Part 7- What It's Like To Win The World Series- Van Halen "Dreams" Style

Part 6- What It's Like To Win The World Series- "Iris" By The Goo Goo Dolls Style

Part 5- What It's Like To Win The World Series, Requiem For A Dream Style

Part 4- What It's Like To Win The World Series- Dancing In The Streets Style

Part 3- What It's Like To Win The World Series- No Ticket So I'll Watch From The Stadium Parking Garage Style

Part 2- What It's Like To Win The World Series, Japanese Style

So, So, what are your thoughts?



Anyone dare to give an interpretation?


Oh, that So, he is such a jokester!

Part 1- What It's Like To Win The World Series, Bleacher Style

Since I didn't get to go, I have to live vicariously through others. There are lots of these videos now on YouTube. Thanks to Johnsebben for this one. Make sure you put on your raincoat and rubbers before watching this, lest you get soaked by the flying "easy-drinking" Bud Light. Boy, you just gotta love "bleacher people."

Random Thoughts On A Beautifully Gray Fall Day

Nice rhyme, ay?

Whatever happened to the Bunnie?

Tired of smashed eggs? I'm tired of waiting for Lutheran Lucy to find a dozen eggs that have no cracks when we go to the store. But I've got the solution. Ready? "Eggs In A Can".

Further proof of creation rather than evolution? Our taste buds are in our mouths. We do not have them in our stomachs. Or bowels, for that matter. Life is hard enough.

Why does our perception of time change as we get older? Everything starts whizzing by, whereas children seem to think everything takes forever.

Speaking of children and time perception, one of the worst experiences for a male child is to be taken along while an adult shops. Ughh, bad memories.

Speaking of time yet again, is a dog's perception of time such that each "real year" seems like the proverbial "7 dog years" to it? What about insects? Is their perception such that their 3 day life span seems like 3 score years? Do insects even ponder such things?

Apples and pears are so similar, how come there's no pear sauce? Or pear cider? And why not peach or watermelon sauce?

I bet I could make a million with the following idea. You know those leaf bags that we use in fall to put the leaves in for the garbageman? Have you ever noticed that they are long and thin? So you grab a handful of leaves and try to stuff it in a hole at the top of the bag that is just too small for the bunch you lifted. Well I'd design bags that are short and fat at the top, making it 10 times easier to fill them up.

Have you ever taken one of those personality quizzes (short version) where they give you 4 letters to describe your personality? I'm an ISFJ. I think, for the 21st century, we should base personality on who we like better in particular rock bands. For instance, lead singers, such as in AC/DC and Van Halen. I'm a BS guy. Ummmm...that stands for Bon and Sammy, folks. I think.

I'm always a little disgusted when someone describes their sputum as "creamy". Pick another word. It's no wonder 'Cream of Mushroom' soup doesn't have the appeal it once did.

I've got news for you all. If you've ever told your doctor something that disgusted you to talk about, chances are he's or she's grossed out, too. But if they're good they don't show it.

Some TV meteorologists are AMS certified. Some are NWA certified. It reminds me of wrestling in the '90s. You know, NWO vs. WWF. Hey, this is a good idea for a new reality show. Ditch "Dancing with the Stars". How about "Wrestling With The Weathermen"?

I've learned about clowns at DMG's blog. I'm quite scared of clowns for 3 reasons. 1) A weirdo circus clown dude who briefly married into distant family. 2) Gacy. 3) That Stephen King TV movie "The It". They were all "circus"-type clowns. But DMG is an August clown. Pronounced like Au Jus, but with a hard 'g'.

Are they having the 'Superhero' reality show next year?

