Hello,
Hopefully this won't jinx the Dodgers, but they're starting to have the feel of a team of destiny. With the Pirates adding Justin Morneau they're also starting to have a bit of that feeling of a team of destiny as well. Of course sometimes a team can be a team of destiny but not win a title.
On Saturday the Dodgers won their 23rd game of August with a routine 2-1 victory over the Padres. The Dodgers are on such a roll that I pretty much expect them to win nearly every game they play, especially considering their opponents.
Although the Dodgers only scored 2 runs, they did have 13 hits. Carl Crawford lead the hit parade, he was 3 for 5 and is hitting .286 this season. Adrian Gonzalez keeps up his season long flirtation with .300 as he had two more hits tonight. Gonzalez is hitting .295 this season. Andre Ethier (.277), Jaun Uribe (.271) and Skip Schumaker (.275) also had multiple hit games.
Pitcher Chris Capuano had a very Hyun-Jin Ryu outing today, giving up a lot of hits but few runs. Capuano have up 8 hits in seven innings, but he only gave up 1 run. He didn't finish with a decision, but did lower his ERA to 4.50. Brian Wilson, and his 0.00 ERA, won his first game as a Dodger.
For starting pitching LA seemed to be set with Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Ryu and Ricky Nolasco. But what will they do about a 5th starter for the time they continue to use a 5th starter? Will the fifth starter be Capuano, their recent pickup Edinson Volquez or completely scrap having 5 starters when the playoffs start?
Speaking of new additions the Dodgers traded today with the Phillies for the services of Michael Young. It's the last day a team can add a player to their roster and for that player to be eligible for their playoff roster. Young will be a nice additional bat for LA, he's hitting .276, has 8 homers and 42 RBIs.
The third and final game of this series will be Sunday. The scheduled pitching matchup will be the very hot Zack Greinke (13-3, 2.86 ERA) vs. Tyson Ross (3-7, 3.05 ERA). With Greinke pitching I predict LA wins today and that the Dodgers sweep the Padres. Then the Dodgers travel to Colorado for a 3 game series against the Rockies, another of the NL West's patsies.
Pittsburgh keeps on rolling, they beat the Cardinals 7-1. Pittsburgh now leads the Cardinals by 1 game in the very tough NL Central. I'm very excited by the trade deadline deal they made today. They traded for Morneau, formerly of the Twins. Morneau is a 4 time All-Star and the 2006 AL MVP. He's hitting .259, has 17 homers and 74 RBIs this season. He's been on a homer tear in August, hitting 9 homers in August. He'll be a very useful bat in the Pirates lineup. Morneau was so excited to play for a winner, he hustled from Texas to join his new Pittsburgh teammates. (Thanks to espn.com.)
I absolutely love that the Pirates are going for it and they might as well, it's been 21 years since they've been to the playoffs. Who knows when the Pirates will have a season this good again?
As for the Dodgers they've been going for it ever since the new ownership group bought them. They've made some foolish decisions, but for the most part the moves have worked out very well. If you are looking to pick a team to follow through the years, go with a team that has deep pockets and a smart person to run the team.
If you have both money and smarts you will have teams like the Dodgers, Patriots, Lakers (well at least while Jerry Buss was alive) and the Red Sox. If you have plenty of money, but an idiot making your decisions then you have the 1 win in 17 years Dallas Cowboys. If you have someone smart in charge, but little money then you have teams like the Rays, A's and the Pirates this season. It seems as long as you have someone who knows what they're doing then you'll be alright. But deep pockets don't overcome idiocy, which is why the Cowboys are going nowhere until at least Jerry moves from this mortal coil. I don't have high hopes for the reign of Stephen Jones either.
I can't believe how good my MLB teams are doing this year. The Cubs were out of playoff contention a long time ago and the Orioles are just about done. However with the Pirates and Dodgers it looks like 3 of my other teams will make the playoffs, that's the Red Sox, Braves and A's.
themusicaddict
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Dodgers Daily, August 30th, 2013: Dodgers Rolling Towards Playoffs, Gonzalez Goes Deep Twice
Hello,
After a much deserved day off the Dodgers started a 3 game series against the awful Padres. LA's offense was firing on all cylinders and rolled to a 9-2 victory. Like 2 other divisions in MLB, the NL West shapes up to be a yawnfest. The NL West, the NL East and AL Central look to provide very little excitement down the stretch. Other than to have the best record in the NL and playing for pride, what else do the Braves, Tigers and Pirates have to play for.
LA finished with 13 hits in this game. The Dodgers that had multiple hit games were Adrian Gonzalez, Yasiel Puig, Hanley Ramirez and Mark Ellis. Ellis had two hits and is hitting .273 this season. Although AJ Ellis had a homer in this game, Mark is starting to pull away as LA's best Ellis.
Adrian Gonzalez came back to haunt one of his old teams in a big way. Gonzalez finished 2 of 4, but both hits were 2 run homers. Gonzalez hit his 18th and 19th homers and has 85 RBIs this season. Can Gonzalez get 15 more RBIs in the next 28 games to finish with at least 100 RBIs, I'm going to say yes. If he has two or three more good RBI games like today he's practically to 100.
After being pulled from the game in LA's previous game, Puig responded by going 4 for 5. He's hitting .354 this season, also had his 19th double and 31st RBI this season.
Meanwhile pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu had another typical Ryu outing, that means giving up a lot of hits but few runs. He scattered 8 hits in 6.1 innings, but only gave up 1 run. Ryu improves to 13-5 this season and lowered his ERA to 3.02. The Dodgers have a good hitting pitching staff. Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Ryu have all had big hits this season. In this game Ryu hit his 3rd double and drove in the Dodgers first run of the game in the second inning. Ryu has 5 RBIs this season, it's always nice when a pitcher helps himself and his team with his bat.
The Dodgers aren't even playing great, but they continue to pull away from the rest of the weak NL West. The Diamondbacks lost tonight, so LA now leads the Diamondbacks by 10.5 games.
In Saturday's game the scheduled pitching matchup will be Chris Capuano (4-7, 4.74) vs. Andrew Cashner (8-8, 3.55 ERA). If the Padres are going to steal a game, this would be the one. LA is at it's most vulnerable when Capuano is pitching.
After this series the Dodgers play 3 games against the Rockies, have a day off and then play 3 games against the tough Reds in Cincinnati. LA will close the season playing 20 consecutive games against inferior NL West teams. The only question about the NL West that needs to be resolved is when will the Dodgers clinch it?
Is it just me or is the MLB season way too long?
The Pirates keep on plugging along, beating the Cardinals 5-0 on Friday. Not too many teams can beat the Cardinals consistently, but for some reason the Pirates can. Pittsburgh has won 9 of 14 games this season against the Cardinals and the Pirates have needed every win. With Pittsburgh's latest win over the Cardinals the two teams are again tied for first in the NL Central. Pittsburgh is only 4 wins away from having a winning season, it would be their first winning season in 21 years.
The struggling Garrett Jones was the offensive MVP of this game. He hit a home run, his 100th career homer, and also drove in 4 RBIs. Although Jones is only hitting .240 this season, he had 3 hits in this game.
Francisco Liriano had another impressive start for the Pirates. He only gave up 2 hits in 8 innings and improved to 15-6. He also has a very good ERA at 2.57. Mark Melancon pitched the 9th inning to complete the shutout. With Jason Grilli being out for a while with an injury, Melancon has been an effective closer. This season he has 9 saves and a .90 ERA.
Jason Grilli continues to rehab, he's scheduled to pitch an inning for Double A Altoona and then pitch in back to back games for AAA Indy. He could be back with the Pirates in 7 to 10 games, which is obviously great news for a team that is going where it hasn't for so many years.
themusicaddict
After a much deserved day off the Dodgers started a 3 game series against the awful Padres. LA's offense was firing on all cylinders and rolled to a 9-2 victory. Like 2 other divisions in MLB, the NL West shapes up to be a yawnfest. The NL West, the NL East and AL Central look to provide very little excitement down the stretch. Other than to have the best record in the NL and playing for pride, what else do the Braves, Tigers and Pirates have to play for.
LA finished with 13 hits in this game. The Dodgers that had multiple hit games were Adrian Gonzalez, Yasiel Puig, Hanley Ramirez and Mark Ellis. Ellis had two hits and is hitting .273 this season. Although AJ Ellis had a homer in this game, Mark is starting to pull away as LA's best Ellis.
Adrian Gonzalez came back to haunt one of his old teams in a big way. Gonzalez finished 2 of 4, but both hits were 2 run homers. Gonzalez hit his 18th and 19th homers and has 85 RBIs this season. Can Gonzalez get 15 more RBIs in the next 28 games to finish with at least 100 RBIs, I'm going to say yes. If he has two or three more good RBI games like today he's practically to 100.
After being pulled from the game in LA's previous game, Puig responded by going 4 for 5. He's hitting .354 this season, also had his 19th double and 31st RBI this season.
Meanwhile pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu had another typical Ryu outing, that means giving up a lot of hits but few runs. He scattered 8 hits in 6.1 innings, but only gave up 1 run. Ryu improves to 13-5 this season and lowered his ERA to 3.02. The Dodgers have a good hitting pitching staff. Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Ryu have all had big hits this season. In this game Ryu hit his 3rd double and drove in the Dodgers first run of the game in the second inning. Ryu has 5 RBIs this season, it's always nice when a pitcher helps himself and his team with his bat.
The Dodgers aren't even playing great, but they continue to pull away from the rest of the weak NL West. The Diamondbacks lost tonight, so LA now leads the Diamondbacks by 10.5 games.
In Saturday's game the scheduled pitching matchup will be Chris Capuano (4-7, 4.74) vs. Andrew Cashner (8-8, 3.55 ERA). If the Padres are going to steal a game, this would be the one. LA is at it's most vulnerable when Capuano is pitching.
After this series the Dodgers play 3 games against the Rockies, have a day off and then play 3 games against the tough Reds in Cincinnati. LA will close the season playing 20 consecutive games against inferior NL West teams. The only question about the NL West that needs to be resolved is when will the Dodgers clinch it?
Is it just me or is the MLB season way too long?
The Pirates keep on plugging along, beating the Cardinals 5-0 on Friday. Not too many teams can beat the Cardinals consistently, but for some reason the Pirates can. Pittsburgh has won 9 of 14 games this season against the Cardinals and the Pirates have needed every win. With Pittsburgh's latest win over the Cardinals the two teams are again tied for first in the NL Central. Pittsburgh is only 4 wins away from having a winning season, it would be their first winning season in 21 years.
The struggling Garrett Jones was the offensive MVP of this game. He hit a home run, his 100th career homer, and also drove in 4 RBIs. Although Jones is only hitting .240 this season, he had 3 hits in this game.
Francisco Liriano had another impressive start for the Pirates. He only gave up 2 hits in 8 innings and improved to 15-6. He also has a very good ERA at 2.57. Mark Melancon pitched the 9th inning to complete the shutout. With Jason Grilli being out for a while with an injury, Melancon has been an effective closer. This season he has 9 saves and a .90 ERA.
Jason Grilli continues to rehab, he's scheduled to pitch an inning for Double A Altoona and then pitch in back to back games for AAA Indy. He could be back with the Pirates in 7 to 10 games, which is obviously great news for a team that is going where it hasn't for so many years.
themusicaddict
Friday, August 30, 2013
Football Is Finally Back: Too Bad The Cowboys Won't Be, 49ers Rule!
Hello,
Thank goodness football is finally back. In the NFL I'm expecting another long and miserable season for my still sorta team the Cowboys. Dallas still has Jerry Jones as GM, Jason Garrett as head coach and Tony Romo as quarterback. That threesome, Dumb, Dumber and Even Dumber, inspires little confidence in most Cowboys fans.
For those that say this will be "the year", please stop it. I've been thinking it's going to be "the year" for the Cowboys for the last 5 seasons and I'm still waiting. Sorry to disappoint you fellow Cowboys fans, but this isn't going to be "the year" either. And it won't be "the year" until Jerry Jones stops ruining his own team. The mid 90s when the Cowboys won 3 Super Bowls was amazing. But it's also bad for another reason, Jimmy Johnson's success inspired Jones to think he could do the same thing. Time and time again Jones has proven that he can't.
Jones is a brilliant businessman and knows how to make money, too bad he's the complete opposite when it comes to football. If Jones ran a kool aid stand, you wouldn't want to be a customer. He would make a lot of money from it, but the product would be nasty. Like I wouldn't be a customer of his kool aid stand I won't be a customer of his team. Until Jones is no longer with the franchise I won't be buying any more Cowboys items. I urge my fellow Cowboys fans to stop paying for anything that has Jones grubby little fingers all over.
Jones says he wants to win, but I don't believe him. If he really wanted to win he would make real changes, with the first change him firing himself as GM. Get a real GM that knows what they are doing and then stay the hell out of their way. Don't hire puppets as head coaches and stop micromanaging and emasculating those coaches. Also realize you aren't the reason for the Cowboys success and be grateful for those people who can do the things that you can't. If Jones really wants to win those are three changes he needs to make now.
From Jones saying the DL is a strength in the offseason and his insistence on keeping Jay Ratliff, those grubby fingers continue to ruin his team. I can't figure out why Jones doesn't want his own team to be good. Most of his decisions look ridiculous now. Ratliff will miss at least 6 games as he still (going on his second season) recovers from his injury. For some reason I doubt he'll play this year, if he does it won't be equal to his pay.
One of our "strengths", the defensive line is going to struggle this season. Ratliff will miss at least those six games, Tyrone Crawford is out for the season and Anthony Spencer doesn't look to be 100%. But even more incredible is with how bad the offensive line looked last year, it looks like it will be bad again this season. Jones played offensive line in college for some good teams. Where's the disconnect? A couple of "only Jerry" comments here. Only Jerry would draft a player he could get in the third round in the first round. Only Jerry would use the word "amazing" to describe Doug Free's abilities. Does Jones even realize how ridiculous he sounds?
Jason Garrett is still the head coach after being emasculated by Jones during the offseason. He seems to have rubbed off on the players, with many of them using his sayings. I don't think Garrett will ever be the answer. Even if he could be great Jerry would ruin it by needing to put his grubby fingers all over this team, he just can't let well enough alone.
Jones is so desperate to be thought of as a football genius and he can't stop interfering.
Also Jones keeps on opening his trap, why oh why? Dear reporters please stop asking questions of Jones. Just think of the dumbest answer that can be said and that will be Jerry's answer. It cracks me up that Jones came out the other day and said a doctor told him that he had the mind of a 40 year old. Too bad it's the mind of a 40 year old donkey. Again 17 years with only one playoff win shows again how bad of a GM Jones is. Sadly he surrounds himself with a bunch of yes men, including his son Stephen. He of the "secret sauce" comment. It must be a secret sauce and clearly the Cowboys have no idea what it is. It's probable Dallas is going to be terrible for another 30 years, so much for the Cowboys winning another Super Bowl in my lifetime.
As for Tony Romo, what else needs to be said than one playoff win? I know it's a team game and I know the Cowboys failures aren't all his fault, but he certainly hasn't stepped up in enough big time situations like he should. Jones actually extended him this past offseason, even though he had another year on his contract. This will end up being a very bad contract like the one Jay Ratliff signed, well I don't think Romo's contract will be quite that bad.
And as average as Romo is, imagine how bad the Cowboys would be if they ever have to rely on Kyle Orton for an extended period of time? Only Jerry would sign a high priced veteran instead of looking for a quarterback of the future. Jones ego is tied up with Romo. If Romo ever wins anything, which he won't, then Jones will claim that he groomed Romo to the success he is.
I've been disgusted by the Cowboys for so many years that slowly but surely I've been warming up to the 49ers. I consider myself a fan of both teams now, but the Cowboys are sort of my frenenemy. While I expect the Cowboys to have a few highlights I expect the 49ers to be amazing this season. In all the areas the Cowboys are weak in the 49ers are strong in. I couldn't even tell you the name of the 49ers GM, but I do see all the brilliant moves he continues to make. It's so nice not to have to their GM's desperate need to be on TV every day. Jim Harbaugh is a hell of a coach, with him and offensive coordinator Greg Roman they have a frighteningly good offense. Their defense might even be better.
As for quarterback, Colin Kaepernick has already won more playoff games than Tony Romo has. That's not really that impressive honestly, it's easy to beat 1. In fact, Kaepernick has been to as many Super Bowls as Romo has playoff wins. I really expect fantastic things from the 49ers this season. I know it's a lot of expectations to put on them, but anything less than winning the Super Bowl this season would be a disappointment.
