Maximizing versus satisficing: Happiness is a matter of choice. I found a reference to a book on another blog and felt that I had to do a little research on the writer. If you like writers like Gladwell and Godin who make you think, you'll like the ideas here.
It's getting warmer out, not quite hot yet. It's rained off and on lately. The grass is growing faster than usual. And things are supposed to slow down ... but they never do! Summer is a time to read some books you've been buying all winter and hope to read. Summer is a time to learn a new skill or refine an old one. Summer is a time for reflection and introspection.
What am I talking about? I thought I said summer was supposed to be fun!
The new Kenny Chesney song, "Summertime," really captures the spirit of summer. It came out last November and the first time I heard that song, I predicted it would be a hit "next May." It was. If you haven't heard the tune, check it out. I've posted the beginning verse below:
Summertime
Summertime is finally here
That old ball park man is back in gear
Out on 49, man I can see the lights
School's out the nights roll in
Man, just like a long lost friend
You ain't seen in a while
You can't help but smile.
Last night I went to see Superman Returns. It's well-over two hours long and could have ended at any of about four points in the movie. It's okay, but nothing I would have to rush out to watch again.
What got me thinking, though ... Is there anyone else out there who would spend the cost of a movie just to sit through two hours of trailers? Trailers are why I like going to the movies. I like to see what's coming in the next year. Last night featured a preview of .... "3." It appears that Spider-man has a dark side and has to deal with the demons ...
So, would you?
I wrote about the collection of albums from the 70s/80s that I received. Here they are:
Van Halen I
Loverboy - Get Lucky
Pat Benatar - Crimes of Passion
The Doobie Brothers - Minute by Minute
Styx - Pieces of Eight
Frampton Comes Alive!
Journey - Escape
Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell
Chipmunk Punk
ZZ Top - Eliminator
Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band - 'Live' Bullet
Boston
Commodores - Midnight Magic
REO Speedwagon - Hi Infidelity
Journey - Evolution
Pretty good music, eh?
Rookie right hander Justin Verlander won his tenth game of the season and it's not even July.
He threw eight shutout innings against the Astros with seven strike outs, no walks, and three hits allowed. He was brilliant.
I will be posting a couple of pictures to the blog, but I'll also be really updating flickr later ('Net is slow right now ...).
About 29,200 other folks attended the mid-afternoon game at Comerica Park. We ended up with pretty good seats and the Tigers were signing autographs "like crazy" just prior to game time. Several Tigers were signing. I was lucky enough (this was one of my goals) to get Nate "Dog" Robertson to sign a package of Big League Chew (check out his blog). Zach Miner also signed a ticket for me. He's a rookie and is 4-1 on the season.
I forgot to mention that the final score was 5-0 and it was the Tigers second shut-out in a row. Not to mention their Major League-leading eleventh! Their pitching has been sensational. The hitting clutch. One other highlight I must mention is Craig C-Mo Monroe's bunt with a runner on third, a safety squeeze, that made the score 2-0.
They keep on trucking. The crowd was loud and proud. This is a special season in Detroit Rock City! Keep it up, bengals!
One of my colleagues in the in the process of completing a divorce -- and with that comes the cleaning out of the house in order to move. The house is almost sold, so it's time to get rid of some stuff. When she first mentioned this a couple weeks ago, I said, "Hey, is there anything I would like?" She laughed and said "No, I don't think so."
Today at lunch, she asked us who had gathered, "Do you know anybody who likes albums?" I was like, "Hello, I love rock 'n' roll." She offered me the albums and I was going to stop by and pick them up, but got caught up at work and didn't make it in time. So, she dropped them off at my house.
What a find ... Just to mention a couple of cool things: Van Halen I, Frampton Comes Alive, and Live Bullet. I'll write more about it later, but it's a late 70's/early 80's goldmine of rock 'n' roll memories.
Thanks for the special surprise!
Don't know if you saw it or not, but Roger Clemens was not happy several times with the calls by the homeplate umpire. That didn't really matter, though, because when Clemens walked two in a row in the seventh, he was removed. Boom! Big double by Craig "The Belt" Monroe and the Tigers went on to a 4-0 win. Jonesey earned another save and Nate Robertson got the win. Things are looking up in Motown.
