Saturday, January 29, 2005

Sosa Traded

It has been reported that Sammy Sosa has been traded by the Cubs to the Baltimore Orioles. The deal has Sosa heading to Baltimore while 2B Jerry Hairston, Jr. and a couple of prospects coming over to Chicago. The Cubs will also pay a good portion of Sosa's salary for 2005. Sosa has also indicated that he would void the 2006 year of his contract if he was to be traded.

I like this deal for the Cubs. One, it removes a player who has gone from being look at as a clubhouse leader to a clubhouse cancer off the team. It had been obvious that the Cubs were willing to part ways with Sosa this entire offseason. Second, it saves the Cubs an ass load of money in the 2006 season which can be better spent elsewhere. By being able to move Sosa now, it allows the Cubs to finally be able to push hard for OF Magglio Ordonez. I think Ordonez would much rather play for his former cross-town rival than head to Detroit, but that's just my opinion. His agent is, afterall, the evil Scott Boras, so he will take the offer from the team whoever offers the most dollars.

From the Oriole's standpoint of the deal, I just shake my head. The Oriole's have gained the reputation of making bad deals for players that are past their prime. This seriously reminds of me of when they signed Albert Belle to a huge contract who then was unable to play due to a degenerative hip condition. While I don't think that Sosa will suffer a career ending injury like Belle did, I would be willing to bet that Sosa won't be worth even close to what they are paying him and giving up to get him. Sosa is on the decline and the old MVP Sosa is gone and not coming back. According to ESPN, Sammy Sosa is the only player to ever decrease Avg, RBI, and HR collectively for three years in a row. Other big, long-term questionable signings they have made include Javy Lopez, Raffy Palmeiro, and Sidney Ponson last year. So as you can see, this has been the norm for Baltimore.

Sunday, January 23, 2005

Playoffs

Predictions for Sunday's Championship games: Patriots over Pittsburg and Atlanta over Philadelphia. With both games being played in the state of Pennsylvania on Sunday, I suggest that if both Penn teams win on Sunday, they drive to the middle of the state at Happy Valley and let Penn State host the Super Bowl! Obviously it wouldn't happen, but seating capacity would be well over 100K instead of whatever it is in Jacksonville meaning more ticket revenue!

I Feel Defeated

This weekend saw SE Wisconsin get one of the biggest winter storms in recent memory. Something over a foot of snow, plus lake effect, and stifling winds all made their presence felt resulting in blizzard-like conditions. It looked like we lived at the north pole on Saturday - snow blowing sideways, drifts over four feet, etc. - everything at a stand still.

Personally, I have always enjoyed it when it would snow. The more the better. My attitude has now officially changed. More specifically, I am very dissapointed with my own driving ability, but not as much as my car's performance in the elements. I always felt I was a decent driver in the snow, and maybe I still am, who knows.

This weekend was quite the weekend. Made it home ok, then went to our softball party. No big deal. A buddy and I were the only ones to venture outside to go to the bars once it started snowing. On our way home, I completely lost control of the car and did a 180 into a driveway on Main Street, which just happened to be a friend's old house. I took the back way home to my house eventually (the barren subdivision to the south of my house) and couldn't find the road because there was so much snow, or possibly because my vision was somewhat impaired! I was off the road more than I was on it at this point, anyway, the last turn, I couldn't get back on the road. Went to turn, car kept going straight. Stuck in a snow bank which was about a foot from falling into a rather deep valley. John and I tried for 30 minutes to get it out. The tires were kicking up some pretty nasty stuff. We tried everything that came to mind. So, I ran home through the yards to get a shovel and to look for some sand, and guess who's waiting for me as I open the garage door, but my dad. Didn't even say a word to him, grabbed the shovel and ran back. Half way back, I see john driving the car back! That man can work miracles sometimes! We should have just gone back to where the party at Dave’s, everyone was driving an ATV around the streets in west Racine! Probably good that we didn't, I'd a killed myself!

So I go to take him home the next day, and we both wanted to see where I got stuck the night before. Bad idea, you can see where this is going can't you… At this point, the wind was blowing so hard and causing drifts very, very high. We couldn't see where I got stuck, so I just kept going. I couldn't see where I was going at the time because the wind was blowing the snow so much. Couldn't find the road, again, and managed to get stuck ON the road this time! The road was drifted over 2 feet high! I tried ramming through it for as long as I could, I got about 2 blocks into it. had another 2-300 yards left though. The car was just flattening out the snow! Tires were burning up so bad, I could barely stand the smell. We eventually got it out, but didn't have the heart to tell the parentals I got it stuck in damn near the same spot! My body felt like it had been snapped in half at my waste! I found new muscles I didn't know that I had.

Then my mom tells me that she saw how bad that particular stretch was later on in the day when you could actually see where you were driving. She said someone had a fun time in that stretch, not knowing that it was me! I just felt completely defeated by mother nature. Upset that my car spins out for no apparent reason, then gets stuck on multiple times...I thought the chevy could do more in the snow (wishful thinking). Then I leave on Sunday and the junk underneath the car must have gotten pretty screwed up. I couldn't go the speed limit on the freeway without the car sounding/rattling like a tank. Maybe I'll take it back to Tires Plus!