Meanwhile the Cowboys will miss the playoffs for the 4th straight season. After which Jerry will start whining, make a bunch of offseason changes and the cycle of stupidity will start once again.
themusicaddict
Thank goodness football is finally back. In the NFL I'm expecting another long and miserable season for my still sorta team the Cowboys. Dallas still has Jerry Jones as GM, Jason Garrett as head coach and Tony Romo as quarterback. That threesome, Dumb, Dumber and Even Dumber, inspires little confidence in most Cowboys fans.
For those that say this will be "the year", please stop it. I've been thinking it's going to be "the year" for the Cowboys for the last 5 seasons and I'm still waiting. Sorry to disappoint you fellow Cowboys fans, but this isn't going to be "the year" either. And it won't be "the year" until Jerry Jones stops ruining his own team. The mid 90s when the Cowboys won 3 Super Bowls was amazing. But it's also bad for another reason, Jimmy Johnson's success inspired Jones to think he could do the same thing. Time and time again Jones has proven that he can't.
Jones is a brilliant businessman and knows how to make money, too bad he's the complete opposite when it comes to football. If Jones ran a kool aid stand, you wouldn't want to be a customer. He would make a lot of money from it, but the product would be nasty. Like I wouldn't be a customer of his kool aid stand I won't be a customer of his team. Until Jones is no longer with the franchise I won't be buying any more Cowboys items. I urge my fellow Cowboys fans to stop paying for anything that has Jones grubby little fingers all over.
Jones says he wants to win, but I don't believe him. If he really wanted to win he would make real changes, with the first change him firing himself as GM. Get a real GM that knows what they are doing and then stay the hell out of their way. Don't hire puppets as head coaches and stop micromanaging and emasculating those coaches. Also realize you aren't the reason for the Cowboys success and be grateful for those people who can do the things that you can't. If Jones really wants to win those are three changes he needs to make now.
From Jones saying the DL is a strength in the offseason and his insistence on keeping Jay Ratliff, those grubby fingers continue to ruin his team. I can't figure out why Jones doesn't want his own team to be good. Most of his decisions look ridiculous now. Ratliff will miss at least 6 games as he still (going on his second season) recovers from his injury. For some reason I doubt he'll play this year, if he does it won't be equal to his pay.
One of our "strengths", the defensive line is going to struggle this season. Ratliff will miss at least those six games, Tyrone Crawford is out for the season and Anthony Spencer doesn't look to be 100%. But even more incredible is with how bad the offensive line looked last year, it looks like it will be bad again this season. Jones played offensive line in college for some good teams. Where's the disconnect? A couple of "only Jerry" comments here. Only Jerry would draft a player he could get in the third round in the first round. Only Jerry would use the word "amazing" to describe Doug Free's abilities. Does Jones even realize how ridiculous he sounds?
Jason Garrett is still the head coach after being emasculated by Jones during the offseason. He seems to have rubbed off on the players, with many of them using his sayings. I don't think Garrett will ever be the answer. Even if he could be great Jerry would ruin it by needing to put his grubby fingers all over this team, he just can't let well enough alone.
Jones is so desperate to be thought of as a football genius and he can't stop interfering.
Also Jones keeps on opening his trap, why oh why? Dear reporters please stop asking questions of Jones. Just think of the dumbest answer that can be said and that will be Jerry's answer. It cracks me up that Jones came out the other day and said a doctor told him that he had the mind of a 40 year old. Too bad it's the mind of a 40 year old donkey. Again 17 years with only one playoff win shows again how bad of a GM Jones is. Sadly he surrounds himself with a bunch of yes men, including his son Stephen. He of the "secret sauce" comment. It must be a secret sauce and clearly the Cowboys have no idea what it is. It's probable Dallas is going to be terrible for another 30 years, so much for the Cowboys winning another Super Bowl in my lifetime.
As for Tony Romo, what else needs to be said than one playoff win? I know it's a team game and I know the Cowboys failures aren't all his fault, but he certainly hasn't stepped up in enough big time situations like he should. Jones actually extended him this past offseason, even though he had another year on his contract. This will end up being a very bad contract like the one Jay Ratliff signed, well I don't think Romo's contract will be quite that bad.
And as average as Romo is, imagine how bad the Cowboys would be if they ever have to rely on Kyle Orton for an extended period of time? Only Jerry would sign a high priced veteran instead of looking for a quarterback of the future. Jones ego is tied up with Romo. If Romo ever wins anything, which he won't, then Jones will claim that he groomed Romo to the success he is.
I've been disgusted by the Cowboys for so many years that slowly but surely I've been warming up to the 49ers. I consider myself a fan of both teams now, but the Cowboys are sort of my frenenemy. While I expect the Cowboys to have a few highlights I expect the 49ers to be amazing this season. In all the areas the Cowboys are weak in the 49ers are strong in. I couldn't even tell you the name of the 49ers GM, but I do see all the brilliant moves he continues to make. It's so nice not to have to their GM's desperate need to be on TV every day. Jim Harbaugh is a hell of a coach, with him and offensive coordinator Greg Roman they have a frighteningly good offense. Their defense might even be better.
As for quarterback, Colin Kaepernick has already won more playoff games than Tony Romo has. That's not really that impressive honestly, it's easy to beat 1. In fact, Kaepernick has been to as many Super Bowls as Romo has playoff wins. I really expect fantastic things from the 49ers this season. I know it's a lot of expectations to put on them, but anything less than winning the Super Bowl this season would be a disappointment.
Meanwhile the Cowboys will miss the playoffs for the 4th straight season. After which Jerry will start whining, make a bunch of offseason changes and the cycle of stupidity will start once again.
themusicaddict
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Dodgers Daily, August 28th, 2013 Dodgers Shut Out Cubs, Nolasco's Big Game
Hello,
In the finale of their series the Dodgers shut down the Cubs 4-0, LA won 2 of the 3 games in the series. Ricky y pitched a great game for the Dodgers, he pitched 8.0 innings, giving up 3 hits and no runs. He also had 11 strikeouts in his very encouraging start. Nolasco improves to 11-9 and has a 3.26 ERA.
Hanley Ramirez had the big hit, hitting his 15th homer of the season.
With LA winning and Arizona losing, LA again leads them by 9.5 games.
The Dodgers also signed Edinson Volquez, who was designated for assignment Saturday by the Padres. He's 9-10 and has a 6.01 ERA this season.
The Atlanta Braves are the first team to clinch a playoff spot. Atlanta leads St. Louis and the Dodgers by 2.5 games for best record in the NL and home field advantage up to the World Series.
Twelve teams so far have been eliminated from playoff contention. Those teams are the Giants, Padres, Cubs, Brewers, Marlins, Mets, Astros, Mariners, Angels, White Sox, Twins and Blue Jays. a teams include the defending World Series champs Giants. The teams also include both teams from Chicago, does either Chicago team a chance the next few years? Also paying Josh Hamilton $125 million for 5 years guarantees you absolutely nothing. I still expect Hamilton's contract to do down as one of the all-time worst contracts ever. It will be up there with ARods and Ryan Howard.
themusicaddict
In the finale of their series the Dodgers shut down the Cubs 4-0, LA won 2 of the 3 games in the series. Ricky y pitched a great game for the Dodgers, he pitched 8.0 innings, giving up 3 hits and no runs. He also had 11 strikeouts in his very encouraging start. Nolasco improves to 11-9 and has a 3.26 ERA.
Hanley Ramirez had the big hit, hitting his 15th homer of the season.
With LA winning and Arizona losing, LA again leads them by 9.5 games.
The Dodgers also signed Edinson Volquez, who was designated for assignment Saturday by the Padres. He's 9-10 and has a 6.01 ERA this season.
The Atlanta Braves are the first team to clinch a playoff spot. Atlanta leads St. Louis and the Dodgers by 2.5 games for best record in the NL and home field advantage up to the World Series.
Twelve teams so far have been eliminated from playoff contention. Those teams are the Giants, Padres, Cubs, Brewers, Marlins, Mets, Astros, Mariners, Angels, White Sox, Twins and Blue Jays. a teams include the defending World Series champs Giants. The teams also include both teams from Chicago, does either Chicago team a chance the next few years? Also paying Josh Hamilton $125 million for 5 years guarantees you absolutely nothing. I still expect Hamilton's contract to do down as one of the all-time worst contracts ever. It will be up there with ARods and Ryan Howard.
themusicaddict
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Things I'm Writing About Today: Thank You Martin Luther King Jr., The Skankification of America
Hello,
Fifty years ago today Martin Luther King stood in front the Lincoln Memorial and drew a line in the sand for Black America, indeed for all of America. Here's a shortened version of this amazing speech, if you want to watch the full version it's available at Youtube.
From the best of America to the worst of America, I do know that's an over simplification. I was so excited about MTV's VMA awards that I forgot completely about it, I was much more interested in a 49ers preseason game. San Francisco won, Miley Cyrus won't.
I hadn't heard anything about the Miley Cyrus debacle until Monday morning. I completely agree with Brooke Shields, who referred to Cyrus' skankfest as "desperate". And I suggest that's the most positive thing that could be said about Miley's performance.
Sadly talent is no longer good enough, Lady Gaga has plenty of talent but she still stoops to showing skin to raise awareness. Cyrus has learned from her and and has taken that perversion to new lows on the VMAs. The ironic thing is that no red blooded American male wants to see Gaga or Cyrus in skimpy clothes, neither one is that attractive.
(Note: I've written about Cyrus previously, I'm still a big fan of "Can't Be Tamed". However I'm a fan because I like the music, it has nothing to do with what she is or isn't wearing.)
Sadly this continues a trend that lessens the morals of America. Two recent TV shows that caught my attention were "The Americans" and "The Bridge", both are very good shows. However I had to stop watching "The Americans" as their sex scenes were over the top. "The Bridge" just chips away a bit more at the decency keeping Hollywood in control. In a recent episode of that show, there was no less than 4 sex scenes. With the last scene being extremely graphic and probably wouldn't have been allowed on basic cable just a few short years ago.
(I realize that people have sex and many times enjoy it, also I understand that people have sex for many different reasons. A lot of time they use to get things that they want, like information as in the case of the spies on "The Americans". I totally understand that and sex is a legitimate storyline. However the sex just has to be inferred, what I object to is the near showing of actual sex acts. Some of the scenes that are shown I don't know how they aren't actually having sex. In a recent episode of "The Bridge", well I won't describe the scene. But it was completely unnecessary to advance the storyline. The scene was just meant to titillate the audience.)
Unlike Cyrus "The Americans" and "The Bridge" doesn't need to sell with sex and I'm not sure why they do.
themusicaddict
Fifty years ago today Martin Luther King stood in front the Lincoln Memorial and drew a line in the sand for Black America, indeed for all of America. Here's a shortened version of this amazing speech, if you want to watch the full version it's available at Youtube.
From the best of America to the worst of America, I do know that's an over simplification. I was so excited about MTV's VMA awards that I forgot completely about it, I was much more interested in a 49ers preseason game. San Francisco won, Miley Cyrus won't.
I hadn't heard anything about the Miley Cyrus debacle until Monday morning. I completely agree with Brooke Shields, who referred to Cyrus' skankfest as "desperate". And I suggest that's the most positive thing that could be said about Miley's performance.
Sadly talent is no longer good enough, Lady Gaga has plenty of talent but she still stoops to showing skin to raise awareness. Cyrus has learned from her and and has taken that perversion to new lows on the VMAs. The ironic thing is that no red blooded American male wants to see Gaga or Cyrus in skimpy clothes, neither one is that attractive.
(Note: I've written about Cyrus previously, I'm still a big fan of "Can't Be Tamed". However I'm a fan because I like the music, it has nothing to do with what she is or isn't wearing.)
Sadly this continues a trend that lessens the morals of America. Two recent TV shows that caught my attention were "The Americans" and "The Bridge", both are very good shows. However I had to stop watching "The Americans" as their sex scenes were over the top. "The Bridge" just chips away a bit more at the decency keeping Hollywood in control. In a recent episode of that show, there was no less than 4 sex scenes. With the last scene being extremely graphic and probably wouldn't have been allowed on basic cable just a few short years ago.
(I realize that people have sex and many times enjoy it, also I understand that people have sex for many different reasons. A lot of time they use to get things that they want, like information as in the case of the spies on "The Americans". I totally understand that and sex is a legitimate storyline. However the sex just has to be inferred, what I object to is the near showing of actual sex acts. Some of the scenes that are shown I don't know how they aren't actually having sex. In a recent episode of "The Bridge", well I won't describe the scene. But it was completely unnecessary to advance the storyline. The scene was just meant to titillate the audience.)
Unlike Cyrus "The Americans" and "The Bridge" doesn't need to sell with sex and I'm not sure why they do.
themusicaddict
Dodgers Daily, August 27th, 2013: Can't Score For Clayton Campaign Continues, Pirates Bulk Up.
Hello,
In the second game of their three game series, the Cubs beat the Dodgers 3-2. How can you tell LA probably won't score a lot of runs? The most sure way is because Clayton Kershaw is pitching.
Kershaw had one of his less effective outings of this season, he only pitched 5 2/3rds innings. He gave up 7 hits, 3 walks and 2 runs and drops to 13-8 on the season. As he only allowed 2 runs, his ERA increased slightly to 1.72. Due to that amazing ERA, and I'm sure voters take the lack of run support into consideration, Kershaw is being heavily mentioned in Cy Young consideration.
The Dodgers only finished with 7 hits and 2 runs. 5 of those 7 hits came from the two spark plugs of this season's Dodgers offense. Hanley Ramirez had a great game, he was 3 for 4 and is hitting .345 this season. (As I'm writing this blog, the third game of the Dodgers-Cubs series is occurring. Ramirez went deep in Wednesday afternoon's game, that's his 15th homer this season.) Yasiel Puig was 2 for 5 and barely held on to the Dodgers individual player best batting average, he's hitting .347 this season.
The other two hits were by two players who have underperformed this season. Andre Ethier and Juan Uribe had LA's other two hits. Both players are hitting around a respectable .270.
With LA losing 3 of 4 and the Diamondbacks winning Tuesday night, the Diamondbacks have climbed back to within 8.5 games. ESPN wondered this morning if the Dodgers are in trouble? As of now I say "no". They've lost 3 of 4 games, but that's not very concerning. They lost two games to Boston, the same team that put up 13 runs on the Orioles Tuesday night. For the rest of the season LA has a weak schedule. Other than playing the Reds for 3 games, LA only plays weak NL West teams the rest of the season. After an early afternoon game Wednesday, LA gets Thursday off. And last but certainly not least Matt Kemp should be coming back sooner than later.
The faltering Pirates made a much needed move and I'm excited about the trade Pittsburgh made. A team never knows when they'll be in playoff contention again, especially when that team is the Pirates. The Pirates have a chance this season and need to go for it as much as they can. I'm especially excited about the Pirates trading for Marlon Byrd. A player hitting .285, with 21 homers and 71 RBIs should be a helpful addition to the low scoring Pirates lineup, especially with Starling Marte out. I'm not quite as excited about John Buck, but he should be a decent backup to Russell Martin. Buck is hitting .215, and has 15 homers and 60 RBIs. Both players should be able to play for the Pirates Wednesday night.
In the same deal the Pirates traded away minor leaguer Dilson Herrera. Not that I'm rooting against Mr. Herrera, but it's quite likely Herrera won't ever be mentioned in this blog again. One never knows what will happen with a minor league player. Pittsburgh is also trading away the famous player to be named later. That's definitely a trade that the Pirates had to make.
Pittsburh's lineup could use a Yasiel Puig like spark to their offense. Not that Byrd and Buck will provide that completely, but even a decent upgrade in production would be very helpful. The Cardinals have busted out of their doldrums by winning 8 of 10 games and have surged into first place in the NL Central. They lead the second place Pirates by 1.5 games, Pittsburgh has only won 4 of their last 10 games. Meanwhile Cincinnati very much is still in playoff contention, they have a 82.4% chance of reaching the playoffs. The Reds have only won 5 of their last 10 games and trail the red hot Cardinals by 4.5 games.
themusicaddict
In the second game of their three game series, the Cubs beat the Dodgers 3-2. How can you tell LA probably won't score a lot of runs? The most sure way is because Clayton Kershaw is pitching.
Kershaw had one of his less effective outings of this season, he only pitched 5 2/3rds innings. He gave up 7 hits, 3 walks and 2 runs and drops to 13-8 on the season. As he only allowed 2 runs, his ERA increased slightly to 1.72. Due to that amazing ERA, and I'm sure voters take the lack of run support into consideration, Kershaw is being heavily mentioned in Cy Young consideration.