I'll be going to the game tomorrow along with Tuna, Steve L-O-Double-T, and Rockin' Roger ... We'll leave early in the morning and head down for the 1:05 business men's special at the Copa. Should be a great (make that a GREAT) time!
Tuna just text messaged me and reminded me to bring my broom tomorrow. It's time to sweep!
"I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think." - Socrates
This quote, from Socrates, is actually borrowed from someone's e-mail signature. It's quite a deep thought, naturally coming form Socrates. When you really think about thinking, though, what does it mean? Does anyone else stop and consider the messages that people send through their signatures?
What does your signature say? Do you include a quote?
The only think I include in my signature is my name and the address for my blog. Does that say anything?
If it is someone's goal to get me to think ... HELP! I've been thinking way too much lately.
What do you think about that?
Tonight, at Comerica Park in Detroit, Mich., the Rocket, Roger Clemens, will be pitching for the Houston Astros. Clemens has had great success against the Tigers in the past, but this is a totally different team. During much of Clemens' career, the Tigers have been awful.
Roger, meet the new boys in town!
Anybody else notice that Granderson is at .298. That kid could end up being the catalyst ... Remember, earlier in the year, Mr. Leyland compared the kid to another former leadoff hitter he had in Pittsburgh. Interesting!
Let's Roar!
I've written about the Tigers restoring their roar ... now, I'll write about how a person can restore his/her personal roar.
Don't we all become a bit bogged down in our lives that they become somewhat cyclical. Get up, go to work, work like a maniac, do a little more work, get ready to head home, do some more work, get home, maybe scarf down some food, work a little more, do some things around the house, realize you're pretty tired, go to bed ....
What does it take to restore the personal roar? The first thing that I need to do is take a look at where I am and see if it fits with my expectations. We spend way too much time going way too fast and then lose track of our lives somehow.
Stop being so bogged down, lighten the load, and enjoy life. Especially now that it's summer!
You can see the usher in the background. It was a game early in the season, probably 1993. Ken Griffey, Jr. and the Mariners were in town. Grandpa and I went and watched the game. That was the last "good" season for the Detroit Tigers.
Over the years, Grandpa and I had many talks about the Tigers. About their players. About their managers. I'm sure that he and I would have a lot to say about this season and about the awesome job Jim Leyland has done turning the clubhouse, atmosphere, and team around.
Let's restore that roar!
Talking about memories and people from the days of way back ... The guys in the photo are Brian and Jamie. Two roommate from Central Michigan University in the early '90s. Wow! That sounds so long ago.
The cool thing here is that we do stay in touch once in a while. They were both driven guys. Brian, an Human Resource Management, hoped to work for one of the Big Three eventually. Jamie, with several majors -- all planned -- was going to be a teacher.
Out of CMU, Brian landed a job in Chicago with Ford Motor Company and Jamie landed a job as a teacher. It didn't take long for either of their plans to materialize.
I'll be seeing both of them soon (and who knows who else from the Larzelere days) at Jamie's wedding.
Life is really all about people.
As anonymous commented earlier, keep the name the same because during the off season I'll need to keep writing. So, I'm going to jump off the cliff (second reference to jumping off ...) and write about something that I think about once in a while, probably more often than I care to admit.
With the Internet, it's easy to keep track or people or look up people. I often wonder if anyone from the past (yeah, mostly girls ...) ever "Googles" me to see where I am. It's out there and easy to find. I know that once in a while I'll Google someone to see what they're up to. In our lives we touch so many people in so many different ways. Sometimes we are aware, sometimes we aren't even aware that we've impacted someone's life. So many people touch our lives, as well. And in our culture, it's hard to tell people that they've made an impact. Who has helped us become who we are?
I think it would be cool if an ex-girlfriend was checking in, saw the blog, and was like, "Wow! I have to get in touch with Rick." Now, I know many people who have been contacted by a long-lost friend via the Internet. I know more people than I care to admit who have begun relationships through the 'Net.
As much a techie as I am, no one from the days gone by has ever contacted me. I wonder, as I write this, is this a good thing or a bad thing? We'd like to think that the people we touch think of us fondly. We'd like to think our impact has been positive. Even though, we know it isn't always a positive ending.