In every significant conversation of my adult life, I've ended up using TV or movie lines at some point.
Let me show you some examples. Try one in your next conversation. Or maybe you have a few of your own. But to count, you must say it like the character.
"Irresponsible rumor."- Thurston Howell from Gilligan's Island.
"So I got that going for me...which is nice." "He's the Cinderella boy..."- Carl Spackler from Caddyshack.
"Mighty careless of you, old man." - The no name drifter in A Few Dollars More.
"Lighten up, Francis."- Sgt. Hulka from Stripes.
"There must be some needy bald people." - Laura Petrie from The Dick Van Dyke Show.
"Shut up, Mel!" - Alan Brady from The Dick Van Dyke Show.
"Uhhh...hey, baby!...huhh huhhh huhhh." "Shut up, Beavis, I was about to score." - Butthead.
"No joke, Tuco. It's a rope." - -'Blondie' in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
"My advice to you is to begin drinking heavily." - -Bluto in Animal House.
"It's the X-factor." -Obscure I Dream Of Jeannie reference.
"Why, thank you, Mrs. Cleaver." -Eddie Haskell from Leave It To Beaver.
"Whatcha talkin' 'bout Willis." -Arnold from Diff'rent Strokes.
"HOW AW YA?!!!" - Eugene Levy's comedian guy who's name escapes me, on the Sammy Maudlin Show from SCTV.
"That was REALLY scary!" -Count Floyd from SCTV.
"Use your head, man!"- Barney Fife stumbling through the emancipation proclamation on Andy Griffith.

There are some days where I won't mutter an original thought all day. Just an endless stream of lines. And no one notices. 'Cause I got a million of them!

Speaking of lines..."I see dead people" is a famous one. Some people say this is a movie line, but I'm not so sure. I seem to remember this as the line that ended the children's TV show 'Romper Room'. At the end of the show the host would get out the magic mirror and look through it and name off the first names of the children she saw, like "I see Jimmy, I see Sara, I see Fred..." That sort of thing. Until the above line was uttered. Never saw that program on TV after that. Anybody else remember this?

Speaking of the 'Romper Room' magic mirror, "I see Lucy, I see TK, I see Barb, I see Quipper, I see Marie, I see Des Moines Girl..."

Speaking of childhood, remember those scenery boards that had vinyl cutouts that you would stick on the board to make your own picture?

Did I mention today was my birthday? From the references in this post, can anyone guess my age? Lucy is disqualified.

What A Difference A Year Makes

It was a year ago today that Busch Stadium's demolition began. What a depressing winter. Gone with the familiar, the gray old lady with so many great memories. In with an unfinished ballpark with no tradition or memories. Plus lots of player turnover- 3 new position players out of 8. No one knew what was going to happen. But only a true fan's most optimistic dreams could have predicted the outcome.

Fast forward a year. All is right with the world.



And new jokes abound.

Q- What's the difference between the Cubs and the Cardinals?

A- The Cardinals have celebrated a championship in their new ballpark.

NFL Picks Week 9

In a further attempt to embarass myself, here are this week's picks. I was a lofty 5-9 last week, making me 71-43 for the year. Everyone except Theisman, Schlereth, Mortensen, and Allen are laughing at me.

Atlanta
Baltimore
Dallas
Buffalo
Giants
St. Louis
Chicago
New Orleans
Jacksonville
Minnesota
San Diego
Pittsburgh
New England
Seattle

Due Your Duty

Just remember, if all else looks hopeless this election day, if you're sick and tired of it all, and there's no one who looks appealing...













Hat tip to Karen McL for the link.



"Uhhh...huh huh huh huh...he said..."duty"....uhhh...huh huh huh huh...uhhh...huh huh huh."

Practicing For The 2007 Olympics

I don't mean to brag, but I've been chosen, after paying a substantial fee, to light the torch to open the 2007 Winter Olympics. I'm just waiting for the call to let me know where I'm supposed to go. I haven't been able to find it anywhere on Google.

Odds And Ends

Here are a cool picture and some stories that have been posted on Cardinals Clubhouse, and a video from Redbird Central.




Some jokes from Jay Leno:
"Of course tonight they are playing a lot of scary programs. Nightmare on Elmstreet is on. Texas Chainsaw massacre is on. Though in Detroit to scare people they are just rerunning the World Series

David Eckstein is here. He’s a little guy. In fact, right after she saw him play, Madonna tried to adopt him. She ran out on the field and held him……"


Here's Eckstein on Leno. You'll need Real Player.
I love the story about how he got so much flack from the media for not taking off and sitting out on Yom Kippur, a la Shawn Green . Eckstein just said, "I'm not Jewish."

For All The Error Talk...

Sure, it helped that the Tigers threw us some runs, but that didn't win this World Series.

It's as simple as the following:
If they can't score on you, they can't win, no matter how few errors they commit.

