A Nice Cold One...

A cowboy, who just moved to Wyoming from Texas , walks into a bar and orders three cold ones. He sits in the back of the room, drinking a sip out of each one in turn. When he finishes them, he comes back to the bar and orders three more. The bartender approaches and tells the cowboy, "You know, a mug goes flat after I draw it. It would taste better if you bought one at a time." The cowboy replies, "Well, you see, I have two brothers. One is in Arizona , the other is in Colorado . When we all left our home in Texas , we promised that we'd drink this way to remember the days when we drank together. So I'm drinking one beer for each of my brothers and one for myself." The bartender admits that this is a nice custom, and leaves it there. The cowboy becomes a regular in the bar, and always drinks the same way. He orders three mugs and drinks them in turn. One day, he comes in and only orders two mugs. All the regulars take notice and fall silent. When he comes back to the bar for the second round, the bartender says, "I don't want to intrude on your grief, but I wanted to offer my condolences on your loss." "Oh, no, everybody's just fine," he explains, "It's just that my wife and I joined the Baptist Church and I had to quit drinking." The cowboy looks quite puzzled for a moment, then a light dawns in his eyes and he laughs. "Hasn't affected my brothers though...." [a nice tip o' the hat to mi amigo denny, happy halloween to all]

Bud Selig Fiddles While Baseball Continues to Burn

The Cardinals of St. Louis have won the World Series. In a little less than 36 hours we were able to witness the good, the bad, and the ugly of what was once America’s Pastime. For those of you who missed the last two games, first the good... Game six was incredible. I know we are not supposed to use adjectives like often, but in this case, it fits. Twice, the Cardinals were down to their last strike before somehow managing to pull even. The stadium was rocking in the ninth inning when with two outs and two strikes David Freese tripled to the wall in right to tie the game and send it into extra innings. The Texas Rangers struck quick and the Cards once again saw themselves headed home in the bottom half of the inning. This time the hero was Lance Berkman who singled to bring in the tying run and we were on to the 11th. As if on cue, David Freese found himself at the plate again. Hometown hero David Freese, a modern day Roy Hobbs, connects and drives the ball over the wall in dead center sending the series to a game seven finale. But that’s the good, now we move on to the bad... The game ended at 12:45am on the east coast. I don’t know about you, but when I was growing up, 10:00pm was my latest bedtime on a school night, and that was the exception. How is baseball going to draw kids into the fold if they cannot see their sports idols in the Fall Classic? How many young kids in Pittsburgh never would have given baseball a second thought had they not been witness to Bill Mazeroski’s famous home run that beat the mighty Yankees in 1960? In the 60’s and 70’s, baseball ruled the US sports scene and the World Series was a huge part of the reason why. With Curt Gowdy and later Vin Scully calling the games on television and the home town announcers helping out on radio, time stood still in America for 3 hours in the middle of every game day. If you were not watching the game somewhere, you smuggled a transistor radio into school or work and listened on your crummy little earplug. And then, if you were a kid, you went outside and became not only Sandy Koufax, Whitey Ford, and Mr. October, Reggie Jackson, but also unlikely heroes Bucky Dent, Gene Tenace, and yes David Freese. Because you had witnessed their greatness on the World Series stage. But if that is the bad, what’s the ugly? The St Louis Cardinals winning the World Series. Now I have nothing against the storied St. Louis franchise. They won the games they needed to win, and in stirring fashion to boot. Coming back from from the grave during the season, as they did, should serve as a testament to the old cliche “it ain’t over til it’s over.” But they did not deserve to be in the World Series. They finished second in their division. Baseball was the last of the major sports to suckle up completely to the teat of television and allow losers into the championship. And the man most responsible for that is baseball commissioner Bud Selig. Since assuming the mantle of commish, Selig has a record that, while delivering millions to the owners, has left the game a shell of its former self. A missed World Series, an All Star Game tie, interleague play that has diluted the Fall Classic, steroids, and the wild card, allowing second place teams a chance to play for the championship are just a few of the foibles of Bud Selig’s reign of terror on baseball. The good, the bad, and the ugly. The fans, after witnessing it all the last 36 hours can only say, “Hey Bud Selig! You know what you are? Just a dirty son of a bitch!”

Games People Play... or should!

[Ticket to Ride... Nordic Countries] We like to play games in our family. Board games, card games, computer games, it doesn't matter. I've posted a few times on this and every time we, or should I say my son, comes across something new, I like to share. Games these days are a far cry from the Candyland, Mystery Date, and Monopoly board games of our youth. As fun as it was to sit all day long in the summer listening to music, sipping ice tea and hoping you might somehow get both Boardwalk and Park Place, the new crop of games available takes the experience to a new level. First up is one from Days of Wonder. This company has been incredibly successful with their Ticket to Ride Series and this game is part of that. The most recent version I played was the Nordic Countries Edition. Like the rest of the Ticket to Ride series, this game has great looking cards and a fantastic board where you build your train lines, connecting the different countries. Where this one is different is that you play with a maximum of three players. This makes it a little quicker, about 45 minutes, and honestly, sometimes you just do not have a gaggle of people available to play. Cost is between $40.00 and $45.00 at either Amazon or Board Game Geek. Next we have Dominion from Rio Grande Games. This is a wonderful game of strategy, and luck. Think Medieval Times meets... well just think Medieval Times with cards. Anyways, your objective is to collect more point cards that your opponents. With multiple cards sets within the game boxes, no two games are ever alike, so it never gets boring. A typical game will take about an hour and the game plays best with three or four players. Dominion has a ton of expansion sets available, all pretty reasonably priced, and as such, makes this game a great addition for the family that likes doing stuff together that does not involve the television. You'll spend between $20.00 and $30.00 on each set. Finally, we take a look at Family Business from Mayfair Games. This is a Mob based card game where your objective is to kill the mobsters that your opponents control. Filled with cards of real life wise guys, this game moves pretty quick as you look for ways to knock off the likes of Al Capone, John Dillinger, Joe Valachi, and Joe "Bananas" Bonanno. Priced at less than $15.00, this game, if you are okay with the Mob stuff, should be part of your game chest. So there you have it. Three new games to play while you figure out a way to pay for your heating oil, or put gas in your car this winter. Enjoy!