The world according to, as it pertains to and how it revolves around me.
Friday, September 30, 2005
All square
Well, well, well what a lovely little teaparty we have here. 160 games down and 2 to go... and yet somehow this is what it all comes down to. Crazy. But tonight the Sox pulled it out 5-3 behind a strong David Wells performance, Captain Varitek breaking out with a homer and our bullpen coming up HUGE.
God I couldn't have said it better myself. I'm all for that "impossible to achieve" image of beauty that has been forced upon women since the age of 4, but comeon ladies practice a little bit of self control.
Remember when Lindsey Lohan was hot (and illegal)? Yeah me too. So eat a burger every now and then. Just hold the fries, wash it down with a small Diet Coke and then make sure to hit the eliptical the next day... hard... for an extra 45 minutes.
That's the motto of this past weekend. Motto, what's a motto? Nothing, what's a matto with you. Ha, been waiting over a year to work that in here. Comedy gold. And without further ado, my weekend in DC.
First of all, two days is never enough time. Especially with so many people to visit and things to do. I've been to DC/Va a few times before so I left the Monument/Museum scene to the fanny-pack crowd. I was going to see two of my best friends and my cousin , my boys for the weekend, if you will.
I guess the trip could be called a smashing success as my body is aching quite a bit this Monday back. Maybe it was 1) the serious college-era drinking/late nights combo, 2) every meal came with a side of fries option, 3) sleeping on a futon for the first time in my life (I know weird right, but I made it through 4 years of college and 3 years post either making it home or finding a familiar bed to crash in) 4) wake up and repeat. Good times.
That and some pretty intense flag football. Especially when you are playing the role of "ringer" for your cousin's company team. Team "GT" made a good showing and I think they will learn much for their next contest. Gotta learn how to pick up the rush, a few RBs staying in to chip block will buy the gimpy Q some more time and good God please come up with a better team name! No one's scared of some WASP-inspired cube-dwellers, but "Unecessary Roughness" will leave your opponents hearing the footsteps all day long. All day baby, all day!
And the real reason for the trip: a pilgrimage to the hallowed ground of baseball's modern day renaissance, the majestic Camden Yards, to see my beloved Sox sweep the O's and secure a first place tie atop the AL East. Let me tell you the place is beautiful. All the waxing nostalgia is true: a great place to see a ballgame. Sight lines, concessions, seating all top-notch. And nearby parking that left me change from an Andrew Jackson. Funny but flying a thousand miles to see the Sox play ends up being cheaper than two days at Fenway.
The thing is that I felt like I was in Fenway, albeit more comfy and on the cheap. I beleive the tv guys referred to it as Fenway South. Too bad for the Os' players but Camden was a truly partisan Red Sox crowd. From the sea of red blanketing the stands to the chants of M-V-P whenever Papi came to the plate. Defeaning. And pretty damn cool. And while seeing a game there rekindled my stance on the need for a new Red Sox ballpark, that argument is better left for another day.
All in all a fantastic time and probably the final trip in my summer-long On the Road bonanza. Just let me give another shout out to my boys Ballsville, F-Dub and Duke again! Homies foreva... (awe)
$1.35. That's the cost of autumn these days. Actually that's the cost of a Dunkin Donuts coffee-cake muffin, one of the most heave-sent items on the face of the earth. And the Unofficial sign of the Official start of Fall.
So say good bye to those flip-flops and bikini bottoms girls (Jason) as the leaves are achanging. Maybe I'll even wear a scarf tomorrow or better yet round up the gang and throw the pigskin around, ending the day with some hot mulled cider. Then I'll pack up the wagon, trek up north to watch the foliage. And best of all I'm looking forward to those lazy Sunday afternoons watching one, two, three, heck maybe even four football games. So I raise my muffin to you and say
Ugh a stomach punch of a day. One week after going into the Monday Night game tied with the league lead in not one, but two Fantasy Pickem leagues, I am now out of BOTH. Immunity sure would have come in handy this week, but no Mike Vick decided that he was going to forget about actually being a quarterback and concentrate on his highlight-reel material instead. I don't even know how most of the games played out. The reason: a woman, figures. One of the top weekends in quite some time, but still a trophy lives forever... Of course this comes on the heels of getting knocked out of my BU baseball league. I was the top seed mind you. But it's not a choke job when your opponent just has a better week, but the dream of raising that second BUMLB banner high above the rafters was almost there. And the refrain goes... wait till next year. Damn I gotta figure out my keepers.
The bright side to all this: I made it to the championship round of my Chicago league with my fantasy co-hort BWise. This is the big leagues, real money players who aren't afraid of knowing the difference between an Aaron Small and an Aaron Harang. The guys who kept their draft board up until almost September. I'm happy to be a part of the rarefied air, but now I want the legacy to grow.