This is how championships are won. Hat tip Viva El Birdos.

Cardinals 2006 Post-Season Pitching
era- 2.68
avg- .219
obp- .291
slg- .355
k/9- 6.83
hr/9- 0.77

Give credit where credit is due. I've never been a big Tony LaRussa fan, or a Dave Duncan fan. But they both have now "officially" earned their genius labels in my book for their near perfect game plans.




When you are constantly in the shadow of Whitey Herzog, constantly surrounded by Musial, Ozzy, Brock, Gibson, (and Shannon!), I can see where the pressure might become unbearable at times. After 11 seasons in St. Louis, they have finally "earned their stripes." Welcome, gentlemen, to the "St. Louis Club Of Immortality".

Happy Halloween!

This woman has spectacular talent. The photo ain't bad, either.

Ladies and gentleman, the Yadi-O'Lantern. From Viva El Birdos.

NFL Picks Week 8

Last week I was an incredible 5-8, making me 66-34 on the year. Still good enough to beat these ESPN guys, except for Golic (who, I might add, picked the Cardinals in the World Series during his Mike And Mike morning radio show.)

Green Bay
Cincinnati
New Orleans
Tennessee
Philadelphia
Seattle
Chicago
Giants
San Diego
Denver
Jets
Pittsburgh
Carolina
Minnesota

It's A Beautiful Day

Hit it, Balki.



"Now we are so happy, let's do the Dance of Joy."

Click here for audio of the dance, which should be performed while viewing the following:
















Thank you, St. Louis Cardinals.

Stray Thought Alert

After almost two months, I just realized why HGTV's Design Star winner, David, won the contest. Ready?




He looks quite a bit like Mr. Spock.


Alice doesn't look like Spock. I'm not sure she's ever contemplated this misfortune since her loss a few weeks back.


I consider it a certitude of life that, all things being equal, someone who looks like Spock will always triumph over someone who doesn't. It's just the way the world works.

The World Series Of Politics

Even if tonight's game is postponed because of rain, starting pitcher Jeff Suppan will be on the air, along with some others.

NFL Week 7 Picks

Last week 8-5, meaning I am 61-26 on the year. Which means I am now above all the ESPN Experts.

Cincinnati
Jets
Miami
Jacksonville
New England
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
San Diego
Denver
Arizona
Seattle
Indianapolis
Dallas

Coming Full Circle

One of my earliest baseball memories is getting home one fall afternoon in 1968 in time to watch the Cardinals lose game 7 of the World Series. I was in kindergarten. I remember watching in disbelief as the last out of the game was made, a foul out down the first baseline. Bob Gibson lost the only game he would ever lose in the World Series that day. All the baseball I had ever known was wrapped up in the Cardinals being the best team, having won it all the year before. And now they were no longer the champions. I was almost 5 years old, and it made the world seem different to me. I don't remember crying about it, but it is possible that I did.

Now, it's the Cardinals turn to be underdogs. The time has come, after 38 years, to turn the tables on the Tigers.



Watch the World Series on Fox.



"It's your duty, Judy."

The Curse Is Over

Everyone remembers the curse of the Babe. Most know about the curse of the billy goat.

Not many knew about this curse.

I'm talking about the curse of Tim McCarver.

McCarver was the Cardinals' catcher for most of the 1960s, including the 1964 and 1967 World Champions and the 1968 NL Champions.



He was traded to Philadelphia. But then made his way back to the Cardinals. Only to be traded away again.

Ever since then, I have perceived a sense of bitterness from McCarver toward the Cardinals. Maybe I'm just sensitive, but whenever he would announce the Cardinals games, I always felt he slighted them.

Maybe it wasn't bitterness, but a desire to not appear to "favor" the Cardinals due to his past ties. But I have always sensed he treated St. Louis a little different, even to a very small extent. I could be wrong, but that's how it has seemed.

Even if that is not true, it is an undeniable fact that McCarver the announcer has always been bad luck to the Cardinals.

He was in the booth for the 2004 World Series. Which we lost.
He was in the booth for the 2002 NLCS. We lost.
He was in the booth for the 1987 World Series. Lost.
He was in the booth for the 1985 World Series. Yep.