Fifteen years ago, I would have written this in a jounal simply titled "Thoughts and Jots," and ended up reading it a few years down the road. It would have been something Rick wrote and Rick read and nobody else know about. Now, you can enjoy it ... even thought you stopped reading four paragraphs ago ....
Hey, have a great night and remember, as Billy Joel says, "Don't take any **** from anybody!"
Why do I like to blog? Heck, I talked about starting a blog for about a year before I went and "jumped off." I tend to do that with a lot of things ... think about it for a long time, then do it. I don't know why it took so long to start writing a blog. I was an English major/journalism minor in college -- blogging is right up my alley. But, I was nervous about putting too much information out there for anyone to read. When you think about it, though, all of our information is out there somewhere for anyone to find. Even our crazy secrets. We all have 'em and we've all probably told somebody. Then we start blogging and telling EVERYONE!
If you're reading this (some of you seem to keep coming back ...) feel free to comment. I like to hear what everyone is thinking. I know a few of my regulars because you call me on the phone and say, "Hey, what you wrote today ... "
I do appreciate knowing that somebody out there is paying attention.
Read on, I'm going to continue getting sentimental!
Maybe I'll rename the blog "Rick Finally Has a Blog About the Tigers ..."
Anyway, Fox Sports has the Tigers ranked number one again this week. The week-end series sweep against the Cardinals was awesome. Did you also see that our friends to the west a few hours lost in extra innings to the Houston Astros last night? Hey, like I say, my two favorite baseball teams are the Tigers and whoever's playing the White Sox! Now that the Astros are coming to town, they are free to flounder!
Thanks for reading! Have a great Monday!!!
The boys who wear the Old English D on their uniforms are currently 50-25. Amazing! Considering that just three years ago it took them, oops, wait a minute ... they never won 50 in 2003.
Did you know that in 1984, the Tigers were 54-21 after 75 games. I'm starting to see some similarities here!
50th win during the last five years:
8/17/01 game number 120,
vs. KC Royals, 4-2 win. (Phil Garner)
8/27/02 game number 132,
vs. Cleveland Indians, 8-5 win. (Luis Pujols)
9/28/03 season ended with only 43 victories. (Alan Trammell)
7/31/04 game number 104,
vs. Chicago White Sox, 3-2 win. (Trammell)
7/26/05 game number 100,
vs. Seattle Mariners, 8-5 win. (Trammell)
Catch you later!
Once again, the Tigers played the full nine innings last night (actually 10) and walked away with their 50th win of the season. Currently, their record is 50-25 and they're only a half-game up on the Chicago White Sox. Things are looking fun down in Detroit!!!
Let's sweep 'em with a big win today behind Jeremy Bonderman!
Go, Tigers!
Some of you have questioned what it means to be a "clo'zer" in the major leagues. A clo'zer is the person who puts out the fire in the late innings and earns a save. The Tigers clo'zer is supposedly Todd Jones; however, I would like to call him a "clo'ser" because he keeps the games "close."
Hope everyone is enjoying their week-ends!
Good series in Milwaukee for the Tigers. They played well today; one pitch and one swing made a difference. If the boys wearing the Old English D can win two out of every three games ... look out. Keep in mind, they swept the Cubbies at Wrigley over the week-end (what a series, almost like West Detoit ...) and they'll be bringing in some good clubs the next couple series (Cardinals and Astros), plus they'll be facing Roger "Rocket" Clemens next Tuesday.
Don't forget to check out Jimmy Leyland's Boys for more Tigers commentary.
Let's go and RESTORE THAT ROAR!!!
Thanks for reading!!!
You might have noticed that nothing has been posted on Rick Finally Has a Blog for a few days. I have been attending a C.O.M.M.I.T. conference in Traverse City. Traverse City is a great town, the place that I grew up ... cruising Front Street and checking out the scene nightly. Actually, I grew up in Elk Rapids, but there was more action in T.C. The conference was pretty good, but being up there is so great. I am always able to relax and get some decent sleep. It's mental and I'm well aware of that.
