10/10/2006
A Post With a Really Bad Segue!
I don’t write about my fantasy teams and or gambling endeavors very often, mainly because why in the name of Ronnie Belliard would you care about my fantasy teams (?), but also because… well, seriously, why in the hell would you care about my fantasy teams?
But, I will write a lil’ bit about them today, because I actually have good news and it will be the catalyst to one of the choppiest segues ever written. My “Lou Basso” team (named after the famous Peoria area soccer legend who went by the same ridiculous name) came in second place in my money baseball fantasy league (I’d like to thank Jon Papelbon, JJ Putz, K-Rod, Brandon Webb, Scott Kazmir, Roy Halladay, AJ Burnett, Kenny Rogers, Brett Meyers, and a host of rotating young starters for giving me one of the deepest fantasy rotations ever and allowing me to be competitive with zero to no offensive production) and if I can ever find a Bank of America ATM (I’ve gone five days without seeing one now. How is that possible?) to deposit my winnings, I will be a little bit richer.
And with Monday night’s Denver Broncos win, I officially went 14-0 in this week’s pick ‘em league and will be getting a nice three figure sized check for my efforts. What will I be doing with my new founded recreational gambling windfall? Normally, I would spend it all on whiskey, adult themed reading materials, and lotto scratch offs, but this year I think I’m going to splurge on some playoff baseball tickets.
As awful as this sounds, I found myself rather indifferent to getting playoff tickets when they went on sale this year. Maybe it was jadedness from going to so many in the past few years, maybe it was subliminal disapproval with how this Cards season ran its course, but I wasn’t really that upset when I received the electronic mail telling me to “go fuck yourself Al, no playoff tickets for you” (it may have been worded differently – I can’t remember).
But with this new swagger-ful Cardinals lineup, with their tiny beards and chewing tobacco, wicked sliders and do rags, the precision guided laser cannon that is Yadi’s right arm and Adam Wainwright’s intensity of ten cities… I don’t know where these guys were for the last four months, but I’m as happy as Josh Hancock at Ponderosa that they're here now. And I want nothing more than to see them live, in all of their cocky glory, in this new-fangled park of theirs, in the NLCS.
Watching the Cardinals locker room celebrate after Sunday night’s win from the home turf bar that is Nick’s Pub, it started to don on me that this is quickly becoming one of my favorite Cardinals teams ever. When within the span of five minutes, Fox 2 (whose helicopter is only half as good as Chopper 4) showed Chris Carpenter polishing off his Bud Light before answering any questions, a be-goggled Yadier Molina running amok, and Juan Encarnacion spraying one of the reporters with a bottle of Ten Bucks from a good twenty feet away and then walking towards him, laughing manically, before dumping the whole bottle on his head, I decided I really like this
group.
After seeing the Wainer polish off a tall, cold Budweiser during one of his interviews, longtime friend of the show Mozzy turned to me and said “These guys are just a bunch of assholes.”
And he’s right. At least it sure as hell seems like it. These new look Cardinals are going out on the field with an air of “I don’t give a fuck” confidence to them. Belli, Yadi, Preston, Jimmy, Spiez, Enc, Weavs, and the bullpen brats are all playing as if there is nothing to lose. In the playoffs, sometimes it’s best to be loose; to play with no fear of letdown. They weren’t supposed to be here to begin with and they’re playing like it. It’s a thing of beauty.
And of course, without Carp or Albert, they wouldn’t be here. Hell, they wouldn’t be in the playoffs period without those two, let alone the NLCS. To make it to the Series, we will probably have to have a replay of the DS, with El Hombre getting 2 GWRsBI and Carp notching dos W’s. I’m also calling for more awesomness from Belliard, a breakout game or two from Chris Duncan, and Wainwright notching four saves. Cards in 7.
And with my newfound gambling success, hopefully I can make it into the stadium for one or two of those wins. Aside from a gold plated rocket car, and because “paying off bills” is a little too responsible for me, I can’t think of a better way to spend my disposable income.
Or, I could buy a bunch of lotto tickets and triple my winnings! Maybe I’ll just do that. I'd be an idiot not to!
