Rocky

I wouldnt be surprised to see a --what would you call it--it wouldnt be a subway series since theres no subway--a "Sunshine and Palm Tree Series"?

Well -I suppose i would be a little surprised, Im just irrationally hoping the Dodgers go on a good run...

That would be a "Freeway series"... and at this point, I'm NOT with you on that one! ;)

Got a nice surprise this morning. Looks like I'm off to Anaheim for the Angels-Yankees.

With Lackey pitching, and the Yankees starting some AAA call up, my moneys on the halos.

It's a bit of a conflict for me. I like the Angels, and always pull for them when I go, but of course I can't root against the Yankees.

I'm going in wearing neutral colors, hoping the Yankees win as they need a win more, but mainly looking forward to a good game with some of baseball's best-which is something I haven't been able to say at most Dodger games.

The Angels have 2 of my favorite players in Torii Hunter, and Vlad, and the Yankees have my favorite player in Jeter. I think I'll just enjoy the game and not worry about it.

If I get really crazy, I may go across town to Disneyland afterwards.

Across town? When I took my daughter to Disneyland (in 2000), the stadium was only a couple of miles from the "happiest place on earth!"

Geez, Tom, I know you keep talking about how much the stRangers need pitching... but they picked up Dustin Nippert?

That's not just "need pitching," that's REALLY desperate for even BAD pitching! Looks like it's garbage time in Baltimore tonight...

" Because of the executive status accorded to him as Chaplain, he was given access to the information that is documented in this book."

That's from an "About the Author" snippet in Williams book on the Energy Non-Crisis.

That alone is enough to blow the whole concept to pieces.

Anything Williams was told by oil company executives because Williams was serving as a chaplain for the Alaska pipeline project workers has all the credibility of a wet noodle.

He was NOT an executive in charge of any phase of the project. He was in a position to influence the workers. Any "data" or "information" about what the project was to mean to consumers in the USA would have been intended solely to keep the workers happy and productive.

I can't imagine he had any access to anything that would or could have cast the slightest doubt on the project.

This man was set up, IF his claim as to his role in the project and with the oil companies is even remotely true, to be a propaganda tool for and by Big Oil.

So, how should you view this book and any claims made by Lindsey Williams about Alaskan oil reserves?

You decide.

Who's Lindsey Williams?

Looks like MLB IS gearing up to start trying out instant replay. They showed some of the equipment last night during the game at Chase Field. I understand it will be at only 5 stadiums at first and Chase is one of them...

I dont know if its charisma or how you would exactly define it, you're getting it all now-- Manny is just fun, There is a lot of the childhood joy of baseball with him around that too often eludes the sometimes much too serious 'professionals'.

He probably has (and therefore IS) so much fun because baseball is so natural to him... which, of course, is a good thing... but not so much for the Dbacks. :)

Rays vs Dbacks in the WS ? Could happen. The all-expansion team series- from the same year even.

Wouldn't THAT be fun?! I won't hold my breath.

At this point, I'd say it's not likely.

God bless Joel Osteen, who took over his father's ministry without any real training (seminary, etc.) and built a mega-church on his preaching. As the RocketMan has said, he preaches a health-and-wealth gospel. It's really not the Word, but he doesn't know it. It is a feel-good "gospel" that is more Dale Carnegie than New Testament. But there is something there that is genuine and pure. It's a shame that it's not all black and white, isn't it?

I can agree with that assessment...

Niki, I went to the way corps page and saw that someone had done some photographs of the Anderson library dome. I typed in my name and there was your name on the same picture of signatures. Check it out mate

I just saw LOTS of 9th corps names in those pics... not mine, however.

I wasnt implying it was the Sox BUT being in the same division and being forced to compete, Im pretty sure the Sox'll be looking for ways to increase revenues (even though they squeeze every conceivable nickel already) to ensure staying competitive.

That's kinda what I thought... which is what I meant by my reference to direct impact...

btw, Dbacks almost got no-hit this afternoon by one of the guys from that big trade last week that sent Nady to the NYY... Karstens.

The Big Unit pitched VERY well again but lost 2-0.

Does anyone know of the Osteens? I saw this news article pop-up and I have no knowledge of these guys, although it seems they are well known:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080806/ap_on_..._s_wife_lawsuit

Don't have any personal experience with or about them, but watched a 60 Minutes report on Mr. Osteen not that long ago.

My understanding is that he preaches the gospel of prosperity... not my cup of tea.

My sense is that the incident at the root of the lawsuit was overblown and that various things could have been done by both sides to de-escalate the tension. That said, given that it was on a US airline, it's probably reasonable to view Mrs. Osteen's conduct, at minimum, as incredibly arrogant.

Glad to see your all having fun in Texas! Its about time --you guys have waited long enough!

I'll get back to "the moment" in a moment

HERES some off field news that Im not liking...

Doubling?

I'll wait til the offseason to figure out what it means--but I can already smell MY ticket prices which are already off the charts, skyrocketing even further.