The conference contained some great information about data and how to use data to make better decisions about teaching and learning. It's always good to get refreshed after a long school year.
Central Montcalm Community Foundation Golf Outing
Friday, July 28, 2006 at 1:00 p.m. at Candlestone Golf Course.
Only $300 per team, which includes golf, cart, dinner and prizes.
For More Information, contact Danita at (616) 754-5024.
The following article is credited to the following website and is the intellectual property of others, but the content of the article is worthy of sharing and is located here.
In a recent budget address to Detroit’s City Council, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick preached the virtues of selling city-owned property. "I am pleased to inform you," exclaimed Kilpatrick, "that to date, we have sold or have commitments to purchase $36 million in [city-owned] property. This year we are developing whole new strategies, including bundling of properties as well as looking at the assets of city government that can be sold and placed back on the tax roles."
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Tiger Stadium | |
He’s right. The best thing the city of Detroit can do with its massive hoard of property (more than 40,000 parcels at last count) is sell it. The city could do even more to shed such assets. It could, for instance, minimize hurdles to privatization by removing unnecessary and expensive bureaucratic obstacles to acquisition. Case-in-point: Tiger Stadium.
For the past seven years, the city of Detroit has attempted to find a bureaucratic answer to the question: "What to do with Tiger Stadium?" Employees in the city’s Planning and Development Department were charged with determining what constitutes a best use for the corner of Michigan and Trumbull instead of simply selling the property to the highest bidder in an open, fair auction and allowing the winner to do with the property as he pleases.
Regrettably, the city has paid the Detroit Tigers organization more than $2 million to maintain the stadium over the past seven years while "feasibility studies" have been conducted on what to do with the asset. Failing to be persuaded that Tiger Stadium holds value, city planners seem bent on tearing down the stadium before selling the land — if it is sold at all. Rumor has it that the property may be used to build a new arena for the Red Wings.
A lack of ideas, money or interested, capable developers is certainly not Tiger Stadium’s problem. As a potential developer who met with city officials, I can say that there was never any serious consideration given to the proposals for an alternative use of the ball park.
The Navin Field Consortium (the group to which I belonged) proposed converting Tiger Stadium to its original 1912 configuration when the park opened as Navin Field. Our proposal was made privately to the Detroit Tigers with the suggestion that they follow the latest major league trend by locating one of their minor league affiliates nearby — in this case at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull.
We explained that the New York Yankees have a minor league team on nearby Staten Island and that the New York Mets have a team down the road in Brooklyn. In professional hockey, the Philadelphia Flyers have their top farm team located in their old arena adjacent to their new facility. Similarly, the Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays and several other teams have minor league affiliates within a short drive of the major league venue. For once, we felt that the Tigers could be ahead of the curve instead of behind it.
From a sports marketing perspective, the possibilities are endless: Cross-promotion and schedule coordination would assure that the two teams complement one another; the Tigers would be the only franchise in Major League history to preserve and utilize their former facility; Detroit would be preserving an internationally recognized baseball landmark; profits from the minor league operations could serve to bolster the major league team’s competitiveness; and the Tigers could reconnect with disenfranchised fans who lost interest in the team when they moved out of Tiger Stadium.
The consortium also proposed that the stadium be privately financed without subsidies from the city of Detroit or the Detroit Tigers. The only expense would be a market rate for rent, no different than the rent the Tigers pay to house their minor league team in a city like Erie, Pennsylvania.
Because such a venue has the potential for multiple tenants, including concerts and special events, it is widely believed that the site could become a real money-maker. Cooperation from the city and the team would undoubtedly assure that raising capital would not be an issue. We also proposed that the stadium be purchased from the city at a market rate or at auction.
The consortium included architects and builders who presented detailed cost estimates for a partial demolition and reconstruction of the old park. They determined that it would be less expensive to convert Tiger Stadium to its original form than to build a new minor league ballpark.
Incidentally, metro-Detroit is the largest metropolitan area with only one professional baseball team. It is only a matter of time before a minor league team locates in the Detroit area. More than likely, an independent league team will locate in a Detroit suburb, and the Tigers will have a competitor instead of a partner.