Again I apologize for another fantasy post, but this time of year it's to be expected... unless you are a woman or a ghey.
She's back home safe and sound, but the dream weekend's over.
The sun, the moon and the stars aligned for the Ultimate Date Package Weekend Extravaganza*. But what else would you do when you have a cute Swedish girl visting you?
"Hi welcome to Boston, my name's Mike and I'll be your tour guide for the weekend."
Bar none Duck Boats are fun, especially seeing her drive around the Charles on one. Next on the docket was lunch at Fanuel, a canoli at Mike's and then a walk around the waterfront. What can I say I'm a sucker for cheezy touristy stuff. Then it was off to Fenway for pre-gaming before first pitch. Guess those Nordic drinking rumors are true as N totally shattered the North American chugging/hotness record. We weren't going to let the hour plus rain delay stop the fun as I showed her who's boss on the air hockey circuit and treated her to a trip to the Sausage Guy. Highlights of the game included 1) her deciding that Manny Ramirez is Mexican 2) her knowing to stand (at no urging of mine whatsoever) whenever Wakefield had a 2 strike count and 3) declaring that she loved Big Papi. But all that pales in to comparison when I was able to convince her that I got the entire stadium to sing " Sweet Caroline" on her behalf.
The rest of the weekend played out wonderfully: Cambridge, enough Dunkin Donuts to last a lifetime, the Mass Ave. bridge, playing catch with her and that special moment when I'm showing her how to swing a bat and I casually graze her boob with my elbow, impressing her with my knowledge of the human skeletal system and my "utter American-ness", a cute movie about penguins, a trip to the cape and accompanying lobster, a few too many drinks, cigarettes and espressos (she is European) and much more that I can't recall right now.
One of the best weekends of recent memory. It sucks because I'm falling for her and it's totally not going to happen. Being far is not cool.
*Special thanks to my buddy Kyle, head chef at the fabulous Intermission Tavern, who pulled out all the stops making sure dinner was a success. (Note: chicks dig cheesecake and the romantic table in the back.)
Wow, so that must be what smack is like. Just had my first dose of DD's Turbo Iced Coffee (cream and three sugars) which outta get me through the rest of the day/night if the heart palipations don't distract me.
For those of you not interested in this please go here, for those that care please continue:
This was a fantasy weekend for the ages. I locked up the top seed in BUMLB and was able to enjoy the carefree week of keeping my guys on the bench, not checking box scores and actually being productive at work. And luckily I had the luxury of taking the week off as things almost flatlined in my Chitown league. My first forray into a fantasy pairring was not going to end in a first round knockout. We had too much at stake, literally. It's not about the money ( I need to think about my family, my children need to eat...) but the fact that we morgatged off the future to lock up our spot. Seeing our lives flash before our eyes, BWise and I pulled out the dramatic 6-4 comeback, locking it up early Sunday night on the strength of our pitching... the backbone of any championship squad.
It's the final four and that means the cream rises to the top. BU has the top seeded Fraggles vs the Crunch and in the other semi-final its the Samirbras vs the Zone. Ooo chilling just thinking about it.
Oh yeah, there were some other sport kicking off this weekend. I was ready for some football. Were you?
An email I sent to my buddy Frank
Alright buddy here's the breakdown:
BU baseball- first round bye. Watched the fun from above. The final four is myself, Josh and Scotty all previous winners looking to be the first two time winner and Samir who's has a bad case of Billy Beanitis where he's looking for his first playoff series win despite having made the post season every year since we started back in 01.
Chitwon- my cohort Brian and I squeaked by 6-4 on the dominance of Randy Johnson's 7 IP of no run ball ( i loathe those type of fantasy moments). We locked the victory up around 8 pm EST with our 1.30 whip to his 1.33. That was good. Now we are facing the top seed and it's going to be a real donny brook.
BU football: you can see the deal
BU/Syracuse Pickem: Samir, myself and another SU dude are going into tonight with 10 wins a piece and immunity on the line. SU's got Philly, Samir and I got the Dirty Dirty. I need Mike Vick to do his thing and cover with the combined score of more +39 points.
Chitown Pickem: Samir and Quan do it up again but this time $50 large is on the line. Again both going Dirty Dirty, with me needing a combo score of +44.
Let's just say that I'm not cut out for retail whatsoever. Sure it was partly my fault, but when I'm instructed to wear black shoes and black pants I tend to opt for my dress shoes and a nice pair of slacks, not the Doc Martens and black cargoes that everyone else at the store was sporting. Oh well, at least I was the sharpest dressed associate sporting the red polo. Plus I learned how my copy plays to in-store customers and I appreciate my cushy desk job now more than ever.
Alright the Windy City, the Second City, Chi-town, call it what you will, but Chicago has moved to the top three on the list of places I want to live... right now. Such an incredible time. Of course spending three days with my girl Erin and fantasy cohort BWise, the gorgeous weather, fantasmic food and good-natured debauchery, how could it be anything other than fun?