The Cardinals, until last night, had never won a post-season series which he announced. In fact, when I heard his voice in game one, I thought all was lost. There were so many things going against St. Louis winning, I'm stunned.

Now I'm even more stunned, because I realize the curse of McCarver is over. Now, let's bury that sucker with Tiger carcass.

Smoke And Mirrors

"It has to rank up there. Talk about being nervous in the ninth inning. If you had stuck me up in a tree, I wouldn't have been able to stay in it -- I would have fallen out."
- Cardinals co-owner Fred Hanser.

If you'd have told me in May that the Cardinals...

1- Would be without the services of Mark Mulder for the last 3 1/2 months...

2- Would be without the services of "Good Jason" Isringhausen, figuratively all year but literally for the last 1 1/2 months...

3- That David Eckstein, Jim Edmonds, and Albert Pujols would miss significant portions of the season...

4- That Chris Carpenter would not win a game in the NLCS...

5- That Albert Pujols would have 1 RBI in the NLCS...

6- That Yadier Molina would be the Cardinals hottest hitter...

And then tried to tell me that St. Louis would be in the World Series...

I'da thunk ye mad.


"And yet it happened."

What Is Today?

If you are rooting for the Cardinals, then I'll leave it to the Brady Bunch to give the answer.

WOW!

YAY YADI!


This is one of those nights where sleep will be hard to come by. My heart's been beating like a blender all night long. There's no way to drain the adrenaline quickly. Which is fine. I can savor nights like these. They don't come that often.

I've lived to see some great series in my lifetime, but this one is second banana to none. Thrilling.

Looks Like This Is It

Insert favorite cliche HERE.

It's almost game time.

And look who's stopped in to give the Cardinals some final inspiration.

No, not THAT guy.

It's none other than Dr. Rumack from the movie Airplane!.


"...we're all counting on you."

Gee, thanks, doctor. That should calm some Game 7 jitters.

Just Some Brief Notes

I've been tired the last week due to the playoff games going late. So I'm grumpy and behind on my blogging. So, quickly...

Even if the Cardinals lose tonight and tomorrow, I'm still a happy camper. I never expected this bewildering team to get this far, one win from the World Series. 2004 was fun but ended badly. 2005 the same. 2006 wasn't so fun but has had a great ending. With the exception of Sunday night's game, every game has been a good one. What more could you ask for?

After Monday night's performance, I hope I'll never have to sit through another comparison between this year's Bears team and 1985's version. To me there is no comparison.

I'm watching you, Oakland Raiders. You have a pretty clean shot at a perfect season. No one has ever gone 0-16 in the NFL. Don't blow it. It can be done.

I saw a fascinating movie a couple of weeks ago on a DISH Network Preview Channel. The movie was set in 200 BC China. It is a Chinese film with English subtitles called The Emperor and the Assassin. If you ever get a chance to see it, invest the time. It's worth it.

I can't help but chuckle at that ridiculous Angus Burger commercial from Burger King. "I'm full of sit! You're full of sit! We're all full of sit!"

I was 13-1 last week. 53-21 on the year. Still tied for first with Schlereth in the ESPN Experts Picks.

Detroit
Baltimore
Cincinnati
Dallas
Atlanta
New Orleans
St. Louis
Washington
Pittsburgh
Jets
San Diego
Denver
Chicago

Thanks, Cleveland, Part 2

Why?

We've already had Ronnie Belliard shine this postseason. But that's not why I'm thankful.

The Indians traded Guillermo Mota to the Mets on 8/20. Who was on the mound for the turning point of game 2, a seventh inning two-out two-run double by Scott Spiezio last night?

Mr. Mota.

Thank you, Indians.

Lot's of work to do. There's a flurry of baseball scheduled this weekend. It's all going to happen very fast. I hope we come out on top. If not, so be it. It's already been a memorable post-season.

As Tommy Lasorda says, "Watch the post-season on Fox." And, in closing, I love Tommy's reaction in this clip when the "fan" in the tree is discovered to be a Cubs fan.

Don't You Remember?

Everyone acts surprised by the wintery weather. Not me.

Just remember, you read it here first. I was the first to report the wintery activity.

Stay tuned here for all your news needs. Action news from an action ape.