Shortly after the Detroit Tigers departure in 1999, developers made proposals to the city’s planners for alternate uses for Tiger Stadium. One such party is McCormack Baron, a real estate development firm from St. Louis.
It didn’t take long before principals at McCormack Baron were disenchanted with the way Detroit does business. In an April 2000 interview with The Detroit News, the firm’s vice president, Jack Hambene, announced that he had heard no response from the city in the eight months since his firm had submitted its proposal.
The city’s reply? "We are not obligated to get back to McCormack Baron," Sylvia Crawford, the Planning and Development Department’s spokeswoman, told The News. "We are putting a contract together for a predevelopment study. We are doing a study to see if it’s feasible to renovate Tiger Stadium."
But city feasibility studies are unnecessary. Detroit could privatize (that is, sell) Tiger Stadium by issuing a relatively simple Invitation to Bid. An ITB is used by units of government primarily when it is easy to define the service or asset being contracted or sold outright, and the bids are almost always opened at a very public meeting.
The highest bidder for Tiger Stadium would win the land and building, and do with the property as it saw fit: construct a Wal-Mart, residential lofts, a parking lot, or use it as a sports stadium. The possibilities are endless. Selling it in this fashion would constitute the highest valued use of Tiger Stadium by the marketplace.
All too often politicians and their lieutenants view publicly owned assets as pawns in power struggles. How city "jewels" are valued by municipalities are often wildly different than how free people spending their own resources would value them. But city-owned property does not exist to advance the interests of a bureaucracy.
Selling Tiger Stadium would generate a one-time cash flow, end subsidies for its annual maintenance and likely provide new property tax revenue. In baseball vernacular, we’re talking a financial home run for the city.
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Steven Thomas is the owner of Detroit Athletic Co., a memorabilia store west of Tiger Stadium, and an adjunct scholar with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a research and educational institute headquartered in Midland, Mich. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author and the Center are properly cited.
I don't understand why baseball executives are all the sudden making such a big deal about steroids in baseball. I mean, come on, Roger Maris' homerun record stood solid for years. Cecil Fielder, former Detroit Tiger, once hit 51 homers in a season ... and it was the first time that had happen in 13 seasons! Then, the 90s continued on and everyone and his cousin was hitting 50, 60, and 70 homeruns in a season. Come on! We fans knew, but MLB just overlooked it because the power was good for baseball after having no World Series in 1994 (which turned out really well for the city of Montreal and the Expos baseball team, eh ...).
Today, this article arrives. Now, I used to be a Luis Gonzalez fan because he always seemed to be a hard worker. I especially liked him with the Cubs. Then, when he became a Tiger, that was cool. Of course, Randy Smith (remember him?) then traded him away for Karim Garcia (remember him?) and the D'backs won the '01 series on a single by Gonzalez. I don't doubt that Luis did something to strengthen himself, but he has continued to knock in a lot of runs, albeit without the longball.
Let's remember, though, that the first player nabbed in the steriod search was .... yep! Now, that was a surprise, with his power numbers and all. Is there a problem? It's hard to say. Can it be cleaned up? Probably not. Is it still a great game? Yeah, try playing 162 baseball games in the span of 180 days and tell me that it's not hard work. Are they paid? Yeah. Wouldn't you want to get fair market value?
Wow, I'm ramblin'.
Have a great day, readers!
No, not that, silly readers!
Wil Ledezma has been recalled to replace Bobby Seay.
But, I know what you were thinking!!!
I received an e-mail from Steven Losey, the writer of "A Reason to Roar." He informed me that my letter I sent The Sporting News and one of the pictures from the "road rage" incident will be included in one of the upcoming issues!
When I find out more, I'll let everybody out there know.
Here's the original post.
Cheers!
Announcement delayed to avert uproar … Ford Motor Co., working through the early stages of its Way Forward turnaround plan, has crafted a plan for a major expansion of its operations in Mexico, where labor and car parts are cheap -- an effort that could save the ailing automaker about $1.8 billion a year, internal Ford documents show.
Jacob's article.
This article reminds me of when I was 13 and about how I decided to buy the season preview magazines. Back then, the Tigers were always good and things were always looking up. If a magazine ranked the Tiges as one of the "top" teams, the magazine was worthy and I would buy it. But, if they razzed the team, I would think the writers were stupid and never buy the magazine!