The Dodgers only finished with 7 hits and 2 runs. 5 of those 7 hits came from the two spark plugs of this season's Dodgers offense. Hanley Ramirez had a great game, he was 3 for 4 and is hitting .345 this season. (As I'm writing this blog, the third game of the Dodgers-Cubs series is occurring. Ramirez went deep in Wednesday afternoon's game, that's his 15th homer this season.) Yasiel Puig was 2 for 5 and barely held on to the Dodgers individual player best batting average, he's hitting .347 this season.
The other two hits were by two players who have underperformed this season. Andre Ethier and Juan Uribe had LA's other two hits. Both players are hitting around a respectable .270.
With LA losing 3 of 4 and the Diamondbacks winning Tuesday night, the Diamondbacks have climbed back to within 8.5 games. ESPN wondered this morning if the Dodgers are in trouble? As of now I say "no". They've lost 3 of 4 games, but that's not very concerning. They lost two games to Boston, the same team that put up 13 runs on the Orioles Tuesday night. For the rest of the season LA has a weak schedule. Other than playing the Reds for 3 games, LA only plays weak NL West teams the rest of the season. After an early afternoon game Wednesday, LA gets Thursday off. And last but certainly not least Matt Kemp should be coming back sooner than later.
The faltering Pirates made a much needed move and I'm excited about the trade Pittsburgh made. A team never knows when they'll be in playoff contention again, especially when that team is the Pirates. The Pirates have a chance this season and need to go for it as much as they can. I'm especially excited about the Pirates trading for Marlon Byrd. A player hitting .285, with 21 homers and 71 RBIs should be a helpful addition to the low scoring Pirates lineup, especially with Starling Marte out. I'm not quite as excited about John Buck, but he should be a decent backup to Russell Martin. Buck is hitting .215, and has 15 homers and 60 RBIs. Both players should be able to play for the Pirates Wednesday night.
In the same deal the Pirates traded away minor leaguer Dilson Herrera. Not that I'm rooting against Mr. Herrera, but it's quite likely Herrera won't ever be mentioned in this blog again. One never knows what will happen with a minor league player. Pittsburgh is also trading away the famous player to be named later. That's definitely a trade that the Pirates had to make.
Pittsburh's lineup could use a Yasiel Puig like spark to their offense. Not that Byrd and Buck will provide that completely, but even a decent upgrade in production would be very helpful. The Cardinals have busted out of their doldrums by winning 8 of 10 games and have surged into first place in the NL Central. They lead the second place Pirates by 1.5 games, Pittsburgh has only won 4 of their last 10 games. Meanwhile Cincinnati very much is still in playoff contention, they have a 82.4% chance of reaching the playoffs. The Reds have only won 5 of their last 10 games and trail the red hot Cardinals by 4.5 games.
themusicaddict
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
themusicaddict's Great Songs Released In The Last Few Years
Hello,
I'm a lover of 80's music, no era will ever top it. However that's not to say there hasn't been a lot of great music released in the last few years.
I look forward to The 1975's new CD that's released on September 3rd, they seem to be a band that has some potential. One of the best CDs ever is Nine Inch Nails "Pretty Hate Machine", sadly that was also Trent Reznor's peak. You can listen to the new Nine Inch Nails CD "Hesitation Marks" at iTunes right now. I listened to a few songs, but honestly I was bored by it. I love when they were playing butt kick music, now it's all pretty much mellow. It's too bad.
This is a song from The 1975 "Chocolate":
I'm a big fan of ZZ Ward, "Put The Gun Down":
I'm also a big fan of The Heavy, "How You Like Me Now":
Bridget Mendler's "Ready Or Not":
Cher Lloyd "Want You Back":
Beth Hart "The Ugliest House On The Block":
Virginmarys "Just A Ride":
Set If Off's "Nightmare":
Foxy Shazam's amazing remake of a song from the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "Jesus Christ Superstar":
"Chinese Democracy" may not have been the greatest CD of all-time, but it does have some pretty good songs on it. This is one of those good songs, "Better":
The Band Perry released "Pioneer" a few months ago, this CD has several great songs on it. I suggest for everyone to pick up this CD, whether you like country music or not. "Better Dig Two":
The Band Perry's "Done":
I was flipping through TV channels the other day, completely minding my own business. While doing so I stumbled across Paladium, a station devoted to music. They were showing videos with music, that was completely bizarre. What a great idea, a great way to promote music. It seems like there used to be a network that showed music videos 24 hours a day. If so that station must have went off the air. Wouldn't it be funny if they started showing stupid things like reality TV, something stupid like "Jersey Shore". Nah, that would never happen. This is Gavin DeGraw's "Best I Ever Had":
Another video I saw that same night. Look at that I happened to stumble across two great songs from watching music on television, hey maybe we could call it music television. Anyway I saw these two songs that I absolutely love and now I'm passing them on to the few readers of this blog. I'd never heard the Gavin DeGraw song before, without Paladium who knows if I ever would have. Possibly someone who reads this blog could pass some of these songs on to someone else. This music video seems to be a good way to get out the word about music. Hmm. Train featuring Ashley Monroe's "Bruises":
I absolutely love this song. Eric Church's "Springsteen":
Luke Bryan's "Drunk On You":
This song gets to me every time, Miranda Lambert's "The House That Built Me":
My Chemical Romance's "The Sharpest Lives":
The Gracious Few "Closer":
Mumford and Sons "I Will Wait":
Swedish House Mafia "Don't You Worry Child":
themusicaddict
I'm a lover of 80's music, no era will ever top it. However that's not to say there hasn't been a lot of great music released in the last few years.
I look forward to The 1975's new CD that's released on September 3rd, they seem to be a band that has some potential. One of the best CDs ever is Nine Inch Nails "Pretty Hate Machine", sadly that was also Trent Reznor's peak. You can listen to the new Nine Inch Nails CD "Hesitation Marks" at iTunes right now. I listened to a few songs, but honestly I was bored by it. I love when they were playing butt kick music, now it's all pretty much mellow. It's too bad.
This is a song from The 1975 "Chocolate":
I'm a big fan of ZZ Ward, "Put The Gun Down":
I'm also a big fan of The Heavy, "How You Like Me Now":
Bridget Mendler's "Ready Or Not":
Cher Lloyd "Want You Back":
Beth Hart "The Ugliest House On The Block":
Virginmarys "Just A Ride":
Set If Off's "Nightmare":
Foxy Shazam's amazing remake of a song from the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "Jesus Christ Superstar":
"Chinese Democracy" may not have been the greatest CD of all-time, but it does have some pretty good songs on it. This is one of those good songs, "Better":
The Band Perry released "Pioneer" a few months ago, this CD has several great songs on it. I suggest for everyone to pick up this CD, whether you like country music or not. "Better Dig Two":
The Band Perry's "Done":
I was flipping through TV channels the other day, completely minding my own business. While doing so I stumbled across Paladium, a station devoted to music. They were showing videos with music, that was completely bizarre. What a great idea, a great way to promote music. It seems like there used to be a network that showed music videos 24 hours a day. If so that station must have went off the air. Wouldn't it be funny if they started showing stupid things like reality TV, something stupid like "Jersey Shore". Nah, that would never happen. This is Gavin DeGraw's "Best I Ever Had":
Another video I saw that same night. Look at that I happened to stumble across two great songs from watching music on television, hey maybe we could call it music television. Anyway I saw these two songs that I absolutely love and now I'm passing them on to the few readers of this blog. I'd never heard the Gavin DeGraw song before, without Paladium who knows if I ever would have. Possibly someone who reads this blog could pass some of these songs on to someone else. This music video seems to be a good way to get out the word about music. Hmm. Train featuring Ashley Monroe's "Bruises":
I absolutely love this song. Eric Church's "Springsteen":
Luke Bryan's "Drunk On You":
This song gets to me every time, Miranda Lambert's "The House That Built Me":
My Chemical Romance's "The Sharpest Lives":
The Gracious Few "Closer":
Mumford and Sons "I Will Wait":
Swedish House Mafia "Don't You Worry Child":
themusicaddict
Dodgers Daily, August 26th, 2013: Dodgers Beat Cubs, Second Straight Triple Crown Title For Cabrera?
Hello,
The Dodgers started a 3 game series on Monday against the Chicago Cubs, LA won the first game 6-2.
The heroes of the game were Zack Greinke and Yasiel Puig. LA has won 12 of the last 13 games that Greinke started. (That's a nice nugget from ESPN.) Greinke pitched 8 2/3rds innings, only giving up 5 hits and 2 runs. He added 9 strikeouts, improved to 13-3 on the season and lowered his ERA to 2.86. From the plate Greinke was 1 for 2 and also walked, Greinke is hitting .340 this season. He drove in his 4th RBI this season.
Yasiel Puig, after having struggled for a bit, had another good game. He was 3 for 5 which included his 18th double and 13th homer. Puig is hitting .346 and added his 30th RBI of the season. Hanley Ramirez was only 1 of 4, but he did have his 14th homer of the season. Potentially, how good could this lineup be if Matt Kemp comes back near to full health and LA doesn't have any more major injuries this season. I know it's too much to ask, but it's nice thinking about the possibilities.
The Diamondbacks also won to remain 9.5 games back in the NL West. Their chances of reaching the playoffs improved to 13.3%, but time is quickly running out for them. Realistically they aren't reaching the playoffs. For Arizona to reach the playoffs, so many things would have to go their way. What's the likelihood that Arizona will overcome Pittsburgh's 6 game lead for the 2nd Wild Card? It's just too much to hope for, Arizona should begin preparing for next season.
The A's were able to beat the powerful Tigers 8-6. Oakland remains 2.5 games behind the Rangers in the AL West. Time is beginning to run out for the A's as well.
Although Detroit lost on Monday, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Tigers in the World Series. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to see a city who has had so many struggles have something to root for late into the fall. (If "Low Winter Sun" is a fairly accurate barometer of how Detroit now looks, then Detroit needs all the help it can get.)
Is Miguel Cabrera the best hitter of this generation? On Monday he was 1 for 4 and is hitting .359 this season. He had his 43rd home run and also notched his 130th RBI. The man is incredible.
Speaking of Cabrera, will he win his second consecutive triple crown? On Monday he closed a bit more in on Chris Davis for the home run lead. Home runs is the only triple crown stat that he trails in, he has 3 less homers than the Orioles Davis. In the other two triple crown stats, Cabrera is running away from his closest competitors. He's hitting 27 points better than second place Yadier Molina and in RBIs he has 12 more than the second place Davis.
themusicaddict
The Dodgers started a 3 game series on Monday against the Chicago Cubs, LA won the first game 6-2.
The heroes of the game were Zack Greinke and Yasiel Puig. LA has won 12 of the last 13 games that Greinke started. (That's a nice nugget from ESPN.) Greinke pitched 8 2/3rds innings, only giving up 5 hits and 2 runs. He added 9 strikeouts, improved to 13-3 on the season and lowered his ERA to 2.86. From the plate Greinke was 1 for 2 and also walked, Greinke is hitting .340 this season. He drove in his 4th RBI this season.
Yasiel Puig, after having struggled for a bit, had another good game. He was 3 for 5 which included his 18th double and 13th homer. Puig is hitting .346 and added his 30th RBI of the season. Hanley Ramirez was only 1 of 4, but he did have his 14th homer of the season. Potentially, how good could this lineup be if Matt Kemp comes back near to full health and LA doesn't have any more major injuries this season. I know it's too much to ask, but it's nice thinking about the possibilities.
The Diamondbacks also won to remain 9.5 games back in the NL West. Their chances of reaching the playoffs improved to 13.3%, but time is quickly running out for them. Realistically they aren't reaching the playoffs. For Arizona to reach the playoffs, so many things would have to go their way. What's the likelihood that Arizona will overcome Pittsburgh's 6 game lead for the 2nd Wild Card? It's just too much to hope for, Arizona should begin preparing for next season.
The A's were able to beat the powerful Tigers 8-6. Oakland remains 2.5 games behind the Rangers in the AL West. Time is beginning to run out for the A's as well.
Although Detroit lost on Monday, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Tigers in the World Series. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to see a city who has had so many struggles have something to root for late into the fall. (If "Low Winter Sun" is a fairly accurate barometer of how Detroit now looks, then Detroit needs all the help it can get.)
Is Miguel Cabrera the best hitter of this generation? On Monday he was 1 for 4 and is hitting .359 this season. He had his 43rd home run and also notched his 130th RBI. The man is incredible.
Speaking of Cabrera, will he win his second consecutive triple crown? On Monday he closed a bit more in on Chris Davis for the home run lead. Home runs is the only triple crown stat that he trails in, he has 3 less homers than the Orioles Davis. In the other two triple crown stats, Cabrera is running away from his closest competitors. He's hitting 27 points better than second place Yadier Molina and in RBIs he has 12 more than the second place Davis.
themusicaddict
Monday, August 26, 2013
2013 Dodgers Daily, August 25th, 2013: Red Sox Thump Dodgers 8-1, Win 2 of 3
Hello,
In the finale of the 3 game series between the Dodgers and the Red Sox, Boston thumped LA 8-1. Jake Peavy pitched an outstanding game, Chris Capuano didn't and just like that Boston takes 2 of 3. Peavy only allowed 3 hits and 1 run to improve to 10-5 on the season. Also he decreased his not very good ERA to 3.99.
Due to Peavy's excellent outing, the culprit of this game was LA's so called "offense". LA's close to $215,000,000 million payroll could only produce 3 hits and 1 run. Lack of offense was the theme for LA this entire series, they only scored 5 runs in 3 games. LA was an Adrian Gonzalez solo homer from being shut out on Sunday.
This wimpy offense hearkens back to the early part of LA's season, they were around the bottom of the league in runs scored. They were being out scored by teams that were paying 9 or 10 times less. As of now the Dodgers are 15th in MLB in runs scored, I'm guessing that's about as high as they'll finish this season. As of Sunday they have scored 33 runs less than the 14th place Diamondbacks. On the other hand that does show how good LA's pitching has been this season. Although Arizona has scored 33 more runs than LA, the Dodgers lead Arizona by 9.5 games in the NL West.
Adrian Gonzalez had his 17th homer and 80th RBI of the season Sunday. Gonzalez is the only Dodger with a chance of reaching 100 RBIs this season. Matt Kemp is suppose to start playing rehab games this week. That's good news, but I hope they aren't rushing him. If he could come back and inject a bit more life into this offense, this Dodgers team would just be that much more tough to beat. Although my fear is that Kemp is going to get injured again and go on season ending DL. If that happens that would be the 4th time this season that he goes on DL. I'm also a bit nervous about Carl Crawford and Hanley Ramirez making DL appearances down the stretch run or even worse in the playoffs.
The Dodgers have almost a 99% chance of reaching the playoffs, I'm not really worried about them losing this series. Besides I'm a fan of the Red Sox as well and they needed the wins so much more than did LA.
Next up LA welcomes the terrible Chicago Cubs to LA, the Cubs are one of my teams as well. I don't want to say the Cubs are bad but..... 1) They are 55-75 and last place in the NL Central. 2) They have a 0.1% chance of reaching the playoffs, in other words if their chances were any less they would have a 0% chance of reaching the playoffs. 3) They're 21 games behind the tied for first Cardinals and Pirates.
LA gets Thursday off. Other than a 3 game series against the very good Reds, LA closes out the season playing teams from their own very weak division.
Meanwhile Boston moves back to being alone in first place in the AL East, they lead the Rays by 1 game. I'm interested to see how the 4 more games the Rays have to play than the Red Sox will affect the AL East race. Meanwhile Baltimore continues to hang on to a slim chance of reaching the playoffs. As of Sunday, they trailed Boston by 5.5 games. Boston has a day off and then they welcome those Orioles for a 3 game series. That series possibly could effectively eliminate Baltimore from playoff contention. Next Boston plays a 3 game series against the low scoring and not very good White Sox. The Red Sox then close out their 9 game series with the Tigers, that should be a high scoring series.
The Atlanta Braves are coasting along, they lead the NL East second place Washington by 13 games. Atlanta maintains a 99.9% chance of reaching the playoffs. They've been at that percentage for about a month now, sooner rather than later it will be 100%. About the only thing the Braves have to play for now is to finish with the best record in the NL, they currently lead the Dodgers by 2 games for that #1 playoff seed.
themusicaddict
In the finale of the 3 game series between the Dodgers and the Red Sox, Boston thumped LA 8-1. Jake Peavy pitched an outstanding game, Chris Capuano didn't and just like that Boston takes 2 of 3. Peavy only allowed 3 hits and 1 run to improve to 10-5 on the season. Also he decreased his not very good ERA to 3.99.
Due to Peavy's excellent outing, the culprit of this game was LA's so called "offense". LA's close to $215,000,000 million payroll could only produce 3 hits and 1 run. Lack of offense was the theme for LA this entire series, they only scored 5 runs in 3 games. LA was an Adrian Gonzalez solo homer from being shut out on Sunday.
