Cats and Sports

First, pointless pictures of cats:

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Second, sports:

We listened to a chunk of the Bruins game on the radio in the car today. They beat the Penguins, a likely first round playoff opponent, thanks to a Pastrnak hat trick that put him over 100 points for the season. Glorious.

Right now I am watching the Red Sox. For the second game in a row they let the Orioles build a huge lead early and then started clawing their way back. They fell short by a run in game #1. Here in game #2 they train 8-6 in the seventh but are rallying. I’m not going to call this glorious, but it is pretty fun to watch.

Opening Day Freeze

As expected, the Red Sox are getting trounced early in their opening day game.

It’s the fifth inning. It’s 39 degrees out. Call it baseball in the frozen tundra. I am honoring those who are freezing at the game by turning on the space heater while I work because I am really cold. At least I’m not outside while the Orioles hold an 8-2 lead.

Yikes!

211/365

NESN on AppleTV

Why didn’t anyone tell me that NESN has an AppleTV app?

I just installed it and now I am watching spring training Red Sox baseball on my AppleTV! Will regular season games be blacked out by MLB? Will regular season Bruins games be blacked out? I have the account I’m using for the app tied to our Verizon cable account and NESN is in that package, so I don’t think so.

The next B’s game is Thursday. Fingers crossed until then.

World Series… Someday

The matchup for the World Series is set and I am both happy and sad.

First, the bad news. I told Jen we were going to go to San Diego to see a World Series game if the Padres won the pennant. They did not win the pennant. Can we still go to San Diego? Please? I friggin’ love that city. The Phillies beat them in five games (I think… it was five games, wasn’t it?).

Now the good news. THE YANKEES WERE SWEPT AND IT IS AWESOME!!!!! The Astros have not lost a game in the post-season. Let me say that again… The Astros have not lost a game in the post-season. They beat Seattle in three games and the Yankees in four. I picked them to win, but only because they are not the Yankees.

Now for the World Series. The Phillies vs the Astros. Who should I back? Who should I root for? On the one hand, I don’t particularly care for the Astros after they eliminated my Red Sox last year, though I am very happy for the way they crushed the Yankees. I could go either way, I guess. I have been a Phillies fan in the past, though I know nothing about this year’s team and I am pissed at them for cancelling our San Diego trip. I could go either way with them as well. Does the possibility of the Astros running the table make me want to back them? Naw, I’m going to be a Phillies fan. Screw the Astros and their trash can crap*.

The only question that remains… why the hell are they waiting until Friday to start the series? Is the goal to stretch it out until Christmas? What the hell? The series is set, let’s play the friggin’ games!

Go Phillies.


*Yes, I know the Red Sox did the trash can shit too. Leave me alone.

MLB Championship Round

I totally forgot to post the teams I am rooting for in the two Major League Baseball Championship Series. My Division series teams split evenly. I lost both American League series, Cleveland and Seattle both lost, and won both National League series, Philadelphia and San Diego both won.

So two teams I don’t like are in the ALCS and two teams I do like are in the NLCS. Insert my frustrated sigh here. So who am I picking?

In the American League it’s the Yankees and the Astros. If you’ve ever read any baseball posts I’ve ever written then you know I am backing the Astros. Sure they are cheating dicks, but I’d rather pick a cheating dick than the friggin’ Yankees. Screw those New York assholes, I am picking the Astros.

In the National League it’s the Phillies, the first team I ever played for, against the Padres, the team from my second favorite city in these United States. I am picking the Padres because maybe if San Diego goes to the World Series we can use it as an excuse to go back for another visit. Hey, it could happen!

So there you have it. I am gunning for a Padres vs Astros World Series. Let’s get it done.

MLB Division Round

Three of the four teams I was rooting for in the wild card round won! Wow! That’s sure gonna come crashing down in the division round.

I was backing the Guardians, the Mariners, and the Padres. They all won. The Cardinals… not so much. Who am I backing in the next round? Well, let’s find out.

First, the American League.

The Guardians vs the Yankees. If you think I would root for the Yankees then you don’t know me and don’t let the door hit you on the ass on the way out. Cleveland Rocks, babie.