That's what keeps me going back to Street & Smith's and The Sporting News previews every year. I liked what they had to say to a teen-aged boy, so I formed a habit. It seems for several years, they've been dogging the boys, though!
Jacob, you might have a couple of points, but look at how close the games were!
"He's probably at some point -- certainly not now -- going to move down in the lineup. At some point in his career, he will be an RBI force. But don't start asking me if I'm thinking about switching him, because I'm not. He's not ready for that. I had Barry Bonds leading off for a while."
Robert Fick, where are ya?
Robert Fick is currently playing for the Washington Nationals. I didn't know he was still around. It just goes to show that if you can swing a bat, you can last a long time in the major leagues.
I'll never forget the last home run in Tiger Stadium, and neither will he!
"That's not going to be tolerated here. That's just not gonna happen. That I can promise you. I don't know how many games we're gonna win, but guys will play hard. You can take that to the bank. We won't always play the game right, we won't always do everything right. But we will play hard."
-- Jim Leyland, on his team giving up
This is reprinted without permission from Yahoo.com and is taken directly from here:
Roethlisberger Injured!
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was injured in a motorcycle crash Monday morning and taken to a hospital.
"He was alert and conscious," said Ernie Roman, shift commander for the Allegheny County emergency service.
Steelers Dave Lockett, outside Mercy Hospital, confirmed the accident but did not provide additional details.
In only his second year in the NFL, Roethlisberger helped guide the Steelers to the Super Bowl championship last season.
Calls to Roethlisberger's agent, Leigh Steinberg, were not immediately returned.
The 24-year-old Roethlisberger has said in the past that he prefers not to wear a helmet when riding his motorcycle. He has pointed out Pennsylvania's 35-year-old state law requiring helmets to be worn was amended to make helmets optional.
In May 2005, Steelers coach Bill Cowher lectured Roethlisberger on the dangers of riding without a helmet.
"He talked about being a risk-taker and I'm not really a risk-taker. I'm pretty conservative and laid back, but the big thing is to just be careful," Roethlisberger said at the time. "I'll just continue to be careful. I told him we don't ever ride alone, we always ride in a group of people, and I think it makes it even more safe."
AP Sports Writer Ben Walker contributed to this report.
Taking a moment here to send a quick "thank you" to Dave Lorenz, assistant general manager of the Fort Wayne Wizards. He took good care of us yesterday and made sure we were able to meet Cameron Maybin.
Steve was able to throw out one of the first pitches after helping to roll out the red carpet. We had great seats and were able to enjoy some excellent food and beverage. First time I ever had a cheeseburger at a ballgame. Really, a cheeseburger in paradise. There is no place better to spend an afternoon or evening than at a baseball game!
So, Dave, thanks for the opportunity. I speak for Ken, John, Steve, and me when I say we're having a great time.
And thanks to you, whoever is out there reading!
As Ken drove down I-69 yesterday, John, Steve, and I rode along, talking about the upcoming week-end and the prospect of seeing future Tiger Cameron Maybin in action.
Okay, okay, let me back up just a little bit. Friday morning, The Sporting News arrived in the mailbox. It usually arrives on Wednesday, Thursday at the latest. Since it arrived Friday, I decided I would bring it along and read it on the road.
One article, A Reason to Roar, by Steven Douglas Losey, caught my eye. It was all about the Detroit Tigers and their return to relevance during the 2006 season.
One line, really caught my attention because I have been thinking it's about time to do something like this: "But the pitching, the best in the majors, that's the biggest. Humor me for a minute: I bought a '79 Vette on Ebay three months ago (my dream car), and I just had to put a Tigers plate on it. I picked DETTGRS. Maybe I should have gone with GRR8STAFF." A personalized license plate, not buying a Vette off of Ebay, sounds pretty cool. Anyway, we were cruising along I-69, when John said, "Hey, check out that license plate on that Vette, it said something like Detroit Tigers."
Quickly, and without drawing any attention, I grabbed the TSN and read the article to see if my memory served correct: yep, that car was the writer's car.