This wimpy offense hearkens back to the early part of LA's season, they were around the bottom of the league in runs scored. They were being out scored by teams that were paying 9 or 10 times less. As of now the Dodgers are 15th in MLB in runs scored, I'm guessing that's about as high as they'll finish this season. As of Sunday they have scored 33 runs less than the 14th place Diamondbacks. On the other hand that does show how good LA's pitching has been this season. Although Arizona has scored 33 more runs than LA, the Dodgers lead Arizona by 9.5 games in the NL West.
Adrian Gonzalez had his 17th homer and 80th RBI of the season Sunday. Gonzalez is the only Dodger with a chance of reaching 100 RBIs this season. Matt Kemp is suppose to start playing rehab games this week. That's good news, but I hope they aren't rushing him. If he could come back and inject a bit more life into this offense, this Dodgers team would just be that much more tough to beat. Although my fear is that Kemp is going to get injured again and go on season ending DL. If that happens that would be the 4th time this season that he goes on DL. I'm also a bit nervous about Carl Crawford and Hanley Ramirez making DL appearances down the stretch run or even worse in the playoffs.
The Dodgers have almost a 99% chance of reaching the playoffs, I'm not really worried about them losing this series. Besides I'm a fan of the Red Sox as well and they needed the wins so much more than did LA.
Next up LA welcomes the terrible Chicago Cubs to LA, the Cubs are one of my teams as well. I don't want to say the Cubs are bad but..... 1) They are 55-75 and last place in the NL Central. 2) They have a 0.1% chance of reaching the playoffs, in other words if their chances were any less they would have a 0% chance of reaching the playoffs. 3) They're 21 games behind the tied for first Cardinals and Pirates.
LA gets Thursday off. Other than a 3 game series against the very good Reds, LA closes out the season playing teams from their own very weak division.
Meanwhile Boston moves back to being alone in first place in the AL East, they lead the Rays by 1 game. I'm interested to see how the 4 more games the Rays have to play than the Red Sox will affect the AL East race. Meanwhile Baltimore continues to hang on to a slim chance of reaching the playoffs. As of Sunday, they trailed Boston by 5.5 games. Boston has a day off and then they welcome those Orioles for a 3 game series. That series possibly could effectively eliminate Baltimore from playoff contention. Next Boston plays a 3 game series against the low scoring and not very good White Sox. The Red Sox then close out their 9 game series with the Tigers, that should be a high scoring series.
The Atlanta Braves are coasting along, they lead the NL East second place Washington by 13 games. Atlanta maintains a 99.9% chance of reaching the playoffs. They've been at that percentage for about a month now, sooner rather than later it will be 100%. About the only thing the Braves have to play for now is to finish with the best record in the NL, they currently lead the Dodgers by 2 games for that #1 playoff seed.
themusicaddict
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Dodgers Daily, August 24th, 2013: Boston Doubles Up LA 4-2, Arizona's Marathon, Pirates In A Battle for NL Central
Hello,
On Saturday Boston beat LA 4-2 in the second game of this Dodgers-Red Sox three game series. LA won the first game on Friday. Although I have 7 MLB teams I follow/ cheer for my favorite team is the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers are still playing hard, but I'm sure they are still on cruise control. It would take a spectacular collapse for LA not to reach the playoffs. As of right now they on their way to the NL West title. The fact that Boston beat LA on Saturday doesn't bother me much. The Red Sox needed that win a lot more than the Dodgers did.
With the Red Sox playing earlier than the Rays on Saturday, they didn't know if they needed to win to maintain a virtual tie with Tampa Bay. The Red Sox scored 4 runs in the first inning and that ended up being enough runs to win the game. The Rays later won so Boston did need that win to remain in a virtual tie for first place in the AL East. The Rays have played 4 games less than the Red Sox, will that serve as an advantage or disadvantage for the Rays? I think I'd rather have a couple of wins in the bank like the Red Sox do. The AL East is quickly becoming a two team race.
Jonny Gomes hit a 3 run shot off of Hyun-Jin Ryu in the first inning. That was his 11th homer and he has 50 RBIs this season. Neither team would score another run until the 8th inning, that's when Adrian Gonzalez doubled to deep centerfield. With his only hit of the game he drove in Yasiel Puig and Carl Crawford. However it was too little too late and Boston went on to win.
This was a battle between two very good pitchers. Ryu dropped to 12-5 and only gave the Dodgers 5 innings. Usually teams get a lot of hits against him, but don't do much with those hits. However in this game the Red Sox scored 4 runs on the 5 hits they had off of him. On the other side, Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester had a bit more effective outing. One day after Jon Lackey pitched a complete game and only gave up 2 runs, Lester lasted 7.1 innings and only gave up 1 run. Lester improved to 12-7 on the season but has a bit of a scary ERA at 3.97.
The inept offense bug bit the Dodgers again, for the second straight game they only scored 2 runs. LA only had 5 hits, two of those hits were by Yasiel Puig. Puig is hitting .345 on the season. He's tied with Hanley Ramirez for the Dodgers batting average lead. Ramirez was 0 for 2, but did walk twice. The other Dodgers with hits were Gonzalez, Andre Ethier and Mark Ellis.
The third and final game of this series is this week's Sunday Night Baseball game. Sunday's scheduled pitching matchup is Chris Capuano (4-6, 4.70) vs. new Red Sox pitcher Jake Peavy (9-5, 4.25).
Meanwhile in Philadelphia a war of attrition was occurring. Citizens Bank Park was the setting for an 18 inning marathon between Arizona and Philly. The game that eventually lasted 7 hours and forced two Phillies outfielders to pitch. Arizona scored 5 runs in the top of the 18th and ended up winning 12-7. Sunday's finale in this series is scheduled to start about 12 hours after Saturday's marathon. (Thanks to ESPN for that little nugget.) It's good to see Arizona isn't giving up, ultimately though does it matter? I'd say "no" as the Diamondbacks still trail the Dodgers by 9.5 games with Arizona only having 34 games left in the season. The fact that Arizona has only won half of their last 10 games doesn't give me a lot of faith in their playoff chances either. It's not like they are picking up their game for the stretch run.
Pittsburgh is now tied with the St. Louis Cardinals for first place in the NL Central following St. Louis' 4 game winning streak. Although Pittsburgh has only won half of their last 10 games, I wouldn't say they are collapsing. To me it seems like they are playing like a team who hasn't been here before. Just get to 82 wins first and get the finishing below .500 for 20 consecutive seasons monkey off their back. Then they can focus on making the playoffs. It would take a complete and utter collapse to not qualify for one of the two wild card spots. When they make the playoffs this season it will be an amazing accomplishment and anything beyond that will be good preparation for next season.
themusicaddict
On Saturday Boston beat LA 4-2 in the second game of this Dodgers-Red Sox three game series. LA won the first game on Friday. Although I have 7 MLB teams I follow/ cheer for my favorite team is the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers are still playing hard, but I'm sure they are still on cruise control. It would take a spectacular collapse for LA not to reach the playoffs. As of right now they on their way to the NL West title. The fact that Boston beat LA on Saturday doesn't bother me much. The Red Sox needed that win a lot more than the Dodgers did.
With the Red Sox playing earlier than the Rays on Saturday, they didn't know if they needed to win to maintain a virtual tie with Tampa Bay. The Red Sox scored 4 runs in the first inning and that ended up being enough runs to win the game. The Rays later won so Boston did need that win to remain in a virtual tie for first place in the AL East. The Rays have played 4 games less than the Red Sox, will that serve as an advantage or disadvantage for the Rays? I think I'd rather have a couple of wins in the bank like the Red Sox do. The AL East is quickly becoming a two team race.
Jonny Gomes hit a 3 run shot off of Hyun-Jin Ryu in the first inning. That was his 11th homer and he has 50 RBIs this season. Neither team would score another run until the 8th inning, that's when Adrian Gonzalez doubled to deep centerfield. With his only hit of the game he drove in Yasiel Puig and Carl Crawford. However it was too little too late and Boston went on to win.
This was a battle between two very good pitchers. Ryu dropped to 12-5 and only gave the Dodgers 5 innings. Usually teams get a lot of hits against him, but don't do much with those hits. However in this game the Red Sox scored 4 runs on the 5 hits they had off of him. On the other side, Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester had a bit more effective outing. One day after Jon Lackey pitched a complete game and only gave up 2 runs, Lester lasted 7.1 innings and only gave up 1 run. Lester improved to 12-7 on the season but has a bit of a scary ERA at 3.97.
The inept offense bug bit the Dodgers again, for the second straight game they only scored 2 runs. LA only had 5 hits, two of those hits were by Yasiel Puig. Puig is hitting .345 on the season. He's tied with Hanley Ramirez for the Dodgers batting average lead. Ramirez was 0 for 2, but did walk twice. The other Dodgers with hits were Gonzalez, Andre Ethier and Mark Ellis.
The third and final game of this series is this week's Sunday Night Baseball game. Sunday's scheduled pitching matchup is Chris Capuano (4-6, 4.70) vs. new Red Sox pitcher Jake Peavy (9-5, 4.25).
Meanwhile in Philadelphia a war of attrition was occurring. Citizens Bank Park was the setting for an 18 inning marathon between Arizona and Philly. The game that eventually lasted 7 hours and forced two Phillies outfielders to pitch. Arizona scored 5 runs in the top of the 18th and ended up winning 12-7. Sunday's finale in this series is scheduled to start about 12 hours after Saturday's marathon. (Thanks to ESPN for that little nugget.) It's good to see Arizona isn't giving up, ultimately though does it matter? I'd say "no" as the Diamondbacks still trail the Dodgers by 9.5 games with Arizona only having 34 games left in the season. The fact that Arizona has only won half of their last 10 games doesn't give me a lot of faith in their playoff chances either. It's not like they are picking up their game for the stretch run.
Pittsburgh is now tied with the St. Louis Cardinals for first place in the NL Central following St. Louis' 4 game winning streak. Although Pittsburgh has only won half of their last 10 games, I wouldn't say they are collapsing. To me it seems like they are playing like a team who hasn't been here before. Just get to 82 wins first and get the finishing below .500 for 20 consecutive seasons monkey off their back. Then they can focus on making the playoffs. It would take a complete and utter collapse to not qualify for one of the two wild card spots. When they make the playoffs this season it will be an amazing accomplishment and anything beyond that will be good preparation for next season.
themusicaddict
themusicaddict's 80s Music by Billys, Willies, Bills and Billies
Hello,
This is the latest blog in my 80's music blog series, this blog is about music by Bills, Billys and Willies. I thought of this blog as I was exercising this morning. On my iPod a song by Billy Idol played and I wondered to myself what genre would his music would be considered. In the 80s Idol was considered a new waver, but now I would say most of his music would be considered rock. I then realized all of the great artists that were named Billy in the 80s. Billy Joel, Billy Idol, Billy Ocean, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top and Billy Squier. There were other Bills that had a lesser impact. As always these aren't greatest hits blogs, they are greatest songs blogs. Enjoy!
On the off chance you are bizarre as me, Billie Myers' "Kiss The Rain" was released in 1997. I thought it was released in the 80s. Thanks to Wikipedia I found out different. "Kiss The Rain" is a very good song and feels like an 80s song.
I'm going to start off with the more obscure Bills etc. first. Although Bill Medley was by no means an obscure artist, he was part of the Righteous Brothers after all. However this was his only hit in the 80s. Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes' "The Time of My Life":
Another one of my several dozen favorite songs of all-time. The lead singer's name is Billy Vera. Billy and the Beaters "At This Moment":
Grover Washington Jr. and Bill Withers' "Just The Two Of Us":
There have been several versions of this song recorded, but in my opinion this is the best version by far. Willie Nelson absolutely kills on this song. The female singer in the background gives the song that much more poignance. "Always On My Mind":
I'll fill out this blog later, I just wanted to get at least one song by each great Billy of the 80s. Here are a few songs by Billy Squier. This is "Emotions In Motion":
"The Big Beat":
"Don't Say You Love Me":
"My Kinda Lover":
"In The Dark":
"Too Daze Gone":
First time I ever heard this song. According to someone on the internet (take that for what it's worth), this is an Axl Rose favorite song. "Calley Oh":
"Rock Me Tonite" "Squier's preference is to spell it "Tonite":
Everybody Wants You":
"She's A Runner":
Billy Joel released 6 CDs in the, 80's the quality seems to follow a yo yo pattern. In 1980 he released probably my favorite Joel CD "Glass Houses". It features "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me", "You May Be Right", "Don't Tell Me Why" and "Sometimes A Fantasy". It also has the great non hits, "All For Leyna" and "I Don't Want To Be Alone". Not every song was a hit, but most of the songs are pretty darn good.
In 1981 Joel released a live album, "Songs In The Attic", these are mostly obscure songs that Joel wanted to introduce to late joining fans. (Thanks to Wikipedia.org.) Two songs reached the top 25 "Say Goodbye To Hollywood" and the absolutely amazing "She's Got A Way". Pretty much every song on this CD is amazing. The highlights of the highlights include "Captain Jack", "The Ballad Of Billy The Kid", "Los Angelenos" and "I've Loved These Days".
In 1982 Joel followed with "The Nylon Curtain", which through the first 4 songs is a very solid CD. "Allentown", "Pressure" and "Goodnight Saigon" are the highlights of those 4 songs. But the rest of the CD is so so. Joel bounced back with a bit better CD the next year, in 1983 he released "An Innocent Man". A CD that features "Uptown Girl", "An Innocent Man" and "For The Longest Time".
Sadly in 1986 he hit his nadir in his 80's recordings when he released "The Bridge". That CD is barely notable for "A Matter of Trust" and "This Is the Time". However Joel sent the 80s out on a strong note. In 1989 he released "Storm Front", a CD that includes several great songs. Again all the songs weren't hits. But any CD that features the songs "We Didn't Start The Fire", "The Downeaster 'Alexa'", "I Go To Extremes and "Leningrad" is a very good CD.
Billy Joel's "Allentown":
"Close To The Borderline":
This is a 1977 performance from Billy Joel and his band, I'm including it as it's a song that's on a CD that Joel released in the 80s. Well that and it also is a damn good song. "Say Goodbye To Hollywood":
"I Don't Want To Be Alone":
"Miami 2017: "Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway" (Live From 2012):
"Pressure":
If you are at a Billy Joel show and you hear the sound of a helicopter that can only mean one thing, "Goodnight Saigon": (The end of this video is amazing and causes some goosebumps.)
"A Matter of Trust":
"We Didn't Start The Fire" (first a parody that made me feel really dumb):
Now the actual song, which doesn't make me feel quite as dumb:
"The Downeaster "'Alexa'":
"I Go To Extremes":
"Leningrad":
A video about Billy Joel's time in Leningrad.
Billy Idol's "White Wedding":
Billy Gibbons and the rest of ZZ Top, "Stages":
Although this is a remake of a Beatles song, I suggest this is Billy Ocean's best song. "The Long And Winding Road":
And one of the greatest songs of the 80s, Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean":
themusicaddict
This is the latest blog in my 80's music blog series, this blog is about music by Bills, Billys and Willies. I thought of this blog as I was exercising this morning. On my iPod a song by Billy Idol played and I wondered to myself what genre would his music would be considered. In the 80s Idol was considered a new waver, but now I would say most of his music would be considered rock. I then realized all of the great artists that were named Billy in the 80s. Billy Joel, Billy Idol, Billy Ocean, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top and Billy Squier. There were other Bills that had a lesser impact. As always these aren't greatest hits blogs, they are greatest songs blogs. Enjoy!
On the off chance you are bizarre as me, Billie Myers' "Kiss The Rain" was released in 1997. I thought it was released in the 80s. Thanks to Wikipedia I found out different. "Kiss The Rain" is a very good song and feels like an 80s song.
I'm going to start off with the more obscure Bills etc. first. Although Bill Medley was by no means an obscure artist, he was part of the Righteous Brothers after all. However this was his only hit in the 80s. Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes' "The Time of My Life":
Another one of my several dozen favorite songs of all-time. The lead singer's name is Billy Vera. Billy and the Beaters "At This Moment":
Grover Washington Jr. and Bill Withers' "Just The Two Of Us":
There have been several versions of this song recorded, but in my opinion this is the best version by far. Willie Nelson absolutely kills on this song. The female singer in the background gives the song that much more poignance. "Always On My Mind":
I'll fill out this blog later, I just wanted to get at least one song by each great Billy of the 80s. Here are a few songs by Billy Squier. This is "Emotions In Motion":
"The Big Beat":
"Don't Say You Love Me":
"My Kinda Lover":
"In The Dark":
"Too Daze Gone":
First time I ever heard this song. According to someone on the internet (take that for what it's worth), this is an Axl Rose favorite song. "Calley Oh":
"Rock Me Tonite" "Squier's preference is to spell it "Tonite":
Everybody Wants You":
"She's A Runner":
Billy Joel released 6 CDs in the, 80's the quality seems to follow a yo yo pattern. In 1980 he released probably my favorite Joel CD "Glass Houses". It features "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me", "You May Be Right", "Don't Tell Me Why" and "Sometimes A Fantasy". It also has the great non hits, "All For Leyna" and "I Don't Want To Be Alone". Not every song was a hit, but most of the songs are pretty darn good.
