Beano quotes just for Dave

"The three greatest things an American can achieve is to become president of the United States, win the Heisman and be the murderer on Columbo. And not necessarily in that order."

"You only have to bat a thousand two things; flying and heart transplants. Everything else you can go 4 for five."

"If they don't want pressure, work at Wendy's. You want to play with pressure? Be an Air Traffic Controller. A coach can go 9-2, great year. An Air Traffic Controller goes 9-2, somebody's in trouble."

"I like the USC Song Girls."

Bad news for Boilers

This week in The Show on SportsNation, both Beano Cook and Mel Kiper Jr picked the Fighting Irish to beat the Boilers. I don't understand where they are coming from. It could have something to do with Purdue not winning in South Bend since 1974.

Purdue in SI

There is an article in this week's issue of Sports Illustrated about Purdue. It talks about the power shift in the Big Ten. The writer claims that Purdue and Minnesota are now two of the most powerful teams in the conference. In the article, it says that Orton's right arm is so strong that he has twice ripped the webbing on the fingers of a roommate who catches his passes. I bet Brady Quinn couldn't rip a wet paper sack with one of his passes.

Say goodbye to the playoffs

The Cubs managed to lose again to the Reds in 12 innnings by a score of 2-1. The Cubs lone run came from a Sosa dinger. Prior pitched well, striking out 16 but the Cubs offense was once again non-existent. The Cubs fall to 88-71. They are now 1 game behind the Astros with only 3 to play. The Astros play the Rockies in Houston, while the Cubs play the Braves at Wrigley.

Hopefully this is the last year for Sosa and Alou in a Cubs uniform. I never thought I would say this but Sosa needs to go. He hit .201 this month. Alou is a headcase who whines about the broadcasters and umpires. The Cubs need to get younger in the outfield.

Quote of the day: "We don't want it if you let Bruce Bruce hit it." -Silkk the Shocker

Wild Card standings

Standings before play today

Team   Games Back   Record

Astros     -        89-70

Cubs      1/2       88-70

Giants    1/2       88-70

Hawkins blows another save

The Cubs had a 2-1 advantage going into the top of the ninth but once again LaTroy Hawkins couldn't make it stand up. He gave up one run before getting out of the jam. In the 12th inning, Austin Kearns hit a 2-run shot to give the Reds a 4-2 lead. The Cubs managed to get one run in the bottom half when Alou grounded into a rally-killing double play and Patterson scored from third. Lee ended the game by striking out. This loss damages the Cubs chances of winning the Wild Card. If the Giants and Astros both lose tonight the Cubs will remain tied for the lead. The Cubs record is now 88-70.

Blade 3 Coming Soon

Blade Trinity will hit theatres December 8th. It stars Wesley Snipes and Jessica Biel. That's right, Mary Camden will be in the movie. Another reason to go see this movie is because HHH is in it. He is credited as Paul Michael Levesque on imdb. Any movie that stars a wrestler is guaranteed to be Oscar worthy.

Maddux gets rocked

The Cubs lost to the Reds by a score of 8-3. Maddux gave up 3 two-run homers and hit 2 batters. The only offensive highlight for the Cubs was Patterson's 2-run double. The Cubs fall to 88-69.

Fantasy Football Update Week 3

In the keeper league, X-15 scored a huge victory over the South Park Cows by a score of 115.7 - 106.69. Huge days by Javon Walker (25.9 pts) and Daunte Culpepper (33.05) helped make up for weak days from Kevan Barlow (1.8) and TJ Duckett (0.0). X-15 is the only team at 3-0 while the Cows fall to 2-1.

In the redraft league, X-15 won a close one against the Iron Toothpicks by a score of 71.78-70.55. 21 points from Seattle's defense saved me, oh yeah and the Picks starting Mushin Muhammad, who had a bye week. X-15 is 3-0 in the redraft league also but in second place because another team with more points is also 3-0.

Cubs win 12-5

The Cubs beat the Reds last night at Wrigley field by a score of 12-5. Patterson, Lee, Walker, and Macias all hit home runs. Amazingly, Sosa and Patterson both made it through the game without striking out. The Cubs extended their WC lead to one game over the idle Giants. The Cubs record is 88-68.

Christmas idea for Ryan

Sony announced that a new-look Playstation 2 will be available November 1st. This version comes with a built-in network adapter and is less than half the size of the current PS2.

I can't wait that long

This change should take place sooner than 2009. I guess I will have to wait 5 more years before I can watch the Tonight Show.