"Kenny, you have to slow back down. That guy wrote this article about the Tigers. We have to get him to stop."
"Yeah, right, Rick. Like he's going to stop."
"No, Ken, really, it says he bought the car on Ebay, a '79 Vette," John was helping the cause.
Ken didn't really want to stop, but I kept pushing ...
TO BE CONTINUED
We finally convinced Ken that it might be cool to slow down and get the writer to stop. Slowing down and making sure he didn't get off on an exit was another thing entirely. But, after several minutes of manuevering, and driving unsafely slow (come on, this was a Vette were were waiting for) his car cruised up next to us.
I rolled the window down and showed him the magazine and shouted, "Pull over, we want to talk to you. Pull over!!!"
Steven, the writer, pulled over and was beaming. He was on a cell phone. He looked at us in disbelief.
"Hey, great article. Can you get out of the car and pose with us?"
"Sure guys. You guys are crazy. Really crazy," he replied.
He told us he was a rock writer normally, but had written the Tigers piece and hadn't seen it yet. I told him he couldn't have my copy, but I would appreciate it if he would sign it. He personalized it: "To Rick, Thanks for stopping the Vette ..."
Pretty cool. We talked for a few minutes, took pictures with him and the plate, and promised to send him copies of the pictures.
Really, I don't know who thought it was a pretty cool deal, him or us.
What are the odds, though, of driving down the road and seeing the car you had just read about about two hours earlier? What are the odds that the magazine would be a day or two late? I mean, I could have read the article Wednesday, watching the Tigers game and just told the guys when we saw the cool plate, "Hey, I'm not kidding, I read about that car the other day." It would have been another "Yeah, right, Rick moment."
You see, I'm a "be there" kind of person. I like to be in the moment, whether it's at a ballgame, at a concert, or just where it matters. A lot of people don't understand my penchant for "being there" but it sure does lead to some great stories and fodder for blogging.
I have several pictures from yesterday, both of the writer, the guys on the trip, and the White Caps and Wizards. I'll be posting them to Flickr, then onto the blog and sharing more. It's been fun so far, and it's raining, so golfing might be out of the equation.
Have a great day. [I'm just wondering, should I mention the firm of Rodney & Jones really blew it in Canada last night?]
"People have a tendency to forget they are the champions of the world -- and they're better than they were last year, in my opinion."
- Jim Leyland, Detroit Tigers Manager
We're going down to Fort Wayne today to see the Wizards host the West Michigan White Caps. If you would like to know more about the Wizards, their official website is right here. Cameron Maybin, future Tiger star, will be onhand. Word is, this will be the game he returns in. He's been out since May 7 with an injury.
We're looking forward to heading down, leaving this afternoon. Dave, the assistant GM down there, is playing host. It sounds like one of the guys going [it's John (Superbowl John), Kenny (sometimes referred to as "Tuna"), Steve (he's the one Kid Rock is talking about when he says "You've never met a (expletive removed) like Steve"), and Rick (that's me)] is going to have a pretty cool surprise waiting. In advance, I'd like to thank Dave -- it should be a fun time.
On another note ... good luck in Canada, Tigers!
Watch here for updates!!!
It's ironic that on the night the Tigers on Channel 20 and not on FSN, they're beating the Sox in the sixth inning. Marcus Thames hit a home run that has put the Tigers in front. It's his career high eleventh homer already -- he's going to be a good one. The irony I was going to point out is that Marcus Thames going to Toledo prior to the '05 season caused a division in the Tigers clubhouse. One of the biggest detractors was (former) Tiger Dmitri Young.
The person who "made" the team in '05 was Bobby Higginson. Higginson's making the team has been singled out as one of the moves that began the division that wrecked the Tigers clubhouse last year and helped lead to the release of Manager Alan Trammell and his entire coaching staff. This year, here comes the real irony, Dmitri has become the "new" Higgy. The player who is a cancer. Remember, last year, Bobby "disappeared" from the team with a sore arm. Dmitri has left for personal reasons, and the rumor today is that he is entering the Betty Ford Clinic in California.
Clubhouse cancers really cause division and destroy continuity. Jim Leyland and his staff are making an effort to really get a chemistry built in Motown. Higgy is gone. Dmitri is gone. I think there are a couple of other longtime Tigers who may be on the way out, as well.
