TGIF

An IC Movember to Remember??I assume you savvy gents know about the growing a mustache for Movember movement, correct? Grow a mustache, look ridiculous, raise funds/awareness for prostate cancer. Here's the link: http://movember.com/.

I shaved yesterday and am beginning mustache cultivation season today. Last week, I shaved a two-week old beard into a 'stache for a trial run and looked like Jon Gruden. It was gross.

I think we should all do this. 29 days of mustaches, including updates, photos, stories, etc. If we really wanted to, we could register a team at the Movember site as well. Faust, group organizer?

For me, this is of personal significance because my stepdad, a man proudly known as Bob Cooter, had prostate cancer this year. He's fine now, but prostate cancer is dangerous animal. There's a likelihood that one of us will get it at some time after 50.

So, mustaches, all month. Who's in?

Texas Tears

I know I'm late on commenting about the WS, but I needed some time to fully digest what happened. The last few nights have been difficult. Thursday through Saturday I didn't sleep very well. Often during conversations over the weekend, my eyes glazed over and I stared off into space thinking about 2-strike, 2-out counts, Nelson Cruz not covering enough ground in right, and ultimately, how if it was difficult for me to sleep, imagine how hard it must be for Neftali Feliz.

Truth is, I didn't watch Game 7. I had a trip to an indigenous community planned for a story during the games 3-4 weekend and bumped it back a week for the WS. The photographer that planned to go with me was pissed, though I said enough soothing things to calm her down. We rescheduled the trip for Friday, a day after the originally scheduled Game 7. Then it rained Wednesday, games pushed back. If the Rangers didn't win Thursday, I wasn't going to see Game 7. The town I went to didn't have electricity (think 2nd and a half world).

Part of me is glad I didn't see it. I came home yesterday to my internet world and watched the final out. I bit my lip and almost cried. I can't remember the last time I cared about a team so much as I did the 2011 TX Rangers. I've never been so excited, crushed, elated, sucker-punched and then depressed as Thursday night. First team to give up runs in the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th innings in a WS game. I assume they were the first team to ever be one strike away from a WS series win in consecutive innings and go on to lose. Salt in the wounds is 2nd WS loss in a row and I had already poured champagne in the glasses of my neighbors and girlfriend during the 9th inning. I read in the FW Star-Telegram that boxes of "Texas Rangers World Series Champs" shirts were delivered to the press box in the 9th and 10th innings of Game 6.

Had a couple of thoughts. Would I have preferred an 81-81 regular season without the WS agony? Heard some people say that. No. Playoffs were great, WS, even though horrifying in the end, was fantastic.

My other thought was: Now I know how it feels to be a 1990s Buffalo Bills fan, a Holland fan during the 2010 World Cup final, a Russian watching the 1980 Olympics Gold medal hockey game (and then reliving it with a bad movie 20-odd years later), or a 2008 Memphis Tigers fan when Derrick Rose and the boys squandered a 9-point lead during the final two minutes of the NCAA final by missing 4-of-5 free-throws and allowed Mario Chalmers to throw in a prayer 3-pointer with 2 seconds left to go to OT, resulting in an eventual loss.

You never really think about what is it like to be a player or fan on those teams until it happens to you. Then when it does, it makes you want to call Scott Norwood and take him out for ice cream and a drive-in movie.

Shit hurts. I woke up this morning with the Rangers still on my mind but I have a feeling this was the last mourning of my mourning. Lots of consoling comments at work today, but I imagine that by tomorrow or Wednesday, all baseball talk will pass.

I think the "What Ifs?", like when anything goes dreadfully awry, are the most haunting. What if Feliz had blown one by Freese, or Cruz had timed his jump, or Beltre had thrown home in the 10th instead of going to first, or Napoli had called a different pitch for Feldman, or we could have gotten f'ing David Descalso or John slumping Jay out to begin the 10th? What if anything that happened, didn't happen? How much better would I feel today?

I think the only positive I take from the end of baseball season is that I no longer have 3.5 hour commitment blocks in my schedule. Seventeen games in 25 days is a lot of time. I'll see my girlfriend more now, probably do my job better and maybe take up jogging again.

Hopefully during the next six weeks I'll be able to forget about Game 6, and when I read the Year In Sports review in the Dallas Morning News when I go home for Christmas, my urge to cry for what could have been, what should have been, and what wasn't, will be very distant memories. I hope sports never make me feel like this again.

I'm quite certain ninjas live among us.

"This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that was once good, and what could be good again."

The Lonsome kicker. Go redbirds!

Similarites?

Maybe I am premature in posting this, and maybe this is a ridiculous claim, but am I wrong to see similarities in the way the Dallas Mavericks won the title and the way the Texas Rangers might do so Wednesday night? Probably. Comparing basketball to baseball is like comparing Ramadan to Kwanza, but it seems like there is a very similar pattern to how the two series played out.

So...

* Mavs lose game 1 in Miami, make unthinkable 15-point 4th quarter comeback to win game 2. Same with Rangers, getting two sac flies in top 9th to steal game 2 in STL.

* Mavs get beat in game 3, comeback to win games 4&5, as unheralded star J. Terry throws in 3-ptrs from everywhere. Same with Rangers, swap Jet for potential series MVP Mike Napoli, who throws out tons of baserunners and gets biggest hits of games 4&5.

* Mavs had never won an NBA title, losing their only previous appearance. Ditto with Rangers.

