hurt.
 

Oh, yeah; it is new ... and exciting !
It's been like an eternity [a monstrously long time to hold onto early season hopes] since they were this much fun. ...Like 22 years! And before that it was like 16 years, and it was 23 years before that ! Oh, my!
mick

Yeah, I passed on that race and the next one.
I don't know what I'm missing.
mick

How many buzzards can you get under a Scotsman's kilt?

Well, first you gotta use the following grip on all shots.....interlap both hands around your throat.....

Ok, I'll bite. So to speak.

How many buzzards can you get under a Scotsman's kilt?

It depends on the size of the perch.....

http://www.sodamnfunny.com/Animation/Gif/baby1.gif

How did my off-topic thread get so far off-topic? :confused:

We gotta be able to talk about <i>futbol</i>. The World Cup only happens every 4 years.

The thrills, the excitement, the agony of defeat......

My life is soccer.

Btw, my favorite player is a Brasilian- Kaka. One of the all-time great sporting nicknames- right up there with Pele. Also, didya know that Brazil also had a player who's nickname was Fred. His real name was Kaka.

It's true, it's true......

So um, the White Sox's put an extreme beating on the Redbirds tonight....

Well, they did miss a convert......

Looks good on LaRussa. The Professor tries to act like he invented baseball, and he's never really won anything. He won one World Series with an A's team that was supposed to be the best ever, was compared to the '27 Yankees, and then choked multi times. He's hasn't won a damn thing before or since. The guy's noted for going "tsk, tsk" when one of his players gets hit, but his team usually leads the league in his pitchers hitting opposing players. Just a complete phony imo. Hell, I'll take that wack job currently managing the White Sox any day. At least Guillen has got a sense of humor...and he is nuts. I can relate to that.

And in other news from the pitch, England advanced to the second round yesterday. PipPip, cheerio, good show, up the kilt and all that.......if they have to play Germany, FIFA has announced that the match will be played on neutral grounds....France.....again....just like WW2......France is expected to watch....also again.:D

Soccer is now my life.

Go <b>Fred</b>!

The other Sox put a hurt on their opponent, too. Beat up on the Nats pretty good.

As far as historical matchups in the World Cup, I thought the Germany/Poland game gave a pretty interesting WWII rematch. Germany rolled over them. Again.

Tomorrow is going to be a very interesting day. US has to beat Ghana, who destroyed the Czechs; and Italy has to beat the Czechs, who destroyed the US.

And getting even further off-off-topic, did you hear that some Pittsburgh residents have been making threatening and/or harassing phone calls to the 60+ year old lady who collided with Rothlisberger? How sick do you have to be to do that? Stupid.

I forgot to mention the Braves freefall. They've lost 8 straight and something like 15 out of the last 18. Not good times.

Where have you gone, <s>Joe DiMaggio</s> Leo Mazzone?

If the Italians and Czechs play to a tie, don't both get in and the US is toast, win or not?

Don't be surprised if both of those teams do play for a tie- to avoid injuries and yellow cards.

Isn't Clemens supposed to make his first start for the 'Stros soon? There's still a lot of rumors floating around the net linking ol' Rog to steroid use. If it's true, I wish he'd get in touch with Randy Johnson.:D Mr. Personality could use sumthin' too, methinks.

Btw, The Blizzard of Oz made some interesting statements in the Chicago papers yesterday. The White Sox are playing the Astros in interleague play soon, and Ozzie was telling everybody what a dick he thinks Phil Garner is. That should make for an interesting series.

Who gets the red card first, Ozzie or Garner?

I didn't watch the whole game last night because I was too conflicted; I had to root for a 0 - 0 tie. (Although, this outcome was my second choice...there's still something about seeing "Chicago wails on St. Louis" that's still pleasing to the eye) But I'm losing a little respect for Ozzie; this is the second time in as many weeks where he's ordered the new guy on staff to plunk someone from the other team. This time it's Riske, who just came over from Boston. Btw, the kid who didn't get the job done last time, Sean Tracey, got sent back to the minors. Let me know when he orders Buehrle or Contreras to do the same thing. :rolleyes:

To us <i>fussbol</i> afficianados, that would be a nil-nil tie.

<i>Fussbol</i> is my life!

Did you know that they call it <i>fussbol</i> in Germany and <i>futbol</i> in South America?

Is Mrs. JR aware you're changing your dosages again?

Mrs. JR has been known to be too liberal with the lithium. Gotta watch her like a hawk. :eek:

Geeze, btw I think that Ozzie might benefit from some. He didn't make himself too popular in some corners with his latest rant, did he? :D

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2494491

And in other Major League Baseball news tonight, Kerry Woods again reassures everyone that his arm is just fine, thank you.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2495121

Yoohoo, M&M........yoohoo.....

You're such a neophite. It's a nil-nil draw.

The Red Sox are loving interleague play this year.

That's because he's got more arms where that one came from:

http://pdphoto.org/jons/pictures/clam_1_bg_030502.jpg

And I'm not friggin' grumpy because of it, either!