Newegg ticked me off

I ordered a case for a computer I am building from newegg. When I received it, the box was trashed (Fed Ex's fault) but the case was also broken. The front panel was snapped of the rest of the case. Normally I would have blamed the case being broke on the shipping company, however, the case was packed with styrofoam so it could not move around in the box. I know you are saying to yourself, "Ryan, the shipper could have jarred the case so hard that the cheap plastic front snapped off the rest of the case." That is a logical explanation but explain to me how the sticker that was placed over the case and the front panel got torn off. There is no way the case moved around in the box enough to rip a sticker. This is the first problem I have had with newegg and the computer is not for me so I am not too upset. I just have to go through the inconvenience off getting an RMA from newegg (which required a control number from Fed Ex because newegg of course blamed it on them), shipping the broken case back to newegg, and waiting another week for the new case. To be fair, I also received a AMD Athlon processor in the same shipment (different box) and it appears to be in perfect condition. I guess the solution is to buy my cases in a store from now on. C&P Distributing has some cases at decent prices here in South Bend.

Purdue remains ranked at 15

Purdue's 38-30 victory over Illinois did not impress the pollsters. The Boilers remain at 15 in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls.

Bears lose to Vikes

The Bears fell to the Vikings 27-22 today. I took the loss well because I have Randy Moss on my fantasy team and he caught 2 TD's. Rex Grossman and Bobby Gray left the game with injuries. Grossman has a strained knee and Gray hurt his shoulder. It is not known how much time they will miss. Urlacher did not play because he re-injured his hammy during practice this week. The Bears are now 1-2, but at least they are fun to watch, unlike previous years when Shoop was the offensive coordinator. The receivers actually run routes down field.

Cubs lumber goes into deep slumber

Cubs sucked it up once again and lost to the Mets 3-2. I'm not going to waste anymore time on the Cubs today. Their record is now 87-78. They still lead the Giants by a 1/2 game and the Astros by 1 1/2.

WC update

The Giants beat the Dodgers tonight, shaving the Cubs lead to a 1/2 game.

Review of The Punisher movie

I finally got around to watching The Punisher. It stars John Travolta as bad guy Howard Saint and Thomas Jane as The Punisher. Is it just a coincidence that the bad guy's last name is Saint or is someone trying to be ironic? We'll never know. Anyways, the main reason I wanted to see this is because I liked Thomas Jane in Dreamcatcher. I think this movie would have been much better (Oscar worthy?) if Duddits would have helped The Punisher kill everyone. Speaking of Duddits, I think I need to spend some time on Donnie Wahlberg's movie career. He is probably best known for being Marky Mark's brother, but people should start acknowledging him as serious actor. Will you ever forget his performance as the crazed guy wearing just his tighty whities in The Sixth Sense? In Dreamcatcher, he plays a "special" person who helps Thomas Jane's character kill an alien. Actually I didn't even know Marky Mark's brother, I mean Donnie, was Duddits until I went to imdb to get the link tonight.

Overall, I'd give this movie a "B" even though it did star Uncle Jesse's wife (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos). I'm sure this will find its way into my dvd collection.

Mets trip Cubs

The Cubs lost in 11 innings to the Mets today by a score of 4-3. Hawkins blew yet another save by giving up a game tying 3-run shot in the bottom of the ninth. Equally craptacular were Sosa and Patterson, with a combined 7 strikeouts. The Cubs fall to 87-67. If the Giants win against the Dodgers tonight the Cubs WC lead will shrink to 1/2 game.

Boilers Win Big Ten Opener

The Boilers defeated the Fighting Illini 38-30 today at Illinois. Orton was dominant again passing for 366 yards and 4 TD's. Taylor Stubblefield caught 11 passes for 115 yards and 3 TD's. The Boilers are now 3-0 and face Notre Dame next week in South Bend.

Mutual Funds

Anyone have an American Express Mutual Fund? Are there any advisors who can help me?

Cubs extend WC lead

Thanks to the Dodgers, 3-2 victors over the Giants tonight, the Cubs now lead the NL Wild Card Race by 1 1/2 games.

Cubs win again

The Cubbies downed the Mets 2-1 tonight in 10 innings. Everyday MVP Aramis Ramirez homered in the 7th to tie the game at 1-1 and Derek Lee singled home Grudz in the top of the 10th to make it 2-1. Corey Patterson kept up his craptacular hitting on the road trip with two more K's tonight. The Cubs move to 87-66.

Cubs take Wild Card lead

The Astros managed to win last night against the Giants, 7-3. The Cubs now have a 1/2 game lead over the Giants. The Cubs start a series with the Mets tonight at 6:10 while the Giants begin a 3 game series with the Dodgers late tonight.

