Sorry folks, but I have finaly returned, and you find me in a promised land. The Twins have knocked off heavy favorites New York in game one of the ALDS in New York. It was the first day playoff game in New York since 1981, and the Twins capitalized, getting great relief pitching and quieting the rowdy crowd of 56,292. Latroy Hawkins got the win, and Eddie G. the save despite havig a 9.00 ERA. That was merely because he gave up one run in the ninth. The Twins scoring all came on questionable defensive plays. Alfonso Soriano missed a ground ball that would have prevented the Twins first run, and then overthrew the third baseman to allow Hunter to score after he had tripled in Matthew Lecroy all the way from first. And that is a big accomplishment, because Lecroy is a big guy. A big and slow guy. The ball that Hunter hit was a routine single, but Bernie Williams missed the ball, and it went all the way to the wall. Shannon Stewart robbed Hideki Matsui of a two run homerun in the ninth, which would have made it a one run game with no outs. He also had to battle a fan, who was trying to make the catch as well. Alls well that ens well, and combined with the Packers actually winning a game, this is turning out to be a pretty good week. Bye Bye for now, Mr. G. Mantle.
Steve Jobs was recently talked about in a Forbes article about the best dressed billionares. He is leading in the poll by a whoping 46%. It is funny, because he is over 50, and wears jeans and mock turtlenecks. Larry Ellison is also in there, and he wears $10,000 suits. Anyway, this just shows the power of Mac fans. I assume, anyway, that they are the main reason that he is leading.
In response to the posted comment of yesterday, I am very happy that the Lions are nothing like the Barry Sanders led team of the past. We have too many injuries to deal with that. Thankfully, we are facing the Arizona Cardinals next week, a team that had 50,000 empty seats for its home opener. They have been outscored 80-24, and were shutout last week. Pretty pathetic. They are a definite win. I am willing to take on betters here, people. The Twins scred 13 runs, and held on to beat the Indians 13-6 to take over sole possession of 1st place in the AL Central for the first time since the 30th of June. Many moons has that been, and now we get to face the three best pitchers in the American League in the form of the hideous White Sox. Very annoying. Well, have a good day.
Mr. G. Mantle
What a day for all of my wonderful sports teams. But first, a joke. How many UC-Boulder students does it take to change a light-bulb? None, they go to a seminar on darkness. If you didn't get it, Boulder is a really wierd place where everyone is either high from the altitude or drugs, and they all dress oddly. The last of the hipies also reside there. Anyway, the Packers finally wona game, beating the Lions 31-6. Brett had 2 TDs, and Ahman Green ran for 160 yards. The Vikings also won, which is rather unfortunate, but what can you do. The Packers are in good company at 1-1, which the defending Superbowl Champion Buccaneers are at, as well as the defending AFC champions, the Oakland Raiders. The superbowl champs from the last two seasons are also one and one. (the Patriots and Ravens.) Enough said. The Twins also won, 5-3 over the tribe. We remained tied for first, though, because the Boston Red Sox, who have the best offense in baseball history, scored just 3 runs over the last two games and lost pathetically in each. Too bad. We play tommorow, and so have a chance to take a 1/2 game lead coming into a huge three game series with the ChiSox next week. Just to let you know, the Winnipeg GoldEyes, who beat the Saints in the first round of the playoffs, lost to the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks in the Northern League Championship Series. Mazel Tov. It was just my luck that the only Saints game that I went to this year was a loss to the morons from Moorhead. Nice rhyme, eh? Of course, that would mean that I was Canadian. Oh well, have a good night. I think that my new pseudonym will be Mr. G. Mantle. It sounds better, and will look better on the cover of my next bestseller. (look for it in hardcover in about ten years)
The Twins beat the Indians tonight, and so stayed in a tie with Chicago, which beat the Boston Red Sox. Too bad. The Gophers won over Ohio. No, not the defending champions from Columbus, Ohio University in Athens. But the main thing is that we won. The Packers square off against the Lios Sunday, and while that is normally to get worried about the state of the Packers recieving corps and secondary means that this will be a challenge. If the Lions and Vikings lose, the Packers will be ina tie for first with three other teams. Otherwise, not too much is happening. The Wild started training camp without Marian Gaborik and Pasqal Dupuis, but hopefully they will get signed by the team.