In 1981 Joel released a live album, "Songs In The Attic", these are mostly obscure songs that Joel wanted to introduce to late joining fans. (Thanks to Wikipedia.org.) Two songs reached the top 25 "Say Goodbye To Hollywood" and the absolutely amazing "She's Got A Way". Pretty much every song on this CD is amazing. The highlights of the highlights include "Captain Jack", "The Ballad Of Billy The Kid", "Los Angelenos" and "I've Loved These Days".
In 1982 Joel followed with "The Nylon Curtain", which through the first 4 songs is a very solid CD. "Allentown", "Pressure" and "Goodnight Saigon" are the highlights of those 4 songs. But the rest of the CD is so so. Joel bounced back with a bit better CD the next year, in 1983 he released "An Innocent Man". A CD that features "Uptown Girl", "An Innocent Man" and "For The Longest Time".
Sadly in 1986 he hit his nadir in his 80's recordings when he released "The Bridge". That CD is barely notable for "A Matter of Trust" and "This Is the Time". However Joel sent the 80s out on a strong note. In 1989 he released "Storm Front", a CD that includes several great songs. Again all the songs weren't hits. But any CD that features the songs "We Didn't Start The Fire", "The Downeaster 'Alexa'", "I Go To Extremes and "Leningrad" is a very good CD.
Billy Joel's "Allentown":
"Close To The Borderline":
This is a 1977 performance from Billy Joel and his band, I'm including it as it's a song that's on a CD that Joel released in the 80s. Well that and it also is a damn good song. "Say Goodbye To Hollywood":
"I Don't Want To Be Alone":
"Miami 2017: "Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway" (Live From 2012):
"Pressure":
If you are at a Billy Joel show and you hear the sound of a helicopter that can only mean one thing, "Goodnight Saigon": (The end of this video is amazing and causes some goosebumps.)
"A Matter of Trust":
"We Didn't Start The Fire" (first a parody that made me feel really dumb):
Now the actual song, which doesn't make me feel quite as dumb:
"The Downeaster "'Alexa'":
"I Go To Extremes":
"Leningrad":
A video about Billy Joel's time in Leningrad.
Billy Idol's "White Wedding":
Billy Gibbons and the rest of ZZ Top, "Stages":
Although this is a remake of a Beatles song, I suggest this is Billy Ocean's best song. "The Long And Winding Road":
And one of the greatest songs of the 80s, Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean":
themusicaddict
Friday, August 23, 2013
Dodgers Daily, August 23rd, 2013: Dodgers Foil Red Sox, Pirates 6 Wins Away From Breaking Ugly Losing Streak
Hello,
Friday night the Dodgers and Red Sox started a 3 game series. Boston needs to play well to still be in after Sunday night's game. This is a huge series for Boston, but not quite as important for LA. With Arizona and the rest of the NL West playing DOA, LA almost has the NL West in the bag. Arizona lost earlier in the evening, LA knew if they won they'd be 10.5 games ahead of Arizona. I'd say the NL West is in the bag for LA, but I don't want to jinx the Dodgers.
Indeed LA did win the series opener 2-0, yet another shutout by the very tough Dodgers pitching staff. The heroes of this game were Ricky Nolasco, Hanley Ramirez and Kenley Jansen. Hanley Ramirez hit his 13th homer of the season in the 4th inning. With that homer he added his 41st and 42nd RBIs of the season. Those two runs were the only runs scored in the game. I'm glad that's all the runs it took to win that game, the Dodgers only finished with 3 hits in the game. Carl Crawford had the other two hits, he was 2 for 3 and is hitting .293 this season.
From the pitching mound came the most surprising player of the game. That was Ricky Nolasco's great outing. Nolasco was effective for 8 innings and gave the Dodgers bullpen a rest. He gave up 2 hits in those 8 innings and added 6 strikeouts. Nolasco finally inches his record above .500, he's 10-9. It helps your personal record when you go from the lowest scoring team in MLB to the hottest team. Nolasco lowered his season ERA to 3.42. If Nolasco consistently has outings like this, this Dodgers team will be very tough to beat in the playoffs.
Just a side note the Dodgers have played 128 games, which means they still have 34 games left. The MLB season is way too long!
Kenley Jansen pitched the 9th inning and his usual dominant outing. He struck out two Red Sox players in the 9th inning. He also earned his 22nd save and lowered his ERA to 1.95.
As I mentioned Arizona lost earlier in the evening, LA now leads the NL West by 10.5 games. LA is 10 games or more ahead of their division for the first time since 1977. They're 24 games over .500 and have a 99.0% chance of reaching the playoffs. Although the Braves lost tonight and have only won half of their last 10 games, they still have a 99.9% chance of reaching the playoffs. It helps that they lead the NL East second place Nationals by 13.0 games.
Meanwhile the Red Sox are in a virtual first place tie with the Rays. Tampa defeated the Evil Empire tonight in Tampa. Both Boston and Tampa are 20 games over .500, however the Red Sox have played 4 more games than the Rays. Tampa leads the NL East by .002 percentage points, although the Red Sox have a slightly higher chance of reaching the playoffs. The Orioles continue to play well enough that I can't totally dismiss them. To be honest the Orioles making the playoffs seems to be an extreme long shot at this point. Although the Orioles are only 4.5 games out, too bad they didn't play better when the Rays visited earlier this week.
Meanwhile the Pirates have been struggling of late, but they've had two clutch wins back to back. The Pirates remain in first place in the NL Central, leading the Cardinals by 1 game. Pittsburgh only has to win 6 of their 34 remaining games to finish above .500 for the first time in 21 years. The Reds had been playing very well of late, but lost Friday night. Cincinnati falls 3.5 games off the pace in the Central. Although all three NL Central teams will be reaching the playoffs, that's the closest race in the NL. The next closest race appears to be who will win their division by more games, the Dodgers or the Braves.
Daisuke Matsuzaka is still in MLB? He popped up Friday night pitching for the Mets. I'm surprised Matsuzaka is still in MLB, how desperate are people for pitching? Matsuzaka only lasted 5 innings, giving up 6 hits and 5 runs. All runs were earned and he also gave up 2 homers. This is Matsuzaka's first game this season and drops to 0-1. The ERA is a bit misleading as it was only one game, but after one game his ERA is 9.00.
As a Boston fan I was excited when Matsuzaka joined the Red Sox. Sadly Matsuzaka was a profound disappointment for the Red Sox after he came to Boston with much fanfare. However he never lived up to all the hype that preceded him. All the hype that noted how many pitches he had and his success in Japan. I think he had a couple of good outings in the WBC. On reaching Boston his first couple of seasons were decent, but after that he wasn't of much help to the Red Sox. Once his contract was over, the Red Sox dumped him. I'm surprised that someone else gave him a shot.
For every Ichiro there seems to be a Matsuzaka. For every Hiroki Kuroda there's a Kosuke Fukudome.
themusicaddict
Friday night the Dodgers and Red Sox started a 3 game series. Boston needs to play well to still be in after Sunday night's game. This is a huge series for Boston, but not quite as important for LA. With Arizona and the rest of the NL West playing DOA, LA almost has the NL West in the bag. Arizona lost earlier in the evening, LA knew if they won they'd be 10.5 games ahead of Arizona. I'd say the NL West is in the bag for LA, but I don't want to jinx the Dodgers.
Indeed LA did win the series opener 2-0, yet another shutout by the very tough Dodgers pitching staff. The heroes of this game were Ricky Nolasco, Hanley Ramirez and Kenley Jansen. Hanley Ramirez hit his 13th homer of the season in the 4th inning. With that homer he added his 41st and 42nd RBIs of the season. Those two runs were the only runs scored in the game. I'm glad that's all the runs it took to win that game, the Dodgers only finished with 3 hits in the game. Carl Crawford had the other two hits, he was 2 for 3 and is hitting .293 this season.
From the pitching mound came the most surprising player of the game. That was Ricky Nolasco's great outing. Nolasco was effective for 8 innings and gave the Dodgers bullpen a rest. He gave up 2 hits in those 8 innings and added 6 strikeouts. Nolasco finally inches his record above .500, he's 10-9. It helps your personal record when you go from the lowest scoring team in MLB to the hottest team. Nolasco lowered his season ERA to 3.42. If Nolasco consistently has outings like this, this Dodgers team will be very tough to beat in the playoffs.
Just a side note the Dodgers have played 128 games, which means they still have 34 games left. The MLB season is way too long!
Kenley Jansen pitched the 9th inning and his usual dominant outing. He struck out two Red Sox players in the 9th inning. He also earned his 22nd save and lowered his ERA to 1.95.
As I mentioned Arizona lost earlier in the evening, LA now leads the NL West by 10.5 games. LA is 10 games or more ahead of their division for the first time since 1977. They're 24 games over .500 and have a 99.0% chance of reaching the playoffs. Although the Braves lost tonight and have only won half of their last 10 games, they still have a 99.9% chance of reaching the playoffs. It helps that they lead the NL East second place Nationals by 13.0 games.
Meanwhile the Red Sox are in a virtual first place tie with the Rays. Tampa defeated the Evil Empire tonight in Tampa. Both Boston and Tampa are 20 games over .500, however the Red Sox have played 4 more games than the Rays. Tampa leads the NL East by .002 percentage points, although the Red Sox have a slightly higher chance of reaching the playoffs. The Orioles continue to play well enough that I can't totally dismiss them. To be honest the Orioles making the playoffs seems to be an extreme long shot at this point. Although the Orioles are only 4.5 games out, too bad they didn't play better when the Rays visited earlier this week.
Meanwhile the Pirates have been struggling of late, but they've had two clutch wins back to back. The Pirates remain in first place in the NL Central, leading the Cardinals by 1 game. Pittsburgh only has to win 6 of their 34 remaining games to finish above .500 for the first time in 21 years. The Reds had been playing very well of late, but lost Friday night. Cincinnati falls 3.5 games off the pace in the Central. Although all three NL Central teams will be reaching the playoffs, that's the closest race in the NL. The next closest race appears to be who will win their division by more games, the Dodgers or the Braves.
Daisuke Matsuzaka is still in MLB? He popped up Friday night pitching for the Mets. I'm surprised Matsuzaka is still in MLB, how desperate are people for pitching? Matsuzaka only lasted 5 innings, giving up 6 hits and 5 runs. All runs were earned and he also gave up 2 homers. This is Matsuzaka's first game this season and drops to 0-1. The ERA is a bit misleading as it was only one game, but after one game his ERA is 9.00.
As a Boston fan I was excited when Matsuzaka joined the Red Sox. Sadly Matsuzaka was a profound disappointment for the Red Sox after he came to Boston with much fanfare. However he never lived up to all the hype that preceded him. All the hype that noted how many pitches he had and his success in Japan. I think he had a couple of good outings in the WBC. On reaching Boston his first couple of seasons were decent, but after that he wasn't of much help to the Red Sox. Once his contract was over, the Red Sox dumped him. I'm surprised that someone else gave him a shot.
For every Ichiro there seems to be a Matsuzaka. For every Hiroki Kuroda there's a Kosuke Fukudome.
themusicaddict
(Updated August 15th, 2020) themusicaddict's Crunchy 80's Rock Music
Hello,
At least 19 of the below videos were expired. Do you know what that means, it means I need to update this blog.
I decided to break down my Mega 80's music blog into several different categories, I won't be changing my original Mega 80's music blog. I'm taking the same categories and expanding on each theme and I'll also be adding new categories. For instance, how did I miss the music of 80's movies? I enjoy making these kind of blogs and I hope you enjoy them too. As always I welcome all comments, both negative and positive. All you have to do is to leave a comment and I see it almost immediately.
Hopefully you can see all the videos below. However if you can't, please enjoy on Youtube, MTV.com or wherever else you can. It would be a shame not to enjoy the greatest music of all-time.
Obviously I could fill this blog with the music of Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, Ronnie James Dio and many other bands. However I want a more diverse sample of great 80's rock songs. Crunchy rock and roll, 80's style:
themusicaddict
At least 19 of the below videos were expired. Do you know what that means, it means I need to update this blog.
I decided to break down my Mega 80's music blog into several different categories, I won't be changing my original Mega 80's music blog. I'm taking the same categories and expanding on each theme and I'll also be adding new categories. For instance, how did I miss the music of 80's movies? I enjoy making these kind of blogs and I hope you enjoy them too. As always I welcome all comments, both negative and positive. All you have to do is to leave a comment and I see it almost immediately.
Hopefully you can see all the videos below. However if you can't, please enjoy on Youtube, MTV.com or wherever else you can. It would be a shame not to enjoy the greatest music of all-time.
Obviously I could fill this blog with the music of Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, Ronnie James Dio and many other bands. However I want a more diverse sample of great 80's rock songs. Crunchy rock and roll, 80's style:
1) Ministry's "New World Order":
Skid Row was known more for their self-titled first CD, but their follow up CD "Slave To The Grind" kicked some butt. This is 2) "Slave To The Grind":
3) "Youth Gone Wild" kicks some butt as well:
Twisted Sister wants to rock and I suggest you listen! 4) "I Wanna Rock":
5) King Kobra "Mean Street Machine":
The next few videos are all by Iron Maiden, starting with 6) "Run To The Hills":
7) "Hallowed Be Thy Name":
8) "Flight of Icarus":
9) "Trooper":
Up next is the Ronnie James Dio section:
10) "Egypt (The Chains Are On)":
Amazing song, but one of the worst videos ever. 11) "The Last In Line":
12) "Holy Diver (Live)":
13) "We Rock":
14) "One Night In The City":
Metallica, starting with 15) "Through The Never": (I realize that "The Black Album" came out in 1991, but it's close enough for this blog's purposes. The songs and life that inspired those songs probably mostly happened in the 80's.)
16) "The Shortest Straw":
One of the most butt kicking songs of all-time. 17 "One":
18) "Harvester Of Sorrow":
19) "Blackened":
Some random crunchy rock, starting with 20) Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train":.....
.... and 21) "The Ultimate Sin":
I may be stretching the boundaries of your patience, but
22) The Bangles "Hazy Shade Of Winter" really rocks:
This song jumps to the next level of rock following Geoff Tate's monologue.
23) Queensryche's "Empire":
One of the greatest songs ever. 24) Whitesnake's "Still Of The Night":
25) Quiet Riot's "Mama Weer All Crazee Now":
26) Faster Pussycat's "Bathroom Wall":
I would have to question any 80s rock blog that doesn't have at least some space devoted to Guns N' Roses. Here goes starting with 27) "Nightrain":
28 "You're Crazy":
The above two videos certainly don't sound the best, so I went for a better sound quality for the next three videos. 29) "Out Ta Get Me":
30) "Paradise City":
31) "Anything Goes":
32) "Rocket Queen":
33) Motley Crue's: "Kickstart My Heart":
34) "Too Young To Fall In Love":
One of my personal favorite Motley Crue songs: "Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)":
36) "House of Pain":
Thursday, August 22, 2013
themusicaddict's Favorite 80's Songs
Hello,
I wanted to write another 80's music blog today, but I don't have my blog notes with me. So going off the top of my head, what kind of blog can I write just based on memory? Then it came to me I can write a blog about my favorite 80's songs, here goes. I probably literally love hundreds of songs from the 80s, I'm sure I'll miss a lot of songs.
This blog will follow no logical path. I love all kinds of music and so here's a variety of all sorts of songs, artists and songs. Enjoy!
One of the greatest soundtracks ever is the one for "Pretty In Pink". It has 10 amazing songs, the only 80s soundtrack that I can think of that is better is "Purple Rain". This is one of those amazing songs on "Pretty In Pink". Echo and The Bunnymen "Bring On The Dancing Horses":
Speaking of "Purple Rain", this song reminds me being a 17 year old punk kid driving home from my job at Safeways in my ugly green truck. I really wish I could put "When Doves Cry" here, but Prince stupidly continues to not allow his music on Youtube. I wanted to see what was in place of "When Doves Cry" and it's the video for Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up". Having the whitest man ever replace Prince is pretty funny. Prince Rogers Nelson it's time to allow your music to be on Youtube, join the 21st century already.
