Hello,
Welcome to Blog #856 of themusicaddict. I hope your time is pleasant here.
If you read this blog even occasionally you'll know that I have several MLB teams that are "my" teams. Before you comment on that, please don't. I know many people say you should stick with one team and stay with that team throughout the rest of your life. It's almost like marriage vows, you stick with them through thick and thin. I mostly agree with that. The team I first fell in love with was the LA Dodgers. My favorite player growing up was Steve Garvey. I loved the Dodgers who played with him at the same time. Those include Reggie Smith, Ron Cey, Bill Russell, Davey Lopes and all the other great players of that era.
I've remained a Dodgers fan through the Fox ownership and the terrible McCourt's ownership fiasco. However I fell in love with other teams over the years. Those teams, when I started cheering for them and why. Chicago Cubs, mid 80's because they were on WGN on cable TV. Many times there was nothing else to watch in the middle of the day so I started watching the Cubs. Both Atlanta and Boston started in the early 2000's. My brother and sister-in-law lived in Atlanta and they invited me out to visit. I was able to go see the Braves play three years in a row. The Braves won all 6 games I've seen them play in person. Boston was going through that rough stretch where they had some cool players but couldn't quite win the World Series. Yes, I started cheering for them before the 2004 World Series breakthrough. I loved the movie "Fever Pitch". Then last year I added Pittsburgh to my teams. That's because they were so terrible and I felt needed as many fans as possible. So I added them as a favorite. Nobody can accuse me of being a bandwagon jumper with them. I've enjoyed following them flirting with .500 record all season. They are a young team on the upswing. I also loved some of the great Pirates players like Dave Parker and Willie Stargell.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I was heartened to see that Steve Garvey and Orel Hershiser are forming an "exploratory ownership group in case their former team goes up for sale". (Thanks to espn.com.) Two men that seem to know what they are doing. It sounds like Garvey has a solid business plan in place. He wants to have enough money to buy the Dodgers and then actually to field a competitive team. Immediately that's an improvement over the McCourt family's non-business plan. I also don't see Garvey and Hershiser using the Dodgers as their own private playground with complete disregard to the Dodgers themselves.
I was heartened to see Matt Kemp hitting two home runs last night, including the game tying grand slam. Kemp is tied for the lead in RBI's in the National League. Other than the owner, it seems the Dodgers have a very good organization in place. I love having Davey Lopes back with the Dodgers as well. Maybe last night's victory will be the game to spur the Dodgers back to glory. LA is up 4-1 today and it looks like they are about to have 3 important players come off the disabled list. Matt Kemp has hit a home run today again. The disabled list, otherwise known as Rafeal Furcal's home.
On to the Red Sox: First of all I'm glad the McCourt family wasn't able to buy them. He bought the Dodgers sort of as a consolation prize and that's how he has run them. Daisuke Matzusaka is out for the season after getting Tommy John surgery. Many people think he has pitched his last game for the Red Sox. I'm one of those and I'd be glad never to see him wear a Red Sox uniform again. The Red Sox gambled on him and that was a spectacular failure. I know he helped them win the World Series in 2007, but other than that his time in Boston was terrible. Looking back paying $100 million to acquire him was a terrible idea. Matsuzaka was paid over $2 million per win.
Now if we can only get John Lackey to get Tommy John surgery as well. I know he doesn't need it but he also has been a terrible player. His Red Sox record early in his second season is 16-16, that's not good for someone almost making $16 million this season. Lackey is currently on DL and I hope he stays there for awhile. I know without Matzusaka and Lackey that would leave their pitching depth a bit thin. However even with them pitching their pitching still seems a bit thin.
However with Carl Crawford coming on and Adrian Gonzalez having an amazing season so far, Boston is in a good place. Like the Heat, they will continue to get better as the season goes on. I expect big things from Boston this playoffs.
Speaking of the Heat, tonight is finally Game 3 of the NBA Finals. History tells us who wins the game is going to win the series. Since the NBA Finals has gone to the 2-3-2 format, with the series tied at 1-1 whoever won game three has won the series every time! The 1-1 tie has happened 11 times. Of course it's not a guarantee, but you want history on your side.
I think tonight's game will be a close game. That being said I also think that Miami is due to blow out Dallas at least once in this series. If that happens I think that will happen in a very unexpected game.
In the last two days I've seen 3 "X Men" movies: "First Class", the original "X-Man" and "X2". I'll be honest I've been disappointed in all three. I think that "First Class" is the best of the three movies, and that was only mediocre. Watching "X2" last night I was disappointed by how dated the movie was already. It's only 8 years old. It's always good to see Patrick Stewart though.
However "Friday Night Lights" continues to be amazing. I love sports overall and football a lot, so I'm not sure why I didn't get into this show from the beginning. I read and enjoyed H.G. Bissinger's "Friday Night Lights" book that this is based on very much. I also enjoyed the movie starring Billy Bob Thornton. But still for some reason I didn't get into the series. I wish I would have. I'm enjoying watching Season 5 although I know so little about the characters. The way the tension is building is incredible. It's setting up for an explosive finale. Not only great storytelling but this show has some of the most gorgeous women currently working in Hollywood. Everything is great about this show.
If you aren't a big TV fan, at least read the book. That's even if you don't like sports. Bissinger follows a full football season for Permian High. The football is secondary, the story is about the players and everyone else involved with the team. The TV series continues that very well. The football team isn't the whole story. It's only part of the story, sometimes not even the most interesting part of the story. Great realistic drama but real people, it's definitely several hundred steps above vapid reality TV.
Random great songs:
This is Ashton Shepherd's "Takin' Off This Pain", I like this video. I dedicate this song to a good friend.
Another Ashton Shepherd song "Look It Up". It seems she's vying for Patsy Cline's crown as heartbreak queen.
I know I included this song yesterday, but I'm including it here again. This is just such an amazing song.
The New Pornographer's "Myriad Harbor" live:
Keeping with the baseball theme above, this is John Fogerty's "Centerfield":
This is the best of some bad copies of this video, Journey's "Anyway You Want It":
Human League's "Human":
Til' Tuesday's "Voices Carry":
One of the greatest songs and videos of all-time, Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer":
Bruce Springsteen's "The River":
Although I'm not a big rap fan, especially white rappers (except for the Beastie Boys) I like this song a lot.
Snap's "The Power":
If this video was any more bizarre, I'd swear it was an 80's video. Great song. These guys don't clown around. Arctic Monkey's "Fluorescent Adolescent":
The greatest rap band ever, Run-D.M.C. and one of their best songs, "It's Tricky". This video features Penn and Teller.
This could be the ugliest band of all-time, but no one can deny their melodies.
Last but not least U2's "Red Hill Mining Town":
themusicaddict
No comments:
Post a Comment