The Twins got a leadoff double from Stewart, who is on second still with one out. I will keep you updated soon. Anyway, there hasn't been much news about the WTO trade meetings. Two nights ago, I heard that some South Korean farmer had committed suicide at the meetings in Cancun. That is realy a great place to hold a meeting. If they can get a quorum. Even if most colleges are in session, there is still plenty happening. Anyway, what I was trying to say was that I fail to see what the point of killing yourself for a little more wheat. I mean all it's going to do is make your family have to pay for a funeral, which can be pretty expensive. Especially when you compare the Korean currency to the Mexican one. Shameful, isn't it, that I don't know the South Korean currency. Oh well, it isn't like anyone actually cares. The Twins stranded Stewart at second. That really is bad. Well then, bye bye.
With that many drunken sailors on a persons back, one would probably get rather hoarse. But no matter. The Twins earned a split with the Sox, putting them back into first place. After falling behind 1-0 in the first, Brad Radke threw a complete game and gave up just two runs. Shannon Stewart and Denny Hocking both finished with two RBI's, and the Royals also lost, which isn't necessarily a good thing. If they had won, Cleveland would have come into their series with the Twins on a losing streak, and the Royals would have more of a reason to play hard against Chicago. As it stands now, they probably won't be in the race for the final week of the season. No matter, there is nothing to be done about it. Besides, a month ago, I would have been ecstatic about a KC loss. It just comes to show you what losing a bunch of games does to ones psyche. Well, have a good night, and day if you so please.
I have somebody new reading this site, so let's all try and be on our best behaviour. Meanwhile, I haven't heard back from that guy who tried to find out who was running www.yudelkrinsky.com (another plug for him) so it looks like I was correct in my assertions. Meanwhile, it looks as if the Packers won't be that out, even though 3/5 of their wide recievers are out. They signed two more, who should help. Donald Driver, our #1 reciever, was injured on Sunday. He had to be carried off the field on a stretcher, woth a neck sprain. Amazigly, he could be back in like six weeks. I sure hope that he is. The Twins are leading 4-1 in the bottom of the ninth versus Chicago, and I will keep you updated as to what is happening as I write this.
As I was listening to the Twins game, they had an announcement that folks were calling up and saying that there were massive explosions happening in the south metro here in the Twin Cities. In fact, it was a fireworks display. But not just any display, this is a pyrotechnics manufacturers convention happening in Bloomington, home of the Mall of America, Americas biggest waste of time and money. The show started at 9:00, which is why people started calling in at 9:16. Don't ask. Speaking of pyrotechnics, the Twins are still trying to get a save for eddie Guardado. Hold on...Mazel Tov, he gets the save and The Twins get the win. Now they are just 1 game behind Chicago, and have a chance to tie it up tommorow, at 2:05 ET. Have a goodnight.
A heart-rending loss on Sunday. A pathetic one on Monday. A tragic one on Tuesday. The Twins got the tying run on first, but lost 8-6 to the Sox after falling behind 8-2 in the top of the frame. Too bad. Thankfully, we get to the play the Indians and Tigres in the next 20 games, while they can face the Yankees (I think) and the Royals, who by the way are still in it. So anyway, other then that, not too much in my day. Apple introduced some new stuff yesterday, the most significant being new iPods which are selling to the tune of 500 bucks. They have 40 GB of memory, enough to hold 10,000 songs. You want more? How about an address book, contacts, and a to-do list. Even more you say? Glutton, but I'll tell you anyway. Try 3, that's right, 3 new games. Solitaire, breakout, and another which I can't think of right now. Isn't that amazing? No, not that I can't think, the fact that Apple has wrapped so much goodness in such a small package. What did you say? Oh yeah, I'll take two.
When the Packers played played the vikings three seasons ago, I told all and sundry that we would smash the living day-lights out of those cockeyed maniaxs. They lost, of course, 35-13. Or something like that. I held my head in shame for 6 months. Thankfully, this year I didn't do that. Unthankfully, the Packers still lost. But at least I won't have that much ribbiing. I hope.
The Packers lost. To the Vikings. 'Nuff said. Brett threw 4 interceptions, though a couple of them were not his fault. Also, we possible lost our best WR for the season. I really don't want to write about it, so I will not. On another sad note, the Saints lost 4-3, ending their chances for a championship. At least of my teams won though. The Twins beat Texas 5-4 in 10 innings. Good Job guys. I will try and write more tommorow. Right now I am in mourning.
Well, after being out for two days worth of scores, I find that A Belgian won the US open versus another Belgien, and, oh wait, that's the only ironic thing I could find.