Let's hope they win tonight's game and break the Sox cycle of "winning dirty."
Go, Tigers, Go!!!
Jim Leyland, on needing additional team speed:
"Make adjustments with personnel. You can read into that whatever you want."
All right, you've probably heard my thoughts on acquiring Aramis Ramirez from the Cubs, so how about this: Brandon Inge, Craig Monroe, Todd Jones, and a prospect for Aramis Ramirez and Juan Pierre.
Have a great day!!!
If you are a Chicago White Sox fan, then last night is one of the best games of the season for your team. If you are a Tigers fan, then you want to say this to Fernando:
"Fernando, if you are trying to audition for the closer's role, imitation IS NOT the sincerest form of flattery. Todd Jones is your teammate, not your mentor!"
It was a sad game in the Windy City last night. The Tigers had it all but wrapped up: Z threw a great third of an inning (thought he might pitch the eighth, too) and then Rodney was on. But, oh, was he OFF!
Hopefully, the game doesn't make the series. You could tell by the body language that F-Rod didn't have his A-game, then he had trouble throwing strikes. Must have been the off-day Monday or something.
Have a great day! REBOUND Tigers!!!
The day's weather was interesting to say the least. It started off "hot" by nine o'clock in the morning, then by one o'clock in the afternoon, the torrential downpour had arrived. Ever so briefly. A phone call. A decision. We would be going to the Tigers game. A couple hour drive to Detroit Rock City. I've become familiar with the city in the last couple of years, as I've visited Comerica several times. The trip down was good, a couple doughnuts at Krispey Kreme (don't tell Mr. Tim Horton!) a hot coffee, and a journey across I-96 into the city.
Then, the rain, the skies, the rain. Would we even play. "I guess we could go to Windsor." I don't think so ... let me explain why. I've got a story to tell you about going to Canada. Let's go to the game, even if it rains. The worst thing would be to get rain checks and come back again!
Forty-five minutes for a rain delay, spitting sun flower seeds, and enjoying watching people. Then, the sign on the scoreboard said the game would start. The crowd -- LARGE -- began cheering.
The Motor City Nine won again. They keep cruising along. That guy they have running the show, Leyland, he seems to know what's going on. Did you know ... I know I shouldn't say this ... the General Manager Dave Dombrowski and the Manager Jimmy Leyland -- yeah, they won a World Series together about nine years ago, in Miami.
LET'S GO TIGERS!!!
What I totally mean to say earlier is that Fernando Rodney has earned the right to close games. He proved himself worthy in April. Joel Zumaya deserves to set-up games in the eighth inning. Todd Jones should be a mop-up man. He's a great guy to have on the team, just not in the ninth inning.
Please, Mr. Leyland, remove Todd Jones from the closer's role. He is not a good closer. He just destroyed another excellent Tiger game against the powerful Boston Red Sox. He blew a game against the New York Yankees the other night, too. Usually, I am a believer that the boys don't give up, but their goose is cooked tonight.
I like Todd Jones because he's a knowledgeable baseball person and a great teammate. But let him pitch in long relief. Don't let him blow anymore games. He is a terrible reliever, was when he left in 2000. He had a nice year with the Marlins last year, but this is this year.
Bummer.
Good night, Tigers.
P.S. This does not mean I'm giving up on them, just for tonight.
Also, the Pistons are down by 20. I wonder what Chuck Daly is thinking. Should he return that call to Joe Dumars or should he just let things go?
Sheridan Elementary School
A blog about building a playground addition!
Enjoy.
Last night's win over the Yankees was awesome! I'm still excited this morning, a two-run ninth inning off former Tigers reliever Kyle Farnsworth to propel the Tigers to a HUGE victory. They were so close to being swept by the Yankees and suffering a five-game losing streak. But, the top of the order started things off in the bottom of the ninth and the comeback was in order.
The games against the Yankees were tough and close. They came back in two of the games, but lost in extra innings in the earlier come-from-behind game. This version of the Tigers is a never-say-die, never give in team that is NEVER out of a ballgame!
Awesome.
Bring on the Red Sox!!!
