Thursday Thoughts

Well, we knew the streak was too good to last! hehe..Welcome back to the Drill. Today is Thursday, or as I like to call it "Tease Day". Why is it "Tease Day" you ask? Because its one more day til Friday. Such a tease!! Today is all about baseball, so if you dont think it would interest you feel free to pass. ;-) OK, on with the show..

World Series Wrap up

 

After 88 years, the Chicago White Sox are champions of baseball

 

OK, before I admit how wrong I was about this series, let me point out that I did predict the White Sox to win the whole thing. I didnt get the number of games correct however. Oh well. I guess I gave Houston too much credit. It was a good (albeit, short) series with drama in each game. The White Sox basically wore the Astros down in the four games. Add to that, the fact that the Houston offense pretty much fizzled out and its no wonder they were sent packing quickly.

Wow, I didnt do well at all in this postseason. I had the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals going all the way to end with the Cardinals winning the series. Well, Boston was bounced in the first round and the Cardinals were taken care of by the Astros in the NLCS. Then again I also thought for sure the Dodgers would repeat as NL West champs. Heck, after they started 12-2 all of us in Dodger Nation were talking World Series appearance. Then injuries took their toll and my beloved Dodgers finished a distant 4th. Oh well.

 

"The Thrill of victory..the agony of defeat"

 

So the Red Sox ended their curse last year. (More on curses later) The White Sox ended their World Series drought this year. So now it falls on the Chicago Cubs to end 97 years of World Series heartbreak. The last time the Cubs won it all was 1908!!! Is anyone still alive that saw them win it all? Those are some hardcore fans in Chicago's northside of town.

Curses!!

For those of you that dont know, baseball is quite possibly the most superstitious sport of them all. What with curses and lucky charms and omens and such. Here are some of the more well known "curses" in baseball

The Curse of the Bambino....Team: Boston Red Sox

What it is: After the 1919 baseball season Boston owner Harry Frazee sold baseball legend Babe "the Great Bambino" Ruth to the Yankees for a large sum of cash. Frazee believed Ruth wasnt worth the money he was paying him anymore. Low and behold the Yankees suddenly became the mighty powerhouse in the American League during the 1920's (Thanks in large part to Ruth) making six world series appearances and winning 3 of them. The Red Sox? After winning 4 titles with Ruth, never even made it back to the Series until 1946. But then it was just heartbreak and misery usually inflicted on them by their rivals in New York. Finally, in 2004 the Red Sox got the better of the Yankees by becoming the first team to rally back from an 0-3 deficit in the ALCS and then rode that momentum to their first title in 86 years. The curse is now over, but maybe a new one is starting since they got bounced so quickly in this years playoffs. ;-)

The Billy Goat Curse......Team: Chicago Cubs

What it is: This actually is the funniest just because its so outrageous. In 1945, a bar owner by the name of Billy Goat Sianis tried to bring his pet goat "Murphy", into Wrigley Field before Game 4 of the World Series. Cubs owner P.K. Wrigley denied Murphy a seat saying "The goat stinks". An angry Sianis replied, "The Cubs, they aint gonna win again." And of course, they havent. For years Cubs fans have tried to remove the curse, even allowing Sianis' nephew to bring in a goat before Opening Day in 1984. It didnt work obviously. The curse lives to this day.

The Black Sox Curse......Team: Chicago White Sox

What it is: Probably the most scandalous of the curses, in 1919 the White Sox had the most powerful team in the league. They were heavy favorites going into the World Series that year against the Cincinnati Reds. But something was wrong when that series started. White Sox ace Eddie Cicotte hit the very first batter he faced and never really seemed into the game. They lost that game 9-1. Game 2 saw the White Sox fall 4-2. Could the Reds really be handling the mighty Sox that easily? It turned out that nine White Sox players had agreed to "throw" the World Series in exchange for large amounts of money. By the time the players involved realized the wrong they were commiting it was too late. The Reds won the series and the "fix" was revealed to the public about a year later. All nine of the White Sox players were banned for life from baseball. The White Sox (until yesterday) never won another World Series title and the 1919 team were forever known as "The Black Sox"

The West Coast Curse.....Team: San Francisco Giants

What it is: Not so much a curse as it is a theory. Before moving to San Francisco the Giants were National League powerhouses in New York winning 4 World Series titles and 13 National League Titles. That string of success ended when they joined the Dodgers in California before the 1958 season. Since moving west the Giants have been to the World Series only two times and none of those appearances resulted in a title. With an aging team in San Francisco right now, it doesnt seem likely this "curse" will end anytime soon.