The Mariners vs the Astros. I don’t really hate the Astros. They beat us in the playoffs last year and it hurt, but they are the Astros, right? They were supposed to win. They were clearly the better team. I think I could pick the Astros… but screw that. I’m backing the Mariners again.

On to the National League.

The Phillies vs the Braves. There was a time when I was a Braves fan. The reason being that they were once the Boston Braves and were worthy of my support. I also used to be a Phillies fan. My first little league team was The Phillies and when they won the World Series in 1980 I was a total fanboy. Who to back now? I’m going with The Phillies because I’m kinda sick of the Braves. Time for something new.

The Padres vs the Dodgers. San Diego is my second favorite city in these United States. I’m totally rooting for the Padres. Also, fuck the Dodgers. Interesting side note though, I have only been to four major league stadiums* and two of them will appear in this series.

So there you have it. Bring on round two, folks! Go Bruins.


*I have technically been to five stadiums but I’ve only been inside four of them. Fenway Park, Miller Park, Dodgers Stadium, and Petco Park. I have also been to Camden Yards, though there was no game that day so we just walked up to the gate. I think technically I could say that I have been to Wrigley Field and the old Yankee Stadium too, but in Chicago we just drove by, and in New York I was on a bus that turned around in a parking lot. I chose to not include those stadiums in the count, but I could if I wanted to because I make the rules, bro.

MLB Wild Card Round

I wasn’t going to make any predictions for the MLB postseason this year. I’m just too out of touch, thanks to how terrible the Red Sox were. At lunch today though I read an article about the wild card round and… what the hell.

Let’s not call these predictions, let’s just call them the team I am rooting for in each series. Does that work for everyone?

American League Wild Card Round:

  • No. 6 Rays at No. 3 Guardians
    • There is no way in hell I am rooting for an American League East team. Let’s go Guardians.
  • No. 5 Mariners at No. 4 Blue Jays
    • There is no way in hell I am rooting for an American League East team. Let’s go Mariners

National League Wild Card Round:

  • No. 6 Phillies at No. 3 Cardinals
    • The Phillies were the first little league team I ever played for, back when I was eight years old. The Cardinals beat the Red Sox in the World Series in 1946 and 1967 before we spanked their asses in 2004. I traditionally hate the Cardinals, but this year… Albert Pujols’ last hurrah? Yeah, I am rooting for the Cardinals. Sorry, Phillies. Nothing personal.
  • No. 5 Padres at No. 4 Mets
    • Oh how I hate New York sports teams. Do you think I’ve forgotten about 1986? Oh no, I have not forgotten. Also, San Diego is like my second favorite US city. I’m rooting for the Pardres.

There you have it. My stupid picks for the first round of the playoffs. The Bruins season opens next week. Let’s go Bruins.

Happy Nerd News on a Busy Morning

Today has been a touch on the nutso-busy side. Not a complaint, just a statement. Good things are going on, they are just taking up time.

I haven’t had the opportunity to post anything yet today, which is a little unusual. I haven’t been able to comment on how trading off one of my favorite Red Sox players has resulted in two wins against a World Series contender. What? How does that work? I haven’t been able to mention how I am suddenly kind of a San Diego Padres fan. Holy murderers row, Batman!

I had to take a second and write this post though because I just got an email from the photo lab and they sent me the scans of my four rolls of film. I’ve only looked at a couple of images so far, just to make sure they came out, and WOW do the ones I’ve looked at look good! Pics from Dad’s Pentax and from the Ebay Nikon both look excellent. My lunch break will see me getting everything up onto Flickr, but hot damn am I happy right now! Film-Photographically-Happy to be precise.

WOOHOO!

…And Again

I’m getting tired of posting this. The Bruins are down 2-0 after one period.

In each of the last two games I had to formally request (via blog post) that they step it up and take care of business.

Come on, Bruins. Get it together. Again.

In unrelated news, the Red Sox are up 6-0 in the second inning. Should they lose tonight there record will calm to 10-20. That would be suckitude of epic proportions. I’d be okay with it though if I got a Bruins win in return.

Go Bruins… and Red Sox.