First off, that's the Yankees, not the Sox. And the snippet from Forbes doesn't provide any of the specifics of the economics of the situation, so it's hard to tell even what the article is even predicting, if anything, specific.

The implied cause/effect -- new stadium/doubled revenue -- doesn't directly impact the Sox or any other MLB team.

Will the game be more costly for fans next year? Of course... but by how much?

I have to be reminded from time to time but there is no better place on earth than the moment and that is really where baseball and life is played.and won...If you can stay right there .make each at bat a quality at bat, make each pitch a quality pitch and every play a quality play --the season will take care of itself

That worked for Brandon Webb and the Dbacks tonight!!! Webb got his 16th win of the season.

Well, your LIFE will change forever. And that's (generally) a good thing.

Congrats.

You will feel different the moment your new baby takes its first breath! Your entire perspective on life will change!

That moment, which for me was nearly 19 years ago, was and still is THE most dramatic moment of my entire life.

Oh, and did I say, "Congrats!" :)

Sometimes I'm amazed at the similarities I see when I read Rocky's posts.

Likewise, I'm sure! :)

Ian Kinsler was just on the radio talking about the team, the game, etc. One of the things he said was "...we don't ever feel like we're out of it, we have faith in each other."

No question that makes for exciting baseball!!!

It's a balmy 106 in the shade on the back patio today... I'll just sit in here in the AC and watch sweetniKa dance...

LOVE that A/C!!! It's like that for (at least) 6 months here!

As others have said, it can be a MAJOR contributing factor to heart disease... ESPECIALLY if you are overweight and/or have family history...

I've been using cpap for four and a half years. In that time, I've lost 90 pounds. But I also (with very strong family history) had a heart attack 9 days ago. Because I use cpap, lost the weight and work out regularly, my incident was VERY mild.

One gets checked for sleep apnea in several ways, to varying degrees. Best is a "sleep study" in a special lab that hooks you up to a bunch of machines and they see what the problem is and try a couple of different things during that night to see how to get you to sleep most restfully.

It could be a sign of sleep apnea. I have that and through testing got a thing called a CPAP machine that helps you breathe properly during your sleep.

There are surgical procedures, but they don't alway work, one of my brothers had it done and he was just as bad as before.

I second this insight.

try those things that look like bandaids on the bridge of your nose

they work for some people

They're called Breathe Right strips... and you HAVE TO use the name brand... generics do not do the same thing... they can help some, but if one needs CPAP, the strips will not do enough.

It was 104 today, and is still 97 as I type this, at 10:30 at night.

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH. Give me a blistering hot summer day over a cold winter one, any time!! Yes, we're a bit sweaty, even though we've been inside with the air conditioning. Drink lots of water. Hydrate with tomatoes from the garden; they are at their peak right now. Bring it on!

I have noticed that something else is growing. I planted an Obama sign in my front yard a few weeks ago, and now they're popping up all up and down the street. Several of them, and my street is only one block long. Could lead to dancing.

it's 101 degrees at 9:03 and there's some idiot in a full gorilla costume at the game...

I can't imagine he's got a Phoenix Suns jersey on too... THAT gorilla knows better than to do his thing when the a/c isn't on!!!!

Okay... there's one inning... Chamberlain got the call on everything remotely close. Padilla got nothing.

I can see it now... Padilla is gonna start plunking NYY and then maybe the ump... Padilla's not the most popular guy with umps, sure looks like that might play into it...

my money is on Ron Washington not making it through the night on the bench...

And it's another 100+ scorcher in the Big D today, isn't it? That can't be helping...

Lost in Manny-mania is Casey Blake, who is quietly hitting .364 since coming over.

Hokey smokes-I'm starting to think the Dodgers can not only win the division, but get to the Series ! Somebody hit me ! (I know Rocky will offer)

Of course Nomar just went back on the dl, after a brief return to the lineup, so some things never change.

Lost in Manny-mania is Casey Blake, who is quietly hitting .364 since coming over.

Hokey smokes-I'm starting to think the Dodgers can not only win the division, but get to the Series ! Somebody hit me ! (I know Rocky will offer)

Of course Nomar just went back on the dl, after a brief return to the lineup, so some things never change.

another double post-maybe I just can't take the excitement

Naw... maybe I'll just offer to give you a gentle elbow jab in the ribs to wake you up. >;-)

However, I'm sure it will take more than just two games to tell whether adding Blake and ManRam will be enough. The Dbacks are still pretty good and yesterday's game just got out of hand. So, hopefully it will be a good race to the end of the season for those two (Dbacks/Dodgers) and no doubt the better team will win. And if that ends up being the Dodgers, so be it. I have to still like the Dbacks' chances because they do still have good pitching and overall reasonably good hitting.

I remember reading Bouton's book, Ball Four, when I was a senior in HS... I use to call it, "Ball Four, get one free!" gosh... that was only 36 or 37 years ago...