Sorry, just had to throw this in there! ;-)

OK, that will do it for now. Sorry for the "baseball history lesson". Be back tommorrow to wrap it up for the week! Before I go, here's a comic I found online. It made me smile.

Amen

 

DQ

 

Taboo Tuesday

Back to back updates! I cant remember the last time that happened!! ;-)

Welcome back to the drill. No time for monologues today, lets just get to it

 

Death of a Pioneer

 

Last night, a true American icon and hero passed away. Rosa Parks, who many considered the "Mother" of the Civil Rights movement, passed away at age 92. Parks had been in ill health as of late, but her death was nonetheless shocking to those who knew her and those close to her. Parks' story of how she refused to give up her seat for a white passenger on segregated bus is legendary. Her refusal landed her in jail and sparked a national boycott of buses by colored people everywhere. This event also allowed a relatively uknown activist at the time to rise up and help lead the civil rights movement. That person of course was Martin Luther King, Jr. Its important to realize the impact that her stand made that day. For too long, colored people had been oppressed and ridiculed by the very country they were citizens of. Parks' "Enough is Enough" stance that day became a rallying cry for the oppressed and discriminated. She took a stand, while sitting. All people of color, minorities,etc, owe her a debt of gratitude. Her actions made the country realize "Hey, this isnt right". RIP Ms. Parks, the world is a better place because of you

 

While on the topic of inequality, i know that I often joke alot about stereotypes and what not. I've always said that if we can't laugh at each other, who can we laugh at? But I've always been bothered by racisim and ignorance. Have we come a long way as a society? yes. Could we do better. YES. But its going to take everyone coming together to end it once and for all. Mr. King's dream of a color blind society may come true one day. But only if we as people work towards that dream

 

OK, so people were asking me why I was gone for so long and what happened to me during the time off. In a homage to "The Late Show" I present my own top 5 (yeah i'm too lazy for 10!!) list which I call:

TOP 5 Reasons Doug Didnt Upate his Blog

 

5. Never returned from trip to Disneyland on July 17th

 

4. The Dodgers continued struggles forced him to spend more time at Stadium with the Rally Homer

 

3. Pin induced stab wounds kept him in bed all this time.

 

2. Myspace, myspace, myspace!

 

1. Was too busy camping out a spot for Disneylands 75th Anniversary.

 

yeah that was horrible. i know. ;-)

 

Game 3 of the World Series is tonight on FOX. Can the Astros bounce back and make this a series again? Or will the White Sox take a near insurmountable 3-0 lead in the best of 7 series? Should be a good one tonight. Already some controversy to go with the game. Apparently the Commissioners office has ordered that the roof at Minute Maid Park in Houston remain open for the game. The impact this will have on the teams remains to be seen, but theres no doubt that opponents have had a much tougher time of it playing in the noise/mad house that is Minute Maid Park with a closed roof.

 

I'm still saying Sox in 6!

 

OK, short one I know. Still trying to shake the cobwebs so to speak. Til the next time.

 

DQ

The Return

Its been a LLOONNNNGGGG time coming. But after a lenghty lay off, I'm happy to say this little piece of the internet I call "The Two Minute Drill" is back! Alot has happened since I last updated this blog. Lots of worlds events and such. It may take a while to get back into the groove of things, but bear with me and I'll make it worth your while. So once again join me and see whats inside..its what happens when boredom and creative writing collide!

 

World Series thoughts

The White Sox celebrate winning Game 2 of the World Series after Scott Podsednik's walk off HR in the bottom of the 9th.

