Three for Thursday

Unfortunately I was under the weather today so I was stuck inside all evening and missed out on the great weather. My night revolved around 3 events, 3 entirely different events. I only watched parts of 2 of the events because I was waiting for the third.

1. Women's College World Series - Every year this gets people excited. I tend to watch because it is on during the day and once in a blue moon there may be an attractive participant. Today I watched part of a game Tennessee was playing in. Their #2 hitter has a torn labrum and a torn ACL. You can't be serious. Is it still a sport when you can compete with a torn ACL? I have my doubts.

2. NBA Eastern Conference Finals - As a Blazers fan the only thing I am looking forward to in the near NBA future is Greg Oden putting on that Blazers hat at the draft. In the meantime I catch a couple of possessions here and there of the playoffs. Tonight LeBron James manned up and dismantled the Pistons by himself. His performance in the 4th quarter and beyond was amazing. But for me the more amazing part was that Donyell Marshall got a rebound without even jumping. I thought that rebounding technique was reserved for 40 and over church leagues.

3. Scripps National Spelling Bee - This was the main event tonight. I was thoroughly entertained by all of the sentimental pieces that tried to convince me these kids are normal. No matter how good the camera work is I will never consider kids that could ace the SAT at 12 years old normal. One thing was nice to see for me though. I now think I am starting to look older now that I am almost 25 years old. There was only one kid that had a better moustache than I could ever hope to have. In previous years there would be no less than 3 kids with more substantial stubble than I. And how the hell does a Canadian kid make the finals of the National Spelling Bee held in Washington, D.C.? Big props to Evan O'Dorney (on the left in the above picture) from the great state of California for the dominant victory.

(Photo from The Washington Post.)

My Archnemesis

It has only taken one day but I am venturing out of the sports world. I apologize for doing this but I have to get something off my chest that has been bothering me. Many people know that pets are not my favorite things in the world. I could go into great detail on my stance on pets but most people would find them offensive.

As it stands now the biggest problem in my life is a renegade black cat in the neighborhood. Since I hear a metal jingle when I see the thing I assume it does have an owner. However, this owner is horrendous. I don't have pets so I don't want to see any gallivanting in my yard but this black cat does. Would a pet owner please explain to me why it is acceptable to have an animal roaming the neighborhood as opposed to remaining around its home? I find it disrespectful and rude.

Now this cat spent over a month living in our shed and when I found out it had taken residence in there I freaked. I used golf balls, a rake and a hose to get it out of there. (Relax, no harm was done to the cat.) When all was said and done I was more afraid of the cat than the cat was of me so don't feel sorry for the transient cat.

I was under the impression I had scared the cat off but that does not appear to be the case. In fact, I just had a stare down with it as I went to the mailbox. There was no nice pet talk from me just squinting eyes and heavy breathing. The little rascal was doing the same on the trunk of someone's car. Who knows if it was the owner's car because the owner is an obvious deadbeat and should be punished for pathetic pet ownership techniques.

In the month since the cat was evicted from our shed I had started to relax then I woke up this morning. First, some background so my anger makes more sense though it probably won't for the gazillion pet lovers out there. We have a nice, little, black 4-door car that resides in the driveway. On Monday I washed it for only the third time in its history. (We have had it for nearly 2 years.) Obviously I am not an anal car owner but when I take the time to wash the car I expect long-lasting results. Instead, this morning there were countless paw prints all over the roof, windshield and hood.

It infuriates me to no end. Some lackey owns a cat and does not care what it does. That is my primary beef with pets. The pet owners are so pompous. They believe everyone in the world wants to take part in their pets' lives. That is complete nonsense. I want nothing to do with the cat or any other pet for that matter that takes up residence in or around my house. Someone needs to lead a revolution in reigning in the rights of pets. An entity needs to be created or a current one should partner in the revolution (perhaps the local pound) and assist people in eliminating neighborhood cats that are overstepping their boundaries.

The Real Reason

I must confess. The reason I have been compelled to start a blog is not the summer season but instead the state of the New York Yankees. This team is my least favorite team in pro sports. As sad as it is to admit I nearly hate them more than I like the greatest team in pro sports, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The thing about the Yankees that has gotten to me lately is the supposed innocence of Joe Torre. I have never liked Joe Torre and for good reason. At his previous managing stops he was absolutely dreadful. Well, dreadful may not be the best word but it is close. In parts of 14 seasons Torre had a winning percentage of .471 with 1 playoff appearance (source: Baseball-Reference). Then when he manages a team with exceptional talent (i.e., money) he turns into the Lombardi of baseball. At least Lombardi helped revolutionize football. The only revolutionary thing Torre's done is take verbal abuse from his boss and then sign extensions.

Would someone please explain to me why everyone is getting their panties in a bunch defending Torre when the team is tanking? Because it is the great, soft-spoken Torre people feel like defending him when word leaks his job may be in jeopardy. What makes his situation any different from other coaches? Dick Tomey is fired from Arizona after being one of its most successful coaches, Rick Adelman is let go by the Kings after being its best coach, Jeff Van Gundy is shown the door after doing a decent job with the Rockets in the ultra-competitive West and no one defends them. These are only three examples, but there are numerous ones.

Whether it is fair or not, when a team is not performing the coach/manager is the first on the chopping block. In pro sports the players are to blame a lot of the time but the coach is the one that takes the fall. In this instance, Torre is no different. The players are not playing (literally and figuratively with all of the injuries) and in the end the manager needs to take the heat. The injuries are a common defense for Torre but when the team payroll is over $200M and the bullpen has been terribly mishandled someone has to take the fall. In this instance Torre is the fall guy and I am convinced that when he gets another gig his sub .500 record will return. Unless of course he inherits the payroll of the Boston Red Sox.

(Photo of Yankee Stadium from the New York Yankees Website)

In The Beginning

I have been wanting to create a blog for quite some time. Now that it is summer I have decided this is the right time to do it. The majority of my ramblings will center around sports but if I get a wild hair I may venture in other directions. Hopefully I am not the only one that reads this.