C + C Music Factory's "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)":
John Parr's "Naughty, Naughty":
When people talk about 80s music, not a lot of people talk about John Parr. However he had at least two amazing songs in the 80s. See above and below, "St. Elmo's Fire":
This next song reminds me of junior high. Probably not too many people remember this song and that's a shame, because this is a great song. Sniff'n The Tears "Driver's Seat":
There's a lot of great music still coming out in 2013, but the amazing music isn't as prolific as it was in the 80s. Although Greg Kihn was singing about music made in the 80s, this song title would be perfect for a lot of music coming out now. The Greg Kihn Band's "The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)":
The Kinks "Destroyer":
Will there ever be another Guns N' Roses? Not even the current Guns N' Roses can carry the classic bands mantle any more. This is probably my favorite Guns N' Roses song and the best song on the amazing "Appetite For Destruction":
Nikki Sixx was the Crue's main songwriter, he wrote a lot of quality rock music. Motley Crue's "Girls Girls Girls":
From sassy to sappy: because you wanted to spend time with 80's babes you needed a few go to love songs. I enjoy the Crue as much as I enjoy the Cetera. When you truly do find love, it's indeed "The Glory Of Love":
One of the sweetest songs of the 80s, Survivor's "The Search Is Over":
Eric Carmen's "Hungry Eyes":
Maxi Priest's "Close To You":
Isn't "it much have been love, but it's over now" one of the saddest refrains in pop music history? Roxette's "It Must Have Been Love":
That sax solo! George Michael's "Careless Whisper":
David Lee Roth's "Yankee Rose":
Twisted Sister "I Wanna Rock":
Europe's "The Final Countdown":
This may be the poppiest 80s song, Wilson Phillips "Hold On":
One of the greatest voices of the 80s, Sinead O' Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U":
Miss O'Connor again with "Mandinka":
Paula Abdul's "Straight Up":
Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean":
The Flirts "Jukebox "Don't Put Another Dime":
Jane Wiedlin's "Rush Hour":
I'd be remiss if I didn't add at least one Madonna song, "Into The Groove":
Or at least two songs, "Causing A Commotion":
themusicaddict
I wanted to write another 80's music blog today, but I don't have my blog notes with me. So going off the top of my head, what kind of blog can I write just based on memory? Then it came to me I can write a blog about my favorite 80's songs, here goes. I probably literally love hundreds of songs from the 80s, I'm sure I'll miss a lot of songs.
This blog will follow no logical path. I love all kinds of music and so here's a variety of all sorts of songs, artists and songs. Enjoy!
One of the greatest soundtracks ever is the one for "Pretty In Pink". It has 10 amazing songs, the only 80s soundtrack that I can think of that is better is "Purple Rain". This is one of those amazing songs on "Pretty In Pink". Echo and The Bunnymen "Bring On The Dancing Horses":
Speaking of "Purple Rain", this song reminds me being a 17 year old punk kid driving home from my job at Safeways in my ugly green truck. I really wish I could put "When Doves Cry" here, but Prince stupidly continues to not allow his music on Youtube. I wanted to see what was in place of "When Doves Cry" and it's the video for Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up". Having the whitest man ever replace Prince is pretty funny. Prince Rogers Nelson it's time to allow your music to be on Youtube, join the 21st century already.
C + C Music Factory's "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)":
John Parr's "Naughty, Naughty":
When people talk about 80s music, not a lot of people talk about John Parr. However he had at least two amazing songs in the 80s. See above and below, "St. Elmo's Fire":
This next song reminds me of junior high. Probably not too many people remember this song and that's a shame, because this is a great song. Sniff'n The Tears "Driver's Seat":
There's a lot of great music still coming out in 2013, but the amazing music isn't as prolific as it was in the 80s. Although Greg Kihn was singing about music made in the 80s, this song title would be perfect for a lot of music coming out now. The Greg Kihn Band's "The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)":
The Kinks "Destroyer":
Will there ever be another Guns N' Roses? Not even the current Guns N' Roses can carry the classic bands mantle any more. This is probably my favorite Guns N' Roses song and the best song on the amazing "Appetite For Destruction":
Nikki Sixx was the Crue's main songwriter, he wrote a lot of quality rock music. Motley Crue's "Girls Girls Girls":
From sassy to sappy: because you wanted to spend time with 80's babes you needed a few go to love songs. I enjoy the Crue as much as I enjoy the Cetera. When you truly do find love, it's indeed "The Glory Of Love":
One of the sweetest songs of the 80s, Survivor's "The Search Is Over":
Eric Carmen's "Hungry Eyes":
Maxi Priest's "Close To You":
Isn't "it much have been love, but it's over now" one of the saddest refrains in pop music history? Roxette's "It Must Have Been Love":
That sax solo! George Michael's "Careless Whisper":
David Lee Roth's "Yankee Rose":
Twisted Sister "I Wanna Rock":
Europe's "The Final Countdown":
This may be the poppiest 80s song, Wilson Phillips "Hold On":
One of the greatest voices of the 80s, Sinead O' Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U":
Miss O'Connor again with "Mandinka":
Paula Abdul's "Straight Up":
Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean":
The Flirts "Jukebox "Don't Put Another Dime":
Jane Wiedlin's "Rush Hour":
I'd be remiss if I didn't add at least one Madonna song, "Into The Groove":
Or at least two songs, "Causing A Commotion":
themusicaddict
Dodgers Daily, August 21st and 22nd, 2013: Greinke & Kershaw Are Big Again!
Hello,
As I started writing Wednesday's blog for the Dodgers 4-1 victory over the Marlins, I realized LA-Miami had already played on Thursday. The Dodgers won Thursday as well, this time 6-0. I decided to combine the blogs for both games into this blog. I may write more on Friday.
Wednesday, August 21st: Dodgers beat Marlins 4-1:
In the third game of this four game series, LA won 4-1. LA has won 2 of the first 3 games with Game 4 Thursday afternoon. I can see why LA paid all that money to Zack Greinke, if Greinke continues playing like this he may come close to earning his contract. (As much as that's possible.) Greinke has been pretty reliable when it comes to hitting as well, however on Wednesday he was 0 for 3. He still is hitting a very solid 3.33 on the season.
Greinke won his 4th straight game as he pitched 8 strong innings. Although he gave up 6 hits, he only gave up 1 run. Greinke improves to 12-3 on the season and lowers his ERA to 2.91. Kenley Jansen earned his 21st save of the season by pitching the 9th inning.
LA only had 7 hits in this game, they didn't have a whole lot of offensive heroes. Both Hanley Ramirez and Andre Ethier both had two hits. Ramirez was 2 for 4 and is hitting .348 this season. Ramirez also added his 20th double and 40th RBI in his injury shortened season. Meanwhile the much maligned Ethier very quietly is making an impact. He was 2 for 3 and is hitting .271 this season. Ethier added his 45th RBI this season as well.
With LA winning and Arizona losing the Dodgers lead Arizona by 8.5 games following Wednesday's games.
Thursday, August 22nd: Dodgers win 6-0, winning the last 3 games of the series. LA is now 75-52 this season and well on their way to the NL West title and hopefully more.
With LA's win on Thursday, just like that the Dodgers have another three game winning streak. On Thursday it was Greinke's fellow Dodgers ace delivering the victory for LA. Clayton Kershaw, or as I like to call him Killer Kershaw, also pitched 8 innings. He gave up 5 hits and no runs. He improves to 13-7 and he lowers his ERA to an amazing 1.72. Can we just give Kershaw the Cy Young already, imagine how good his record would be if he only received a bit more run support?
The other thing I love about Kershaw is that he's able to help himself out with the bat. He's not as good of a hitter as Greinke, but he's no slouch either. On Thursday Kershaw was 1 for 4 and is hitting .156 this season he also had his 8th RBI of the season, a tie breaking single in the 4th inning.
The Beard, Brian Wilson, made his Dodgers debut. He shut down Miami in the 9th inning, he allowed one hit and struck out 2. With the Dodgers being ahead more than 3 runs, he didn't earn a save. I'm sure this appearance was more about letting him get his feet wet though. How good could this Dodgers team be if Wilson is the 2011 Wilson?
Thursday Dodgers offense heroes of course include Kershaw. Carl Crawford only had 1 hit, but he made that hit count. He drove in Skip Schumaker and Juan Uribe later in the 4th inning. Also Adrian Gonzalez continued flirting with .300 as he was 2 for 5. Gonzalez is hitting .297 this season. Yasiel Puig is cooling down a bit, he was only 1 for 3. He did have his 17th double, which was very close to being a homer and is hitting .346 this season. Ramirez sat out Thursday game to get some rest, he still leads all Dodgers batters with at .348.
I allow myself a little more every day to think LA has a chance to win the World Series!
For the second day in a row LA won and Arizona lost, LA now leads Arizona by 9.5 games. If any Arizona fan had any hope that LA could make a comeback, I think this all but squishes that miniscule hope.
As I write this blog the Dodgers are probably on a plane, or might even be in LA by now. On Friday they start a big 3 game series against the Red Sox. That should be a classic matchup. It's important for LA, but it's a lot bigger series for the Red Sox. Although Boston leads the AL East now and have a 89.7% chance of reaching the playoffs, a bad stretch could knock them out of the playoffs. But after losing 6 of their previous 10 games you know their 2011 collapse is in their head a bit. This definitely is a much more important series for the Red Sox. Sunday's game is this week's Sunday Night Baseball game.
Again I'm not a Yankees fan, but I've got to hand it to Ichiro Suzuki for getting his 4,000th combined hit on Wednesday. He has 4,000 hits combined from playing in Japan and MLB. ESPN asked will Ichiro get 3000 hits in MLB? Suzuki has 2,772 hits now and I find myself cheering for him to reach 3,000 hits. Although he's 39 years old, he looks like he's in great shape. He's also still hitting about .270 this season. So yes I do think he'll reach 3,000 MLB hits, probably sometime in the middle of the 2015 season. I'm guessing it will be about the same time that ARod will be coming off his suspension if the Yanks haven't bought him out yet.
themusicaddict
As I started writing Wednesday's blog for the Dodgers 4-1 victory over the Marlins, I realized LA-Miami had already played on Thursday. The Dodgers won Thursday as well, this time 6-0. I decided to combine the blogs for both games into this blog. I may write more on Friday.
Wednesday, August 21st: Dodgers beat Marlins 4-1:
In the third game of this four game series, LA won 4-1. LA has won 2 of the first 3 games with Game 4 Thursday afternoon. I can see why LA paid all that money to Zack Greinke, if Greinke continues playing like this he may come close to earning his contract. (As much as that's possible.) Greinke has been pretty reliable when it comes to hitting as well, however on Wednesday he was 0 for 3. He still is hitting a very solid 3.33 on the season.
Greinke won his 4th straight game as he pitched 8 strong innings. Although he gave up 6 hits, he only gave up 1 run. Greinke improves to 12-3 on the season and lowers his ERA to 2.91. Kenley Jansen earned his 21st save of the season by pitching the 9th inning.
LA only had 7 hits in this game, they didn't have a whole lot of offensive heroes. Both Hanley Ramirez and Andre Ethier both had two hits. Ramirez was 2 for 4 and is hitting .348 this season. Ramirez also added his 20th double and 40th RBI in his injury shortened season. Meanwhile the much maligned Ethier very quietly is making an impact. He was 2 for 3 and is hitting .271 this season. Ethier added his 45th RBI this season as well.
With LA winning and Arizona losing the Dodgers lead Arizona by 8.5 games following Wednesday's games.
Thursday, August 22nd: Dodgers win 6-0, winning the last 3 games of the series. LA is now 75-52 this season and well on their way to the NL West title and hopefully more.
With LA's win on Thursday, just like that the Dodgers have another three game winning streak. On Thursday it was Greinke's fellow Dodgers ace delivering the victory for LA. Clayton Kershaw, or as I like to call him Killer Kershaw, also pitched 8 innings. He gave up 5 hits and no runs. He improves to 13-7 and he lowers his ERA to an amazing 1.72. Can we just give Kershaw the Cy Young already, imagine how good his record would be if he only received a bit more run support?
The other thing I love about Kershaw is that he's able to help himself out with the bat. He's not as good of a hitter as Greinke, but he's no slouch either. On Thursday Kershaw was 1 for 4 and is hitting .156 this season he also had his 8th RBI of the season, a tie breaking single in the 4th inning.
The Beard, Brian Wilson, made his Dodgers debut. He shut down Miami in the 9th inning, he allowed one hit and struck out 2. With the Dodgers being ahead more than 3 runs, he didn't earn a save. I'm sure this appearance was more about letting him get his feet wet though. How good could this Dodgers team be if Wilson is the 2011 Wilson?
Thursday Dodgers offense heroes of course include Kershaw. Carl Crawford only had 1 hit, but he made that hit count. He drove in Skip Schumaker and Juan Uribe later in the 4th inning. Also Adrian Gonzalez continued flirting with .300 as he was 2 for 5. Gonzalez is hitting .297 this season. Yasiel Puig is cooling down a bit, he was only 1 for 3. He did have his 17th double, which was very close to being a homer and is hitting .346 this season. Ramirez sat out Thursday game to get some rest, he still leads all Dodgers batters with at .348.
I allow myself a little more every day to think LA has a chance to win the World Series!
For the second day in a row LA won and Arizona lost, LA now leads Arizona by 9.5 games. If any Arizona fan had any hope that LA could make a comeback, I think this all but squishes that miniscule hope.
As I write this blog the Dodgers are probably on a plane, or might even be in LA by now. On Friday they start a big 3 game series against the Red Sox. That should be a classic matchup. It's important for LA, but it's a lot bigger series for the Red Sox. Although Boston leads the AL East now and have a 89.7% chance of reaching the playoffs, a bad stretch could knock them out of the playoffs. But after losing 6 of their previous 10 games you know their 2011 collapse is in their head a bit. This definitely is a much more important series for the Red Sox. Sunday's game is this week's Sunday Night Baseball game.
Again I'm not a Yankees fan, but I've got to hand it to Ichiro Suzuki for getting his 4,000th combined hit on Wednesday. He has 4,000 hits combined from playing in Japan and MLB. ESPN asked will Ichiro get 3000 hits in MLB? Suzuki has 2,772 hits now and I find myself cheering for him to reach 3,000 hits. Although he's 39 years old, he looks like he's in great shape. He's also still hitting about .270 this season. So yes I do think he'll reach 3,000 MLB hits, probably sometime in the middle of the 2015 season. I'm guessing it will be about the same time that ARod will be coming off his suspension if the Yanks haven't bought him out yet.
themusicaddict
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
themusicaddict's 80's Mystery Songs, Which Genre Are These Songs?
Hello,
I decided to break down my Mega 80's music blog into several different categories, I won't be changing my original Mega 80's music blog. I'll be taking the same categories and expanding on each theme and I'll also be adding new categories. For instance how did I miss the music of 80's music? I enjoy making these kind of blogs and I hope you enjoy them to. As always I welcome all comments, both negative and positive. All you have to do is to leave a comment and I see it almost immediately.
The next 80's music category is songs with hard to label genres. Some songs are clearly pop songs and some songs are clearly rock songs, but what are these songs? I added the videos in hopes people can watch those videos on this blog. However if you can't, please enjoy on Youtube, MTV.com or wherever else you can. It would be a shame not to enjoy the greatest music of all-time. Some of these songs may not have been released in the 80s, but they have an 80s feel so I've included them.
I hate the need by music companies to label everything and confine a band to a certain genre and then usually into a niche into that genre. What category do these songs fit in? I have no idea and isn't it nice to have a sound that breaks a few rules? As long as the music is good lets just enjoy. Also I'm sure you have noticed by now, a song can make many 80s music lists. 80s music was very diverse, which is one of the things that makes it the greatest music of all-time.
That's my hope with this blog, that it never fits into a niche. Is it a sports blog? Is it an 80s blog? Is it an 80s music blog?? Is it a current music blog? The answer to all those questions is a resounding yes.
Is "Black Velvet" rock or pop? I pick choice 3, it's neither and that's one thing that makes the song so great. How about a little "Black Velvet" for your day? Here's Alannah Myles with some black velvet:
Again who cares what genre this song is. It's a great song, let's just enjoy it. Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians "What I Am":
Most people would say this is a New Wave song and indeed it was played on New Wave stations. I know that New Wave is about being on the fringe, but to me this is even a bit on the fringe to fit comfortably with other New Wave bands. Information Society's "Pure Energy":
Hayzi Fantayzee's "Shiny, Shiny" (Why did they make that poor girl wear such an ugly "outfit"?