Naturally I'm going to start off with something I am most familar with (not including Disneyland which I'll get to later). I'm talkin bout baseball of course.

So it came down to the Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros. Two teams built on strong pitching and solid defense. Houston, despite having arguably the best trio of starting pitchers going (Roger Clemens, Roy Oswalt and Andy Pettite) find themselves down 2 games to none after the first two games. Not to make excuses, but the White Sox were more than likely energized by playing in front of an electric crowd that hasnt seen a World Series played before them since 1959. That and yet another questionable call went their way in Game 2 which turned the momentum of the game in their favor. The next 3 games are being played in Houston and if you think the Chicago fans were crazy, wait til Houston fans get to expereince their FIRST EVER World Series game(s). While I would like the Astros to win their first title ever, I think they've got a huge task ahead of them. I want to say the White Sox will win it in 5, but you can never count out the Astros. Not after the year they had. Still, the White Sox have caught all the breaks so far. OK, here it is..My PREDICTION: White Sox in 6. If I'm wrong, I'll be right here to face the music.

 

Disneyland notes and news

Now, no update would be complete without a Disneyland update. Not a whole lot going on right now, but I'll see what I can dredge up. For starters, attendance continues to surpass all expectations @ Disneyland, thanks in large part to the ongoing 50th Anniversary celebration. The usual "off season" slowdown has not happened and Disneyland was actually forced to expand operating hours. October has brought with it a bit of a slowdown, but even weekdays are crowded. All this means is that the already busy Holiday Season is going to be nuts. For the record, there will be no new attractions or events scheduled for the holidays. The Christmas Parade will indeed be returning to Disneyland (After initially being banished to California Adventure) but the "Believe..in Holiday Magic" fireworks show will NOT.

"Believe, in Holiday Magic"

Instead they will be running the regular "Remember, Dreams Come True" show and tacking on the snow effect at the end. However, public reaction to this may force them to change plans. They also will continue to run "Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams" during the holiday season so that parade route down Main St. USA is going to be super busy come December. I'm wondering how they're going to deal with the crowd control problems that will no doubt spring up during this time. If you've been in the hub area after the "Remember..." fireworks show you know just how JAMMED those walkways become. Add the extra crunch of people waiting for the snow and its going to get ugly out. If you're planning on visiting Disneyland during the holiday's, be prepared to deal with huge crowds and long lines for everything. Off record, TDA (Team Disney Anaheiem, the management at Disneyland) is expecting the largest crowds in recent history this Christmas season.

Box Office Report

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in "Doom"

1) Doom, $15.3 Mil: Yet another movie based on a video game. I think this movie may have been a little too late. I mean "Doom" was at its peak in the mid to late 90's. Now its sort of outdated, but I guess the game still has its fans. One interesting thing they did with this film was replicate the "First Person" view of the game for the shooting scenes. According to The Rock, they wanted to stay as true to the game as possible. Sometimes it works (Like in this film and the Mortal Kombat series) sometimes it doesnt (The disaster that was "House of the Dead" and "Super Mario Bros: The Movie). I dont see this movie hanging around for too long though.

2) Dreamer, $9.3 Mil: Family films usually do well in October because of the fact that every other movie that comes out is a slasher/gore fest. A good move putting this movie opposite "Doom". It gave the family set out there something fresh to choose.

3) Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were Rabbit, $8.7 Mil: See above. To that I'll also add that this has been a relatively strong franchise for years. Its no surprise its doing well.

4) The Fog, $7.3 Mil: Last weeks number 1 plummets 3 slots. It should take a bigger hit next week when "Saw II" opens and takes away alot of that horror movie crowd.

5) North Country, $6.4 Mil: The weeks other big opener didnt fare that well. Its being hyped as an Oscar contender, but so far its not much of a box office one. Lets see if word of mouth helps this one along.

 

OK, that will do it for now. Not a bad little way to start things back up I think. If you're new to the site, feel free to browse through the archives (Dating back to Dec 2004) and see my earlier work. Til the next time.

DQ