[And yes, in the pic of Scott Rolen blowing his load (of bubbly), he is wearing a half shirt. Belly shirts and shoulder injuries will now define Scotty Ballgame's career. Awesome.]
But, I will write a lil’ bit about them today, because I actually have good news and it will be the catalyst to one of the choppiest segues ever written. My “Lou Basso” team (named after the famous Peoria area soccer legend who went by the same ridiculous name) came in second place in my money baseball fantasy league (I’d like to thank Jon Papelbon, JJ Putz, K-Rod, Brandon Webb, Scott Kazmir, Roy Halladay, AJ Burnett, Kenny Rogers, Brett Meyers, and a host of rotating young starters for giving me one of the deepest fantasy rotations ever and allowing me to be competitive with zero to no offensive production) and if I can ever find a Bank of America ATM (I’ve gone five days without seeing one now. How is that possible?) to deposit my winnings, I will be a little bit richer.
And with Monday night’s Denver Broncos win, I officially went 14-0 in this week’s pick ‘em league and will be getting a nice three figure sized check for my efforts. What will I be doing with my new founded recreational gambling windfall? Normally, I would spend it all on whiskey, adult themed reading materials, and lotto scratch offs, but this year I think I’m going to splurge on some playoff baseball tickets.
As awful as this sounds, I found myself rather indifferent to getting playoff tickets when they went on sale this year. Maybe it was jadedness from going to so many in the past few years, maybe it was subliminal disapproval with how this Cards season ran its course, but I wasn’t really that upset when I received the electronic mail telling me to “go fuck yourself Al, no playoff tickets for you” (it may have been worded differently – I can’t remember).
But with this new swagger-ful Cardinals lineup, with their tiny beards and chewing tobacco, wicked sliders and do rags, the precision guided laser cannon that is Yadi’s right arm and Adam Wainwright’s intensity of ten cities… I don’t know where these guys were for the last four months, but I’m as happy as Josh Hancock at Ponderosa that they're here now. And I want nothing more than to see them live, in all of their cocky glory, in this new-fangled park of theirs, in the NLCS.
Watching the Cardinals locker room celebrate after Sunday night’s win from the home turf bar that is Nick’s Pub, it started to don on me that this is quickly becoming one of my favorite Cardinals teams ever. When within the span of five minutes, Fox 2 (whose helicopter is only half as good as Chopper 4) showed Chris Carpenter polishing off his Bud Light before answering any questions, a be-goggled Yadier Molina running amok, and Juan Encarnacion spraying one of the reporters with a bottle of Ten Bucks from a good twenty feet away and then walking towards him, laughing manically, before dumping the whole bottle on his head, I decided I really like this
group.After seeing the Wainer polish off a tall, cold Budweiser during one of his interviews, longtime friend of the show Mozzy turned to me and said “These guys are just a bunch of assholes.”
And he’s right. At least it sure as hell seems like it. These new look Cardinals are going out on the field with an air of “I don’t give a fuck” confidence to them. Belli, Yadi, Preston, Jimmy, Spiez, Enc, Weavs, and the bullpen brats are all playing as if there is nothing to lose. In the playoffs, sometimes it’s best to be loose; to play with no fear of letdown. They weren’t supposed to be here to begin with and they’re playing like it. It’s a thing of beauty.
And of course, without Carp or Albert, they wouldn’t be here. Hell, they wouldn’t be in the playoffs period without those two, let alone the NLCS. To make it to the Series, we will probably have to have a replay of the DS, with El Hombre getting 2 GWRsBI and Carp notching dos W’s. I’m also calling for more awesomness from Belliard, a breakout game or two from Chris Duncan, and Wainwright notching four saves. Cards in 7.
And with my newfound gambling success, hopefully I can make it into the stadium for one or two of those wins. Aside from a gold plated rocket car, and because “paying off bills” is a little too responsible for me, I can’t think of a better way to spend my disposable income.
Or, I could buy a bunch of lotto tickets and triple my winnings! Maybe I’ll just do that. I'd be an idiot not to!
[And yes, in the pic of Scott Rolen blowing his load (of bubbly), he is wearing a half shirt. Belly shirts and shoulder injuries will now define Scotty Ballgame's career. Awesome.]
Labels: The 2006 Saint Louis Baseball Cardinals