By the way, I'm watching SportsCenter right now and Trev Alberts just said that Purdue is the best team in the Big Ten.

Holmes says he'll play

According to fanball.com, Andrea Kramer of ESPN talked with Priest Holmes today after practice and he said that he has every intention of playing on Sunday. He told her that if he can walk, he will play. Unfortunately, wussy boy Dick Vermeil has the final say. You can be certain that the tears will flow when he's making that decision. X-15's chances of beating the South Park Cows hinge on Holmes playing. If Holmes can't go it better be Blaylock who gets the start or I'll feel really dumb since I dropped Larry Johnson to pick Blaylock up earlier this week. Of course that vulture Dustin Gill already picked up Johnson.

Maddux wins 15th game...

The Cubs downed the Pirates 6-3 today. Maddux picked up his 15th win of the season. The is the 17th season in a row that Maddux has had at least 15 wins. This is the third time the Cubs have swept the Pirates this season, the 10th sweep of the season overall. The Cubs move to 86-66 and are currently tied with the Giants for the NL Wild Card. The Giants play the Astros tonight in San Francisco.

Cubs hang on

The Cubs beat the Pirates 1-0 tonight. Zambrano pitched 7 1/3 innings and struck out 7. He left in the eighth with the bases loaded and one out. Kent Mercker came in and struck out Craig Wilson. The next batter lined a shot to the gap but Sammy made a game saving, diving catch. It was the only thing Sammy did tonight besides strike out two times. Zambrano moves to 15-8 and the Cubs move to 85-66. The series finale is tomorrow at 11:35 Central Time. I love the day games, it gives me something to do at work.

X-15 rolls in both leagues

X-15 embarrassed the maker of Swoosh this week in the Nappanee Keeper League by a score of 101 to 57. I think he should stick with writing software. Luckily for me, I'm getting paid to manage my fantasy team (that's because I spend copious amounts of time analyzing fantasy football info at work). This week X-15 takes on the South Park Cows in a huge fantasy match up. The winner moves to 3-0 and takes control of the league.

In the Nappanee Re-Draft League, X-15 rolled over the Posse 88-76. Huge days by LT, C-Mart and DeShaun Foster propelled X-15 to the victory. This win is especially satisfying because no one takes fantasy football more serious than the Voice of Northridge Football. This week I go against the maker of Swoosh. Most likely the outcome will once again be a huge X-15 victory. I'm so confident in my team that I will post here that he should get McAllister and Heap out of his lineup since they are both out this week.


I had a .500 record in my other leagues. I don't spend much time on those and the competition isn't nearly as good as the leagues I mentioned above, therefore, I will no longer devote time to them in my blog.

Cubs down Pirates

The Cubs defeated the Pirates 5-4 in 10 innings tonight. LaTroy Hawkins came into the game in the 9th to blow yet another save. Patterson scored the eventual winning run in the 10th on a wild pitch with 2 outs. Corey led off the inning with a ground rule double. Neifi Perez sacrificed him to third and the Pirates then intentionally walked Aramis Ramirez, who had already homered once. Alou struck out swinging and then Solomon Torres threw a wild pitch with Derek Lee at the plate allowing Patterson to score from third. Dempster came on in the bottom of the 10th to pick up the save. Anyone else think Dusty should move Hawkins back to a setup role and give Dempster a shot at closing? The Cubs record is now 84-66.

X-15 moves to 2-0

Looks like my team, X-15, is going to move to 2-0 in the keeper league I am in. T.O. just put the nail in the Iron Toothpicks' coffin with a 45-yard TD catch. Culpepper and Moss don't have any TD's but Kevan Barlow and DeShaun Foster picked up the slack with huge fantasy days. The bad news is that Kevan Barlow and Priest Holmes may both be out next week because of injuries. Barlow has bruised ribs and Holmes has a sprained left ankle. Luckily, I was able to pick up their backups before someone else did.

Cubs split twinbill

The Cubs blew their chance to take the lead over the Giants for the wild card today. They beat Cy Young candidate Carl Pavano in the first game, but then lost to David Weathers in the second. Some one please tell me how they lost to David "I suck so bad I got cut by the Astros during the middle of the season" Weathers. He isn't even a starting pitcher! The goats are Corey Patterson and Derek Lee, who managed to strike out a combined 10 times in the two games. The Cubs record is now 83-66.

Boilers move up in polls

Despite not playing this week, the Boilers managed to move up from 18 to 15 in both polls this week. Purdue plays at Illinois on Saturday. I noticed that Michigan dropped to 18th in both polls after barely beating San Diego State at home. I'm glad I don't attend that university.