Obviously this song harks back to a previous era, but what era exactly? Who cares, let's dance. Dexy's Midnight Runners "Come On Eileen":
This song could be any number of genres or none of them. Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game":
Kim Carnes "Bette Davis Eyes";
Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch's "Good Vibrations":
I love this song so much, Mariah Carey's "Vision of Love":
Starship's "We Built This City":
Nu Shooz "I Can't Wait":
For those that prefer the original and much better version of "I Can't Wait":
What a great song! Toto's "Africa":
themusicaddict
I decided to break down my Mega 80's music blog into several different categories, I won't be changing my original Mega 80's music blog. I'll be taking the same categories and expanding on each theme and I'll also be adding new categories. For instance how did I miss the music of 80's music? I enjoy making these kind of blogs and I hope you enjoy them to. As always I welcome all comments, both negative and positive. All you have to do is to leave a comment and I see it almost immediately.
The next 80's music category is songs with hard to label genres. Some songs are clearly pop songs and some songs are clearly rock songs, but what are these songs? I added the videos in hopes people can watch those videos on this blog. However if you can't, please enjoy on Youtube, MTV.com or wherever else you can. It would be a shame not to enjoy the greatest music of all-time. Some of these songs may not have been released in the 80s, but they have an 80s feel so I've included them.
I hate the need by music companies to label everything and confine a band to a certain genre and then usually into a niche into that genre. What category do these songs fit in? I have no idea and isn't it nice to have a sound that breaks a few rules? As long as the music is good lets just enjoy. Also I'm sure you have noticed by now, a song can make many 80s music lists. 80s music was very diverse, which is one of the things that makes it the greatest music of all-time.
That's my hope with this blog, that it never fits into a niche. Is it a sports blog? Is it an 80s blog? Is it an 80s music blog?? Is it a current music blog? The answer to all those questions is a resounding yes.
Is "Black Velvet" rock or pop? I pick choice 3, it's neither and that's one thing that makes the song so great. How about a little "Black Velvet" for your day? Here's Alannah Myles with some black velvet:
Again who cares what genre this song is. It's a great song, let's just enjoy it. Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians "What I Am":
Most people would say this is a New Wave song and indeed it was played on New Wave stations. I know that New Wave is about being on the fringe, but to me this is even a bit on the fringe to fit comfortably with other New Wave bands. Information Society's "Pure Energy":
Hayzi Fantayzee's "Shiny, Shiny" (Why did they make that poor girl wear such an ugly "outfit"?
Obviously this song harks back to a previous era, but what era exactly? Who cares, let's dance. Dexy's Midnight Runners "Come On Eileen":
This song could be any number of genres or none of them. Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game":
Kim Carnes "Bette Davis Eyes";
Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch's "Good Vibrations":
I love this song so much, Mariah Carey's "Vision of Love":
Starship's "We Built This City":
Nu Shooz "I Can't Wait":
For those that prefer the original and much better version of "I Can't Wait":
What a great song! Toto's "Africa":
themusicaddict
Dodgers Daily, August 20th, 2013: Puig Does It Again, The AL Beast Tightens Up
Hello,
In the second of the four game series between LA and Miami, the Dodgers were able to win that game. LA's victory broke their two game losing streak. The Dodgers should also win the final two games of this series. Miami does have the second worse record in MLB for a reason.
As has often been the case this season, the hero of the game was Yasiel Puig. His 8th inning homer broke a 4-4 tie and the Dodgers went on to win. On Tuesday Puig arrived late for the game and he received a fine from manager Don Mattingly. Mattingly said that Puig sat out the early part of the game for "baseball reasons". I'm not exactly sure what that means, but LA was still able to get the win. Not only was it a nice win, but it also means LA doesn't have a 3 game losing streak. A 3 game losing streak may cause panic amongst a team that doesn't have much playoff experience.
That was Puig's 12th homer, 28th RBI and he's hitting .352 this season. Puig has been with the Dodgers for over 2.5 months, I think it's safe to say that he isn't just a flash in the pan. I get the feeling that this season will be known eventually as the Summer of Yasiel.
Of course Puig wasn't the only one that came through for LA, Adrian Gonzalez also had a nice game. He was 3 for 5 and is hitting .298 this season. Gonzalez added his 77th RBI of the season. The other Dodgers that had multiple hit games include Carl Crawford (.290), Mark Ellis (.281), Andre Ethier (.271), Juan Uribe (.283) and Tim Federowicz (.238). The number in the parenthesis is that players current batting average.
Chris Capuano had a decent enough start, in 5 innings he only gave up 6 hits and 3 runs. He lowers his ERA to 4.70, but didn't finish with a decision. Several pitchers held the fort, including Paco Rodriguez who struck out the only batter he faced. Rodriguez has a 1.94 ERA this season. Chris Withrow picked up the win, improving to 2-0 this season. Kenley Jansen notched his 20th save of the season.
With both LA and Arizona winning, the Dodgers remain 7.5 games ahead of Arizona. Arizona has won 6 of 10 games and seem to be trying to edge their way back in the playoff race. But go ahead and put a fork in the Diamondbacks as they are done. They won't catch LA or any of the NL Central teams for a wild card spot.
Wednesday evening is the third game of the four Dodgers-Marlins game series. The scheduled starting matchup will be the hot Zack Greinke (11-3, 3.02 ERA) vs. Nathan Eovoldi (2-3, 3.96 ERA)
As are the Yankees, I'm looking forward to next season when Alex Rodriguez will be suspended and likely miss the season. That will save the Yankees a lot of money and MLB fans a lot of drama and his desperate need to be in the spotlight. But there's no denying that the Yanks have played better since he's been back. Derek Jeter may be playing for the Yankees soon as well. As much as I hate to say this here come the Yankees! Boston should have squished them this past weekend when they had the Yanks at Fenway for a 3 game series. Sadly the Yanks won 2 of those 3 games and that has given them some momentum.
On Tuesday Boston and Baltimore lost while the Rays and Yanks won. The Rays have won 3 straight games and have surged into first place in the AL East, they are percentage points ahead of Boston. The Rays are 72-52 and have a 83.2% chance of reaching the playoffs. Boston is in second place, are 74-54 and have a 87.1% chance of reaching the playoffs. Those two teams are virtually tied for first place. In third place is the struggling Baltimore Orioles, who trail the AL East leaders by 5.5 games. Baltimore has lost the first 2 games of a 3 game home series against the Rays. They've only won 3 of their last 10 games and quickly are dropping out of the playoff race. In fourth place is the Evil Empire, like a cockroach they seem to be able to survive anything. They've won 8 of 10 and 3 games in a row and trail the Rays and Red Sox by 6.5 games. New York has a 11.0% chance of reaching the playoffs.
Finally I'm sure I heard what was said incorrectly. But I thought I heard an ESPN announcer say that the Angels still had a chance to get an AL Wild Card spot. But let's be real, the Angels virtually have no chance of making the playoffs. They've lost 3 games in a row and 8 of 10 and are 17.5 games out in the Wild Card. Oakland and the AL East second place team would have to completely collapse for the Angels to sneak into the playoffs. Even more importantly the Angels have to start playing good ball with Albert Pujols out for the rest of the season and an underperforming Josh Hamilton. The Angels are 15 games under .500, them making the playoffs ain't going to happen.
themusicaddict
In the second of the four game series between LA and Miami, the Dodgers were able to win that game. LA's victory broke their two game losing streak. The Dodgers should also win the final two games of this series. Miami does have the second worse record in MLB for a reason.
As has often been the case this season, the hero of the game was Yasiel Puig. His 8th inning homer broke a 4-4 tie and the Dodgers went on to win. On Tuesday Puig arrived late for the game and he received a fine from manager Don Mattingly. Mattingly said that Puig sat out the early part of the game for "baseball reasons". I'm not exactly sure what that means, but LA was still able to get the win. Not only was it a nice win, but it also means LA doesn't have a 3 game losing streak. A 3 game losing streak may cause panic amongst a team that doesn't have much playoff experience.
That was Puig's 12th homer, 28th RBI and he's hitting .352 this season. Puig has been with the Dodgers for over 2.5 months, I think it's safe to say that he isn't just a flash in the pan. I get the feeling that this season will be known eventually as the Summer of Yasiel.
Of course Puig wasn't the only one that came through for LA, Adrian Gonzalez also had a nice game. He was 3 for 5 and is hitting .298 this season. Gonzalez added his 77th RBI of the season. The other Dodgers that had multiple hit games include Carl Crawford (.290), Mark Ellis (.281), Andre Ethier (.271), Juan Uribe (.283) and Tim Federowicz (.238). The number in the parenthesis is that players current batting average.
Chris Capuano had a decent enough start, in 5 innings he only gave up 6 hits and 3 runs. He lowers his ERA to 4.70, but didn't finish with a decision. Several pitchers held the fort, including Paco Rodriguez who struck out the only batter he faced. Rodriguez has a 1.94 ERA this season. Chris Withrow picked up the win, improving to 2-0 this season. Kenley Jansen notched his 20th save of the season.
With both LA and Arizona winning, the Dodgers remain 7.5 games ahead of Arizona. Arizona has won 6 of 10 games and seem to be trying to edge their way back in the playoff race. But go ahead and put a fork in the Diamondbacks as they are done. They won't catch LA or any of the NL Central teams for a wild card spot.
Wednesday evening is the third game of the four Dodgers-Marlins game series. The scheduled starting matchup will be the hot Zack Greinke (11-3, 3.02 ERA) vs. Nathan Eovoldi (2-3, 3.96 ERA)
As are the Yankees, I'm looking forward to next season when Alex Rodriguez will be suspended and likely miss the season. That will save the Yankees a lot of money and MLB fans a lot of drama and his desperate need to be in the spotlight. But there's no denying that the Yanks have played better since he's been back. Derek Jeter may be playing for the Yankees soon as well. As much as I hate to say this here come the Yankees! Boston should have squished them this past weekend when they had the Yanks at Fenway for a 3 game series. Sadly the Yanks won 2 of those 3 games and that has given them some momentum.
On Tuesday Boston and Baltimore lost while the Rays and Yanks won. The Rays have won 3 straight games and have surged into first place in the AL East, they are percentage points ahead of Boston. The Rays are 72-52 and have a 83.2% chance of reaching the playoffs. Boston is in second place, are 74-54 and have a 87.1% chance of reaching the playoffs. Those two teams are virtually tied for first place. In third place is the struggling Baltimore Orioles, who trail the AL East leaders by 5.5 games. Baltimore has lost the first 2 games of a 3 game home series against the Rays. They've only won 3 of their last 10 games and quickly are dropping out of the playoff race. In fourth place is the Evil Empire, like a cockroach they seem to be able to survive anything. They've won 8 of 10 and 3 games in a row and trail the Rays and Red Sox by 6.5 games. New York has a 11.0% chance of reaching the playoffs.
Finally I'm sure I heard what was said incorrectly. But I thought I heard an ESPN announcer say that the Angels still had a chance to get an AL Wild Card spot. But let's be real, the Angels virtually have no chance of making the playoffs. They've lost 3 games in a row and 8 of 10 and are 17.5 games out in the Wild Card. Oakland and the AL East second place team would have to completely collapse for the Angels to sneak into the playoffs. Even more importantly the Angels have to start playing good ball with Albert Pujols out for the rest of the season and an underperforming Josh Hamilton. The Angels are 15 games under .500, them making the playoffs ain't going to happen.
themusicaddict
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
themusicaddict's What I'm Not Writing About Today, Lee Thompson Young, Elmore Leonard Dies
Hello,
Lee Thompson Young died yesterday, this is sad news for his friends and family first. However this is also sad news for fans "Rizzoli and Isles", which I'm one of. It seems that Young, who plays Detective Barry Frost, killed himself. This is such a tragedy. I know very little about Young and can only guess what kind of pain he was in. About the only sure thing someone can say about a person who has committed suicide is that they felt there was little they could do. I think suicide might be the ultimate act of desperation, when one shoots themselves they clearly meant to commit suicide.
Looking at Young's life from outside, it might seem that he had everything. However clearly he didn't, or at least he didn't think he did. He was probably at least a bit depressed, depression can make some normal seeming people do things that seem to make no sense. I realize that sometimes people confuse the actual actor with the character they play. I'm sure at least a few people have thought that Barry Frost never would kill himself. Since he's only a character we'll never know. But that's why it's called acting. Even good actors who are fighting depression can act happy and have charisma.
Young played Frost with such charisma and also with a goofy sense-of-humor. I loved his burgeoning bromance with young Frankie Rizzoli. There seemed to be a lot of quality storylines ahead with those two. Just last night I enjoyed watching Rizzoli help Frost get over his squeamishness around dead bodies. Along with those two characters, I enjoy rest of the zany cast. Even when the case of the week was weak, the cast's chemistry always brought a few laughs.
Most people probably remember Young on Disney's "The Famous Jett Jackson", a show I've never seen and barely remember even hearing of. However I loved Young's character on "Rizzoli and Isles". An actor and character that didn't take himself too seriously. He was a great and important part of a great show and will be missed by all of many fans.
Some will wonder why didn't Young reach out? Why didn't he seek help with whatever battle he was fighting? One of the saddest things about this whole situation is that he may have been too good of an actor. Perhaps his friends and family didn't see that he needed help, maybe those acting skills ultimately cost him his life.
R.I.P. Lee Thompson Young
From Young's death to the death of a true entertainment legend. Early Tuesday the great author Elmore Leonard died. Leonard wasn't one of my favorite writers, but he was a very good writer. I loved his novel"Get Shorty", what a great book that is. The main character in "Get Shorty" is loan shark Chili Palmer. He's one of my favorite fictional characters, both from books and movies. Very few times will it be said that a person was born to play a role, however John Travolta was born to play Chili Palmer.
Leonard also wrote many other books, among many of which were turned into movies or TV shows.
R.I.P. Elmore Leonard.
"Low Winter Sun": I've watched the first two episodes of this show and have liked it. However since it's a cop show on AMC as "The Killing" is, I have to admit that I didn't give it much of a leash. As soon as it did something stupid like "The Killing" I was going to turn the TV off. I was pleasantly surprised that the first episode was so good. I'm watching "Low Winter Sun" because I was intrigued enough by it's commercials. Although it deals with similar thematic elements, it has little in common with "The Killing". For instance, the sun actually shines in Detroit, whereas it rarely did in Seattle. Even when the sun shined in "The Killing" it was a very gloomy sun.
One thing that I dislike about "Low Winter Sun", which I've noticed in other TV shows, is how they try to shove too many stories into a season. Here are just a few of the stories. There's the storyline involving Agnew and Geddes and their conspiracy in killing fellow cop Brendan McCann. There also is the Internal Affairs investigation of McCann, then Geddes, occurring. There's also the relationship between Geddes and his Mom. Then there's the storyline about Geddes, Agnew and Agnew's missing prostitute girlfriend Katya.
We also have wanna be gangster Damon Callis and his minions, who are trying to move in on other gangsters territory. There are story lines surrounding his lovely wife, Maya (Sprague Grayden) as well. It seems that Damon isn't the only one that has an interest in Maya. Another story line includes Callis, who was in cahoots with McCann. Now Callis wants to be in business with Geddes, but initially Geddes wants nothing to do with him. Geddes has enough crap going on in his life.
The other gangsters that Callis' crew are trying to inch on include an older white gangster and an older black gangster. These characters and story lines have been introduced in only the first two episodes. There's too many extra stories going on which detracts from the main story, which is the reason why I'm watching the show in the first place.
Sadly the ratings for "Low Winter Sun" haven't been very good and may not be around much longer.
A couple of quick sports notes. Fox Sports 1 made it's national debut this past Saturday. (FS1 is on Channel 265 in the Salt Lake Valley for Comcast Subscribers.) So far I've been extremely unimpressed. Every time I turned over to FS1, they had MMA, auto racing or boxing. Three sports I have no interest in. I realize it's not the prime time to start a sports station, there are many other networks showing sports. I'm hoping with MLB pennant races heating up and college and pro football right around the corner their programming gets a lot better.
And what the hell is "Fox Sports Live", their sports highlight show. The two hosts Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole seem to be a poor copy of classic and current ESPN sports announcers. They work too hard to be funny and zany and failed miserably in both in the one episode I've seen. They were so bad, they started to bore me. I was glad that I could switch back to ESPN.
Why is it that "Fox Sports Live" is anything but in the morning. This is Fox, the network with the most commercials of any on TV. Those rare times I watch shows on Fox I watch them on DVR, that way I can bypass the 20 minutes of commercials. Fox shows too many commercials and have up to 5 minute blocks of commercials. That makes for some really boring television. So Fox please don't tell us you don't have enough money to show 24 hours of live sports broadcasting.