I knew it was going to be a fun trip, seeing as one of my carry-onswas a case (A CASE!) of Magic Hat for BWise, courtesy of our Cubbies taking two of three from the Sox back in July. Ah well, he can suckle those bottles of Number 9 while watching the Bears all fall September. First night was dinner at Sushi Wabi (I know, less than 3 hours and I've got a mouth full of fish). Saki bombs and maki specials courtesty of of our very own sushi chef extraordinaire. Saturday consisted mainly of shopping, walking around, seeing the sights and getting ready for Sunday's Big Draft.Oh yeah, the real reason I was in Chicago: my indoctrination into Chi-Town Fantasy Sports, football style.
Other highlights included seeing the Parrot Heads around Wrigleyville; some awesome architecture and public art. Chicago's got good ones of both and they are things that are essential to the well-being of any major city. Sorry Boston; Lake Michigan; Lincoln Park; some gorgeous views of the city and 61" of god-fearing, neighbor-rattling, high-definition; the Navy Pier; OMG deep dish pizza is so good. Mountains of cheese, chunks of tomatoes, layer upon layer of grain-fed beef, all in a 4-inch high crust of buttery goodness and other general hijinks with Erin and Brian.
A wicked good time and I already know what I want to do the next time I'm there: pick up a fat fantasy baseball check, eat a 18 oz. of medium rare porterhouse and make out with a Swedish girl. In that order.
I've been complaining about/working on this Holiday project for the past 2 weeks or so. Taking work home and on the weekends is a habit I don't want to continue. Much to the detriment of my health and well-being t's killed two potential Red Sox games, one date, at least 17 hours of much needed sleep and reduced me to a diet of pasta and frozen food, but things are finally coming to a head. Early mornings and late nights. Now after the second redeux and some much-needed hand holding, I'm in the zone. Been writing since this morning and just finished lunch. I'm fully caffeinated (although I think I'm going to take the DD plunge later on) and ready to crank the rest of it out. God, I'm totally getting off on writing now.
This is probably the last you'll hear from me for a while as tomorrow at this time I'll be making my way to Chicago. Chi-town baby, for some deep dish and midwestern lovin'.
Just Papi being Papi
$1.35. That's the cost of autumn these days. Actually that's the cost of a Dunkin Donuts coffee-cake muffin, one of the most heave-sent items on the face of the earth. And the Unofficial sign of the Official start of Fall.
She's back home safe and sound, but the dream weekend's over.
The rest of the weekend played out wonderfully: Cambridge, enough Dunkin Donuts to last a lifetime, the Mass Ave. bridge, playing catch with her and that special moment when I'm showing her how to swing a bat and I casually graze her boob with my elbow, impressing her with my knowledge of the human skeletal system and my "utter American-ness", a cute movie about penguins, a trip to the cape and accompanying lobster, a few too many drinks, cigarettes and espressos (she is European) and much more that I can't recall right now.
Alright the Windy City, the Second City, Chi-town, call it what you will, but Chicago has moved to the top three on the list of places I want to live... right now. Such an incredible time. Of course spending three days with my girl Erin and fantasy cohort BWise, the gorgeous weather, fantasmic food and good-natured debauchery, how could it be anything other than fun?
I knew it was going to be a fun trip, seeing as one of my carry-onswas a case (A CASE!) of Magic Hat for BWise, courtesy of our Cubbies taking two of three from the Sox back in July. Ah well, he can suckle those bottles of Number 9 while watching the Bears all fall September. First night was dinner at Sushi Wabi (I know, less than 3 hours and I've got a mouth full of fish). Saki bombs and maki specials courtesty of of our very own sushi chef extraordinaire. Saturday consisted mainly of shopping, walking around, seeing the sights and getting ready for Sunday's Big Draft.Oh yeah, the real reason I was in Chicago: my indoctrination into Chi-Town Fantasy Sports, football style.
A wicked good time and I already know what I want to do the next time I'm there: pick up a fat fantasy baseball check, eat a 18 oz. of medium rare porterhouse and make out with a Swedish girl. In that order.
and on the weekends is a habit I don't want to continue. Much to the detriment of my health and well-being t's killed two potential Red Sox games, one date, at least 17 hours of much needed sleep and reduced me to a diet of pasta and frozen food, but things are finally coming to a head. Early mornings and late nights. Now after the second redeux and some much-needed hand holding, I'm in the zone. Been writing since this morning and just finished lunch. I'm fully caffeinated (although I think I'm going to take the DD plunge later on) and ready to crank the rest of it out. God, I'm totally getting off on writing now.
This is probably the last you'll hear from me for a while as tomorrow at this time I'll be making my way to Chicago. Chi-town baby, for some deep dish and midwestern lovin'.