Fantasy Sports

It's time to address my fantasy sports addiction. I am in 4 baseball leagues and 9 football leagues right now. Yahoo only allows 4 teams per login so I had to sign up for another one to get more teams. I signed up for the other 4 leagues just because I think online drafts are fun. Most of my time is spent on one team. I am involved in a 10-team keeper league. I take the most pride in this team because I've spent 2 seasons building it to what it is today. I have managed to get Daunte Culpepper, Peyton Manning, Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, and Priest Holmes on my team. All of them were acquired via trade except Culpepper. If Ricky Williams would have decided to play football instead of smoke weed in Asia or wherever he is, I would be that much better. Last week I blew away my competition 119-69. This week I am winning by a score of 63-42. I still have Culpepper, Moss, and TO going tomorrow night on MNF, while my opponent (Iron Toothpicks) has B Westbrook and the Philly D playing tomorrow night as well. Barring several turnovers by those 3, I should coast to my second victory of the young season.

Finally...

The Bears ended the 7 game losing streak against the Packers winning today 21-10 at Lambeau Field. The Bears defense was great, picking off Favre twice and returning an Ahman Green fumble for a touchdown. The Bears record is now 1-1.

Cubs Update

Last night the Cubs lost to the Reds 5-6. Today the Cubs defeated the Reds 5-1. Michael Barrett was the hero today with 2 doubles and a single. The Cubs record is now 82-65.

Cubs win again...

Derek Lee hit a 3-run homer and a 2-run double and the Cubs beat the Reds 12-4 to improve their record to 81-64. Carlos Zambrano also homered. Carlos picked up the victory, pushing his record to 14-8. The Cubs have won 5 in a row.

Cubs beat the Reds

Aramis Ramirez drilled three home runs and one double as the Cubs defeated the Reds 5-4 tonight. Ramirez tied the Cubs record for total bases with 14. The Cubs move to 80-64 but remain 1/2 game behind the Giants, who beat the Expos today.

My Thoughts on Barry Bonds

Everywhere I look someone is talking about Barry Bonds and his impending 700th home run. I'm wondering if they will be able to fit his steriod-fueled head on a bust to put in Cooperstown.

Purdue Football

The Boilers are dominating their opponents early in the season. They spanked Syracuse 51-0 on the 4th of this month and humiliated the Ball State Cardinals 59-7 on Saturday. Against the Cards, Kyle Orton threw 5 touchdown passes and ran for one. In the process, Orton broke a 39 year-old Purdue passing record by completing 88.5% (23 of 26) of his passes. The Boilers are ranked 18th in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls.

Cubs Sweep the Pirates

The Cubs defeated the Pirates 13-5 this afternoon. They began the game by hitting 3 home runs in a row. Lee, Sosa and Barrett went deep off Pirates' starter Oliver Perez in the first inning. Sosa struck out homered twice today, including a grand slam in the 8th inning to put the game away. The Cubs record is now 79-64.

Derek Lee hit his 30th home run making him the 4th member of the 30 homer club on the Cubs this season. This is the first time the Cubs have had 4 players hit 30 home runs in the same season.

Corey Patterson!!!

The Cubs won tonight's game against the Pirates in 12 innings. Patterson hit a 2-run homer in the 8th inning to tie the score at 2-2. He then hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 12th. The Cubs record is now 78-64.

The Astros, Giants, and Marlins all won tonight so the Wild Card race stays the same.

Best Website Ever...

ESPN.com has come up with the best website ever. Sportsnation hosts live chats from 8:00 to 5:00 EDT every weekday. They have a variety of guests each day covering a variety of topics. I can't believe how fast my day at work goes now. Thanks ESPN!

Bears Lose to the Lions

The Bears lost a close game to the Lions on Sunday. The final score was 20-16. The only bright spot for the Bears was newly acquired running back Thomas Jones rushing for 67 yards and 2 TD's. The Bears fall to 0-1 and play the Packers on Sunday.

Sci-Fi Geeks Unite!

No females will be at this movie...

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

CUBS WIN

The Cubs just defeated the Pirates 7-2, running their record to 77-64. Sosa took a break from striking out and hit his 30th home run of the season. The Cubs are now 1/2 game behind the Giants for the NL Wild Card.

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Nomar will be out at least 5 games with a moderate strain of his right groin. His replacement, Neifi Perez, hit a home run tonight.

Welcome to my blog

I am going to dedicate this space to the Cubs, Bears, Boilermakers, and my fantasy sports addiction.