Is this analogy a stretch? Yes, but I think it is worth mentioning. This has been undoubtedly the best year in DFW sports (which includes TCU's Jan. 1, 2011 Rose Bowl win) and the thought of two long-suffering franchises winning their first titles six months apart is pretty amazing.

That said, TX could easily lose both games 6&7 and most analysts will point to this post as the reason for the collapse.

Other notes:
* Pujols is MLB's Michael Jordan.
* Big win for Rangers, only made better by the fact that staff "Ace" CJ can't-throw-strikes Wilson is done for the season. Worst pitcher in the rotation and the Cards could have blown game 5 wide open on several occasions.
* Yadier Molina is the best defensive catcher in baseball. Neck tattoos make for good catchers.
* I love Josh Hamilton, but why did he wait until the WS to announce to the press that his groin hurt? To me, that is like a sprinter that is losing a race and comes up lame down the home stretch and hobbles across the finish line holding his hamstring to validate his poor performance. Wait until after the series to tell everyone how much pain you were in. He didn't look like he was in pain when he made a running catch against the wall in Game 6 of the ALCS, but four days later after a bad game 1 he told everyone how bad he was hurting. I will forgive him if he hits a Kirk Gibson shot in Game 6 and drags his leg around the bases.

* Please start posting again. I'd like to see if we can get something going for Xmas/NYE. Possible?

nostalgia. algae. uh.

http://adamfaust.blogspot.com/

go rangers.

Friendly Wager?

I like this World Series matchup, as well as the IC rivalry that accompanies it. Chambers is a Rangers fan (sort of), so we're STL Butz-Faust and TEX Chambers-Williams.

I also think this is the best two teams in baseball right now, so that's cool. One thing I do not think is cool is giving WS homefield advantage based on the winner of the All-Star game in July. That is dumb. Has to be one of the silliest league governing decisions in sports. Rangers won their division and finished six games ahead of the Cards, though will start the series on the road. Shouldn't record be the determining factor, and not some meaningless scrimmage game four months ago between superstar strangers?

Regardless, I think the Rangers are going to win this series. Rangers in 6.

I'll put $100 on the Rangers? Any takers?

Come Visit. Or at least enter to win a free vacation.

lets all write the background story here.

Game 5
Three game 5s coming up in the next two days. Got me thinking:

What is the best way to win a playoff series?

Walk-off Homerun

Game-tying run gunned down at the plate for final out

(Think Pudge Rodriguez blocking the plate like a caveman in 2003)

Bloop Single

Who cares as long as A-Rod gets bashed in the face?

(I think Varitek asked him "Why would we throw at a .160 hitter?")

Fucking Frogs

Fuckity fuck fuck fuck!

(sorry for the vulgarity)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Crockett St,Fort Worth,United States

baron cohen maraca tambourine reflux.

Wacky Wild Card Finale

Game 162 and the Red Sox-Devil Rays and Cards-Braves are tied. Pretty epic collapses by both the Red Sox and Braves. I'm hoping Cards get in and beat the Dreamteam Phillies, and the hapless Red Sox get in and come to Arlington, TX for the first two games of a 3-game sweep.

Brewers, D-Backs, Tigers, Rangers, Yanks, Phillies and two WCs.
I think its going to be a pretty gnarly month for baseball.

ESPN FILMS: CATCHING HELL



This premiers tonight on ESPN. This was suppose to be part of the 30 for 30 documentaries but was not ready in time. Should be very intriguing.

I think this was the beginning of the end for my Cubs allegiance. The amount of hate this poor guy received just made me uncomfortable. Shame on Moises Alou and shame on Cubs fans for blaming an innocent fan.

As someone who has fully committed to the NFL schedule in life, I see the college games on Saturday pass by in the periphery. Still, I watched the first half of the Alabama and Arkansas game and thought "Damb, this is such a good product".

There is nothing wrong with the college football being played on the field. The problem is entirely off it. The rise of the super conference is the derivative of the BCS. The fractured-decentralized structure, where the power is in the hands of a few, is now evolving to the creation of the super conferences.

Closer to home, where it leaves our Alma Mater remains to be seen. It could be either a watered-down Big East, which would be disappointing, being that they should be in a conference with other football schools - but still competitively advantageous as we might end up in a weak ass BCS pool and have a walkway to a national championship game. Or the Big 12 could come into play somehow.

Regardless the issues that are coming into play in college football - explempified by the willingness of the school presidents to defend the BCS behind the blanket of tradition but happily destroy the rivalries their schools were built on -now parallel the way that I see boxing as a sport versus MMA. The UFC is a single entity, with an organized, talented and competitive line-up, which enables consistent high value fights. Much the same way as the NFL enables its game to be some good fucking week-to-week. College football however, is now becoming more and more pointlessly divided among itself, just as boxing is to the point that I have no idea which belts are required to make someone an undisputed champion.

But with the quality of the play still at such a high level, and the pageantry such in important part of the experience, the stands will continue to be filled and the T.V.s will continue to be on. It looks to be a long time still before we see the second order derivative of the BCS, that is the fully formed structure that will become the Super Conferences.

Two left to pay

Thank you, Mazur. Just waiting on Weiss and Lubahn.

This dude is crazy, but Quiddich is no more of a reality than ever.

The Room

I desperately want to see this with all of you while on substances. This is a real movie and, though it looks from a USA Up All Night clip from 1987, it was made in 2003.