And what's up with that "Fox Sports Live"panel? They aren't terrible, but 5 people trying to speak in limited time is just too much. The panel that I saw while I was watching was Gabe Kapler, Donovan McNabb, Andy Roddick and Gary Payton with a random hot babe facilitating the discussion. I wasn't overwhelmed by any of them. I don't expect much from McNabb, Roddick etc. however I expect a lot from Gary Payton. Payton is one of the NBA's all-time clutch players and here's hoping he picks up his game quickly. Maybe Fox can dump at least one or two people taking up valuable broadcast time.
Last and definitely least: sometimes I enjoying listening to sports radio. I like to hear other people's opinions and insight about sports. But sports radio has too many commercials and the worst seems to be ESPN 700 in Salt Lake City. The main afternoon host, Bill Reilly, is personable enough. However he works with the brutal Hans Olsen. Olsen is boring and likes to refer to his sports career way too much. I'm of the belief if you have to refer to your pro career too much, then you didn't have much of a career. Olsen too many times likes to start sentences with "Let me break this down for the average listener" or "Let me tell you what I think". Dearest Hans first of all please don't patronize us. It's bad enough being patronized ever, but especially being patronized about sports. It's sports it isn't brain surgery. Second of all just tell us what you think. Listening to the Bill and Hans Show is to suffer through close to 40 minutes of commercials each hour.
First there are the regular commercials, which I realize are the nature of the beast. Unfortunately there are also commercials in the middle of the sports segments. After talking about sports a few minutes and the show gets into a groove Reilly will start talking about something that sounds sports related. Within several seconds you realize it's just another commercial. On Monday I heard Reilly do commercials for some lame sports drink (because we don't have enough of those already) and pizza. Not to mention all the commercials ESPN 700 does for itself, Real Salt Lake and Utah Utes sports. After several minutes of that it gets tiring and it seems the commercials are nearly endless. Many times I'm thankful for CD players and being able to listen to great music. I just wish sports radio came with fewer commercials and people that actually talked about sports.
themusicaddict
Lee Thompson Young died yesterday, this is sad news for his friends and family first. However this is also sad news for fans "Rizzoli and Isles", which I'm one of. It seems that Young, who plays Detective Barry Frost, killed himself. This is such a tragedy. I know very little about Young and can only guess what kind of pain he was in. About the only sure thing someone can say about a person who has committed suicide is that they felt there was little they could do. I think suicide might be the ultimate act of desperation, when one shoots themselves they clearly meant to commit suicide.
Looking at Young's life from outside, it might seem that he had everything. However clearly he didn't, or at least he didn't think he did. He was probably at least a bit depressed, depression can make some normal seeming people do things that seem to make no sense. I realize that sometimes people confuse the actual actor with the character they play. I'm sure at least a few people have thought that Barry Frost never would kill himself. Since he's only a character we'll never know. But that's why it's called acting. Even good actors who are fighting depression can act happy and have charisma.
Young played Frost with such charisma and also with a goofy sense-of-humor. I loved his burgeoning bromance with young Frankie Rizzoli. There seemed to be a lot of quality storylines ahead with those two. Just last night I enjoyed watching Rizzoli help Frost get over his squeamishness around dead bodies. Along with those two characters, I enjoy rest of the zany cast. Even when the case of the week was weak, the cast's chemistry always brought a few laughs.
Most people probably remember Young on Disney's "The Famous Jett Jackson", a show I've never seen and barely remember even hearing of. However I loved Young's character on "Rizzoli and Isles". An actor and character that didn't take himself too seriously. He was a great and important part of a great show and will be missed by all of many fans.
Some will wonder why didn't Young reach out? Why didn't he seek help with whatever battle he was fighting? One of the saddest things about this whole situation is that he may have been too good of an actor. Perhaps his friends and family didn't see that he needed help, maybe those acting skills ultimately cost him his life.
R.I.P. Lee Thompson Young
From Young's death to the death of a true entertainment legend. Early Tuesday the great author Elmore Leonard died. Leonard wasn't one of my favorite writers, but he was a very good writer. I loved his novel"Get Shorty", what a great book that is. The main character in "Get Shorty" is loan shark Chili Palmer. He's one of my favorite fictional characters, both from books and movies. Very few times will it be said that a person was born to play a role, however John Travolta was born to play Chili Palmer.
Leonard also wrote many other books, among many of which were turned into movies or TV shows.
R.I.P. Elmore Leonard.
"Low Winter Sun": I've watched the first two episodes of this show and have liked it. However since it's a cop show on AMC as "The Killing" is, I have to admit that I didn't give it much of a leash. As soon as it did something stupid like "The Killing" I was going to turn the TV off. I was pleasantly surprised that the first episode was so good. I'm watching "Low Winter Sun" because I was intrigued enough by it's commercials. Although it deals with similar thematic elements, it has little in common with "The Killing". For instance, the sun actually shines in Detroit, whereas it rarely did in Seattle. Even when the sun shined in "The Killing" it was a very gloomy sun.
One thing that I dislike about "Low Winter Sun", which I've noticed in other TV shows, is how they try to shove too many stories into a season. Here are just a few of the stories. There's the storyline involving Agnew and Geddes and their conspiracy in killing fellow cop Brendan McCann. There also is the Internal Affairs investigation of McCann, then Geddes, occurring. There's also the relationship between Geddes and his Mom. Then there's the storyline about Geddes, Agnew and Agnew's missing prostitute girlfriend Katya.
We also have wanna be gangster Damon Callis and his minions, who are trying to move in on other gangsters territory. There are story lines surrounding his lovely wife, Maya (Sprague Grayden) as well. It seems that Damon isn't the only one that has an interest in Maya. Another story line includes Callis, who was in cahoots with McCann. Now Callis wants to be in business with Geddes, but initially Geddes wants nothing to do with him. Geddes has enough crap going on in his life.
The other gangsters that Callis' crew are trying to inch on include an older white gangster and an older black gangster. These characters and story lines have been introduced in only the first two episodes. There's too many extra stories going on which detracts from the main story, which is the reason why I'm watching the show in the first place.
Sadly the ratings for "Low Winter Sun" haven't been very good and may not be around much longer.
A couple of quick sports notes. Fox Sports 1 made it's national debut this past Saturday. (FS1 is on Channel 265 in the Salt Lake Valley for Comcast Subscribers.) So far I've been extremely unimpressed. Every time I turned over to FS1, they had MMA, auto racing or boxing. Three sports I have no interest in. I realize it's not the prime time to start a sports station, there are many other networks showing sports. I'm hoping with MLB pennant races heating up and college and pro football right around the corner their programming gets a lot better.
And what the hell is "Fox Sports Live", their sports highlight show. The two hosts Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole seem to be a poor copy of classic and current ESPN sports announcers. They work too hard to be funny and zany and failed miserably in both in the one episode I've seen. They were so bad, they started to bore me. I was glad that I could switch back to ESPN.
Why is it that "Fox Sports Live" is anything but in the morning. This is Fox, the network with the most commercials of any on TV. Those rare times I watch shows on Fox I watch them on DVR, that way I can bypass the 20 minutes of commercials. Fox shows too many commercials and have up to 5 minute blocks of commercials. That makes for some really boring television. So Fox please don't tell us you don't have enough money to show 24 hours of live sports broadcasting.
And what's up with that "Fox Sports Live"panel? They aren't terrible, but 5 people trying to speak in limited time is just too much. The panel that I saw while I was watching was Gabe Kapler, Donovan McNabb, Andy Roddick and Gary Payton with a random hot babe facilitating the discussion. I wasn't overwhelmed by any of them. I don't expect much from McNabb, Roddick etc. however I expect a lot from Gary Payton. Payton is one of the NBA's all-time clutch players and here's hoping he picks up his game quickly. Maybe Fox can dump at least one or two people taking up valuable broadcast time.
Last and definitely least: sometimes I enjoying listening to sports radio. I like to hear other people's opinions and insight about sports. But sports radio has too many commercials and the worst seems to be ESPN 700 in Salt Lake City. The main afternoon host, Bill Reilly, is personable enough. However he works with the brutal Hans Olsen. Olsen is boring and likes to refer to his sports career way too much. I'm of the belief if you have to refer to your pro career too much, then you didn't have much of a career. Olsen too many times likes to start sentences with "Let me break this down for the average listener" or "Let me tell you what I think". Dearest Hans first of all please don't patronize us. It's bad enough being patronized ever, but especially being patronized about sports. It's sports it isn't brain surgery. Second of all just tell us what you think. Listening to the Bill and Hans Show is to suffer through close to 40 minutes of commercials each hour.
First there are the regular commercials, which I realize are the nature of the beast. Unfortunately there are also commercials in the middle of the sports segments. After talking about sports a few minutes and the show gets into a groove Reilly will start talking about something that sounds sports related. Within several seconds you realize it's just another commercial. On Monday I heard Reilly do commercials for some lame sports drink (because we don't have enough of those already) and pizza. Not to mention all the commercials ESPN 700 does for itself, Real Salt Lake and Utah Utes sports. After several minutes of that it gets tiring and it seems the commercials are nearly endless. Many times I'm thankful for CD players and being able to listen to great music. I just wish sports radio came with fewer commercials and people that actually talked about sports.
themusicaddict
Dodgers Daily, August 19th, 2013: Dodgers Lose Two In A Row, Should Still Coast to NL West Title
Hello,
On Monday LA opened a four game series against MLB's lowest scoring team, the Miami Marlins. Miami won the first game in the series 6-2. This is the first time LA lost two games in a row since late June. In game two of the series it will be Chris Capuano (4-6, 4.66 ERA) vs. Jacob Turner (3-4, 2.89 ERA.)
Pitching for the Dodgers was Hyun-Jin Ryu, who had a decent game. He pitched 7.1 innings, allowed 6 hits and only 3 runs. But since the Dodgers only scored 2 runs, that third run was enough to hang him with the loss. Ryu still is 12-4 with a 2.95 ERA. When a pitcher only gives up 2 runs, he really can't be blame for the loss. Only giving up 3 runs is very good and should be enough for his team to win most of those games. I'm very glad LA signed Ryu, he's had a fantastic rookie season. Ryu should receive some consideration for Rookie Of The Year.
Of course, the Dodgers offense is who should be blamed for this loss. It's the pennant race, Dodgers batters should be stepping up now. However LA hasn't stepped up in the last 2 games. On Monday LA was 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position and only had 6 hits the entire game. Juan Uribe had half of LA's hits, he was 3 for 4 and is hitting .281 this season. Uribe has only 36 RBIs this the season, he did score a run. So far Juan Uribe has benefitted very much from his 3 year- $21 million contract with LA. Now finally in the third year of the deal, it looks like LA may finally start to benefit as well. If Uribe ends up being a World Series hero like he was for the Giants, all will be forgiven. Even if that happens I don't see Uribe back in Dodger blue next season.
For the Marlins Giancarlo Stanton was 2 for 4, although he's only hitting .241 this season. He did have his 15th homer in this injury plagued season, he also added his 38th RBI this season. I was surprised by his low batting average as it seems I'm always hearing his name on ESPN. I hear he's unhappy in Miami and I thought how good he would look in a Dodgers uniform. He's an outfielder so could the Dodgers find a place for him to play?
LA has lost 2 games in a row. Am I worried, I'm a fan so of course I'm worried. But realistically the Diamondbacks are toast, they aren't going to catch LA. Arizona only has a 19.8% chance of reaching the playoffs, which honestly feels high. The Dodgers lead Arizona by 7.5 games and will coast to the NL West title. The only division race that will be less suspenseful is the NL East.
The Pirates stepped up with a big win yesterday, beating the Padres in San Diego 3-1. Although the Pirates have only won 3 of 10, making Pirates fans uncomfortable, they're still in first place in the very tough NL Central. Pittsburgh has a 96.3% chance of reaching the playoffs and still lead the Cards by 1 game. The Reds also continue to stick around, they've won 7 of 10. Cincinnati is only 2.5 games behind Pittsburgh.
The Angels announced that Albert Pujols is out for the season. With him struggling with that foot injury this is a very wise move by the Angels. They're done this season and I think done for the next couple of seasons. Pujols is clearly on the downside of his career and will never be an elite player again. It's sad to see such a classy legend in the twilight of his career. Worse news for the Angels, they still owe $100 million to Josh Hamilton for 4 years. That's one of the worst contracts of recent years.
Another terrible contract and getting worse by the day is the contract that New York signed with Alex Rodriguez. His new lawyer is in full offensive mode, apparently trying to burn every bridge that Rodriguez still has standing. Rodriguez is fighting like a cornered animal, fighting a fight he almost surely can't win. I know Rodriguez loves being in the public eye. However speaking for at least 90% of America, Alex please just go away!
The Red Sox' Ryan Dempster was fined today for 5 games for intentionally throwing at ARod. Are you kidding? Dempster should be given a reward or at least no punishment. However I don't support hurting someone intentionally in anything, especially in a baseball game. If Dempster really wanted to send a message, he should have struck Rodriguez out three times. Instead Rodriguez earned some goodwill for the way he handled the situation and his funny post game comments. That didn't quite work out like you thought, did it Ryan?
themusicaddict
On Monday LA opened a four game series against MLB's lowest scoring team, the Miami Marlins. Miami won the first game in the series 6-2. This is the first time LA lost two games in a row since late June. In game two of the series it will be Chris Capuano (4-6, 4.66 ERA) vs. Jacob Turner (3-4, 2.89 ERA.)
Pitching for the Dodgers was Hyun-Jin Ryu, who had a decent game. He pitched 7.1 innings, allowed 6 hits and only 3 runs. But since the Dodgers only scored 2 runs, that third run was enough to hang him with the loss. Ryu still is 12-4 with a 2.95 ERA. When a pitcher only gives up 2 runs, he really can't be blame for the loss. Only giving up 3 runs is very good and should be enough for his team to win most of those games. I'm very glad LA signed Ryu, he's had a fantastic rookie season. Ryu should receive some consideration for Rookie Of The Year.
Of course, the Dodgers offense is who should be blamed for this loss. It's the pennant race, Dodgers batters should be stepping up now. However LA hasn't stepped up in the last 2 games. On Monday LA was 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position and only had 6 hits the entire game. Juan Uribe had half of LA's hits, he was 3 for 4 and is hitting .281 this season. Uribe has only 36 RBIs this the season, he did score a run. So far Juan Uribe has benefitted very much from his 3 year- $21 million contract with LA. Now finally in the third year of the deal, it looks like LA may finally start to benefit as well. If Uribe ends up being a World Series hero like he was for the Giants, all will be forgiven. Even if that happens I don't see Uribe back in Dodger blue next season.
For the Marlins Giancarlo Stanton was 2 for 4, although he's only hitting .241 this season. He did have his 15th homer in this injury plagued season, he also added his 38th RBI this season. I was surprised by his low batting average as it seems I'm always hearing his name on ESPN. I hear he's unhappy in Miami and I thought how good he would look in a Dodgers uniform. He's an outfielder so could the Dodgers find a place for him to play?
LA has lost 2 games in a row. Am I worried, I'm a fan so of course I'm worried. But realistically the Diamondbacks are toast, they aren't going to catch LA. Arizona only has a 19.8% chance of reaching the playoffs, which honestly feels high. The Dodgers lead Arizona by 7.5 games and will coast to the NL West title. The only division race that will be less suspenseful is the NL East.
The Pirates stepped up with a big win yesterday, beating the Padres in San Diego 3-1. Although the Pirates have only won 3 of 10, making Pirates fans uncomfortable, they're still in first place in the very tough NL Central. Pittsburgh has a 96.3% chance of reaching the playoffs and still lead the Cards by 1 game. The Reds also continue to stick around, they've won 7 of 10. Cincinnati is only 2.5 games behind Pittsburgh.
The Angels announced that Albert Pujols is out for the season. With him struggling with that foot injury this is a very wise move by the Angels. They're done this season and I think done for the next couple of seasons. Pujols is clearly on the downside of his career and will never be an elite player again. It's sad to see such a classy legend in the twilight of his career. Worse news for the Angels, they still owe $100 million to Josh Hamilton for 4 years. That's one of the worst contracts of recent years.
Another terrible contract and getting worse by the day is the contract that New York signed with Alex Rodriguez. His new lawyer is in full offensive mode, apparently trying to burn every bridge that Rodriguez still has standing. Rodriguez is fighting like a cornered animal, fighting a fight he almost surely can't win. I know Rodriguez loves being in the public eye. However speaking for at least 90% of America, Alex please just go away!
The Red Sox' Ryan Dempster was fined today for 5 games for intentionally throwing at ARod. Are you kidding? Dempster should be given a reward or at least no punishment. However I don't support hurting someone intentionally in anything, especially in a baseball game. If Dempster really wanted to send a message, he should have struck Rodriguez out three times. Instead Rodriguez earned some goodwill for the way he handled the situation and his funny post game comments. That didn't quite work out like you thought, did it Ryan?
themusicaddict
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)