Help is on the way

The Cubs are saying that Nomar, Wood, and Scott Williamson will all return on Friday when the Cubs face the Mets. Wood and Williamson should provide some much needed help to the bullpen.

Softball 7/29

We lost tonight to Zion, 8-6. We continued the game that was postponed on Tuesday, starting in the stop of the third inning. I always thought if a game was rained out you started over if the teams didn't play enough innings to make it an official game. I guess that's not how the church league rolls. Anyways, we tied the score at 1-1 in the top of the sixth on a long, long home run by Ryan H. We retired the first two batters of the next half inning, but a crucial error by our second baseman (not me) opened the flood gates as Zion scored seven times to put them ahead 8-1. I lead off the top of the seventh with a double, and eventually scored. Ryan H and Erv both homered in the inning, but it wasn't enough. I ended the game 1-for-3.

I'm not sure what our final record was but Ryan H did say that we tripled the amount of wins they had last year. I'm planning on beginning to hit in March so that it doesn't take me so long to get started offensively next season. Mike, you're going to have to hang around after softball practice next spring and throw some batting practice to me.

Pictures from work

The maintenance staff did a great job hanging my stuff.

Check out the new computers.

You had me at vomit

A Kansas teen has been ordered by a judge to clean vomit out of police cars for the next four months. The teen was convicted of battery after he intentionally threw up on his Spanish teacher. Obviously I do not condone this type of behavior, especially now that I work at a school, but throwing up at will is somewhat impressive to me. Puking on command got Droz a job in professional wrestling so maybe this guy has a future in the WWE.

Bears lock up Orton

The Bears signed Kyle Orton to a four-year deal today. Cedric Benson is their only unsigned draft pick.

William Regal still going strong

On my last tank of gas, William averaged 26 mpg. Not bad for an eleven year car with over 150,000 miles. Put that in your gas guzzling pipe and smoke it!

Softball 7/22

We lost tonight 14-6. The other team hit 6 balls out of the park. Erv lead the way once again, going 3-for-3 with 3 doubles. I was the goat going 1-for-4. My only hit was in the top of the seventh after the game was already decided. We play Tuesday at 6:00.

Broken Wood (again)

Kerry Wood left the game tonight after the third inning with shoulder stiffness. He gave up solo homers to Griffey, Dunn, and Felipe Lopez before departing. Derrek Lee hit his 31st home run of the season, but it was not enough as the Cubs lost 9-3.

Softball 7/19

The team won again tonight. We are one victory away from the championship game. Erv and Adam lead the way, both hitting the ball extremely well. Erv was 3-for-3 with two doubles while Adam added a double and a homer. My slump continued as I was 1-for-4 with a double. We play Friday at 8:00.

Counterfeit Steelers QB sacked

Brian Jackson dated two women by pretending to be Steelers quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger and Brian St. Pierre. Jackson was charged with harrassment for continuing to contact the women after they found out he was not who he claimed to be. He was also charged with criminal mischief for ruining a Steelers jersey of one of the women by signing Ben Roethlisberger's name on it. I don't know what Jackson looks like, but I know that Big Ben and St. Pierre don't really look anything alike. Maybe these women should've done a simple Google image search when they got home from their first date with the guy.

Ready for some Pie?

Here's a good article on the new Cubs' center fielder of the future.

Softball 7/15

The tourney finally began for us tonight. It took the team a couple innings to shake off the rust, but we rallied from a 9-2 deficit to win 17-15. Most of the damage was done in the third when we scored ten runs. Adam capped the inning with a grand slam. I guess he is only credited for two RBIs since we had eight runs already scored in the inning before the grand slam. Mike and Ryan H also hit taters. Kenny found his swing and laced 3 hits. I was 2 for 4 but failed to leave the yard. I'll take the weekend to reflect on what went wrong for me and hopefully find my stroke by Tuesday at 7:00 for our next game.

Cubs complete sweep

The Cubs completed a three-game sweep of the Marlins in Miami today, 9-2. Derrek Lee hit his 27th home run of the season and Greg Maddux pitched eight strong innings allowing 4 hits and no runs.

The Cubs head into the All Star Break with a record of 43-44. They begin a series with the Pirates on Thursday.

Cubs snap losing streak

The Cubs snapped their 8-game losing streak tonight beating Dontrelle Willis and the Marlins, 9-6. Jeromy Burnitz and Matt Murton were the offensive stars. Burnitz homered and had 3 RBIs. Murton singled in his first at-bat. He also walked and scored, hit a sacrifice fly and doubled. Jerry Hairston had 2 hits and 2 RBIs as Patterson's replacement in center field. I know it's only one game, but it looks like Murton and Hairston will do just fine replacing Dubois and Patterson.

Bartman

There is a good article on ESPN.com about Steve Bartman. Go read it.

NASA getting sued

It's about time someone sued NASA for screwing up all of our horoscopes.

Man loses 573 pounds

He could've done without the gastric bypass and just went on the South Beach Diet.

More Cubs news

It looks like we won't be seeing Preston Wilson playing for the Cubs, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

See ya Patterson

Corey Patterson was sent to Triple-A last night after the Cubs eighth straight loss.

The Cubs called up Matt Murton and Adam Greenberg to replace Patterson and Dubois. Murton came over from the Red Sox in the Nomar trade last season. He's been playing with the AA West Tenn Diamond Jaxx and leads the Southern League with 107 hits and his .342 average ranks second. After seeing Murton in the Cape Cod League, ESPN baseball analyst Peter Gammons likened him to Edgar Martinez. Greenberg appears only to a stop gap until Felix Pie, who now looks to be the Cubs center fielder of the future, recovers from a sprained ankle.

Don't ask me what a Diamond Jaxx is because I have no idea.

Idiot of the day

How stupid is Alan Henderson? He was arrested and charged with carrying a gun in his luggage while trying to board a plane last weekend. I guess he thought it was appropriate to carry a loaded 9 mm pistol in his suitcase. What makes this even better is that he didn't have a valid New York permit or license for the gun. I don't understand pro athletes who get arrested. All they have to do is NOT get arrested or killed and they are set financially for the rest of their life. Henderson could get 15 years in jail if convicted. Current IU students and alums should hang their heads in disgrace.

More Great News for Cubs

Derrek Lee left the game tonight in the third inning with what the Cubs are calling left shoulder irritation. Looks like the Cubbies will be sellers this trading season instead of buyers. Without Lee the Cubs have no chance of making the playoffs.

Merck denied

The drug company responsible for Vioxx had its request to postpone its July 11 court date for the first of many lawsuits denied by a Texas judge today. Merck faces thousands of lawsuits involving Vioxx, which they took of the market last year because of serious side effects. Let the large cash settlements begin.

War of the Worlds

I went to see War of the Worlds last night with Mark and Erv. It was a good movie, but don't expect a different ending than the original. The movie wasn't the best part of my theater experience. We got there so early there were still people in the theater so we had to wait outside for them all to come out. Once we went in, the guy cleaning up the place left a empty bag of popcorn sitting on the seat at the end of the aisle we were in. After a little coaxing from Mark, I decided to grab it and cash in on a free refill. The best part was that when I picked up the bag, I discovered an empty drink cup as well! Mark and I then enjoyed a free large popcorn and drink (I did get a different straw).