Oh well, the Twins remained tied for first, after beating the Rangers the last two nights. Actually, days, and nights. They started at 11:05 local time to accomadate the Gophers football game at 7:00. Interestingly, they were not allowed to start an inning after 2:30. Well, they won, so it didn't matter. The Gophers won too, beating Troy State University 48-7. TSU, as you can see, is not very good. The Badgers also won. Andre Agassi lost in the semis versus Roger Federer, but the US still has a chance with Andy Roddick. The Packers start off tommorow, versus the Vikings at 1:05 ET. Catch it, and you will enjoy what you see. Have a good day, more tommorow, Greenmantle
Well, I sign online, and guess what happens? Obviuosly, you have know idea, because if you did you would not be reading futher. Or you might, if you really enjoyed this blog. So anyway, you can email the guy who runs yudelkrinsky.com at mechakeh_lo@yudelkrinsky.com. Okay? So I got an email today from someone. They asked me
"I really enjoy your articles on morningspin.com. You once mentioned a website that your friend manages called Yudelkrinsky.com. I was intrigued by the website. I was wondering if you could provide me with a name and way of contact to the operator of that site. I would really appreciate it."
Now, Mechakeh_Lo said that when you typed in his website inyo google, it came up with mine. He also said that he was getting a lot of hatemail. Now I figured that some person just wanted to know who it was that was reading this. Bu tthen I saw that they also posted something, and it started with Yeah Twins. No one in their right mind says Yeah Twins, especially after reading my site. They are more likely to say "-*^%$ the Twins, tell us something interesting." So I figure that someone wants to expose my friend and burn his house down. Which would not be very nice. So I won't tell them his real email address. Hey, my parents should have named me Sherlock. For Sherlock Holmes, the famous English detective.
Well, on my 1st day of school, something good happened. The Twins scored on a crazy play. You want to know what happened? Well then my children, sit down around the family iMac and I shall telly uo of the great story of how the Twins moved into a tie for first place. Down 5-4, in the bottom of the ninth, with two outs on a rookie, facing one of the best pitchers in the league is obviously not a good start. Oh, a little more on the pitcher. He had never given up an earned run versus the Twins. Well, that streak stayed alive, though his consecutive games saved streak didn't. So anyway, that rookie walked, and was pulled for a pitch runner. On the very first pitch after, Shannon Stewart lined a double down the left-field line. The runner was waved home, but he was out. But wait, the catcher dropped the ball after the runner barreled into him, and the Twins tied the game. The ball went up the first base line, and Shannon Stewart scored the winning run. Unfortunately, the catcher broke his risk and is done for the season, but that is what happens in a tough game. The Red Sox finished off the White Sox in ten, and so the two teams are now tied for first, with Chicago just a game behind. This is definitely an exciting time in baseball.
Meanwhile, the tennis world continued to be annoyed at the rain in New York. In Australia, at Laver arena, there are retractable roofs, so no tennis matches are ever postponed in any way. I wonder, though, if the roofs are meant more for protection against the sun then the rain. In Arizona, at Bank One Ballpark, there is also a retractable roof. It is , however, meant to cool the stadium down, not to warm it up. In fact, I am sure that the people there would love to see some rain. Well, have a good day, Greenmantle
Well, I went to the Twins game today. 1st, the good news. The Twins won 12-6. Now the bad news. Oh wait, there was no bad news. The Royals and White Sox both lost, so we are now just 1 game back. Meanwhile, Jesse Orosco, the Twins ancient reliever, pitched one inning of scoreless baseball to close out the ninth. The crowd, which was a dissapointing 13,000, chanted Jesse. I was screaming the loudest, actually. When I got home, I learned that the Saints had won their first playoff game versus Winnipeg, which is also nice. Indeed, it is very nice. Meanwhile, Andre Agassi won his match, but I don't know more then that right now. Well, I start school tommorow, so don't let me keep you.
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire had a bad day, what with his team losing 10-2, and his coffee being too hot. Actually, I don't know about the coffee, but I know that the Twins were pounded. In other Twins news, they signed Jesse Orosco, a 46 year old pitcher, to the team. He was drafted in 1978. In fact, he is 6 months older then Twins manager Ron G. They roomed together for 6 months in the minor leagues, and played together on the Mets. Though he may be anciant, he still has some stuff. My secong grade teacher always told me never to use the word "stuff", because it was too vague, and reminded her of a turkey. Well, in football parlance, that it was you call a pitchers pithces. His stuff. Well, tommorow brings another day. Unless, of course, the world ends. Which considering the circumstances, might not be too bad.