newyorkmetsfan

Big radio show, small tournament, lots of fun

2006-10-16T12:29:00.000-07:00

I was in Las Vegas the last few days to do a special, two-hour live, remote broadcast of my Internet radio show, Keep Flopping Aces, which airs every Thursday on www.holdemradio.com, at 9:00 PM, Eastern Time.

This was a special, two-hour show, originating from the Gamblers Bookshop. Live shows always have a lot of energy, and this one was energy packed, primarily because of our guests and topics. Mary Jones, who won the Women’s event at this year’s World Series of Poker, was our first guest. Back when she won the event, initial reports said that she was 84 years, but they got it wrong by about 40 years. Mary was a terrific guest who has been on a roll lately, winning another event in Atlantic City and placing in a WPT tournament within the past few weeks.

Nolan Dalla was up next, and Nolan, Howard Schwartz — the Gambler’s Bookshop proprietor — and I discussed the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act, where Nolan passionately expanded on his now famous, “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention!” statement.

Because of some technical difficulties, we were not able to bring in co-host Amy Calistri, who was would have been broadcasting from Austin, TX. So Earl Burton and Jennifer Shoots filled in and interviewed Dr. Al Schoonmaker who was onsite too.

It was a great show, and if you missed it when it aired, you can hear it in the “show vault” at Hold’em Radio, or you can listen to it as a podcast on i-Tunes.

On Saturday, I played in a small poker tournament that’s put on every year by Nana, a long-time, local poker player. This event was held at Sunset Station in Henderson. Because Nana is a regular guest on Hold’em Radio, a number of show hosts showed up to play in her tournament. When it got down to three handed, to our surprise, the final three finalists were all show hosts on Hold’em Radio, so apparently we can play as good a game as we talk.

I got lucky and managed to win it, so for me, and for the honor of Keep Flopping Aces, it was a terrific time.

Saudi Arabia Advances in Little League World Series

2006-08-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

How surprised was I to learn that Saudi Arabia actually has a little league baseball team. They're not that bad either. The Arabian Americans of Dhahran play tonight at 6 PM ET (ESPN2 for those of you stateside), though they've already advanced out of pool play into the Little League World Series semifinals. So in five years are we going to hear names like "Abdullah" and "Majed" on the loudspeaker at Yankee Stadium? Probably not, the team is comprised of American expatriots whose parents work for Saudi Aramco (thus, the team name "Arabian American").

First Baseman Aaron Durley, 13 years old, standing at 6'8", 256 pounds

UPDATE: Yahoo Sports just posted an article about "Arabia's biggest export," check it out here. "'All of us are American,' Durley said, 'but we're representing Arabia.'"

Playing some limit hold'em

2006-08-15T19:14:00.000-07:00

I played some 3/6 on WPEX (limit). Played 3 sessions, lost some, then won some, then lost some more, ended up a net loss of about $80. I really suck.

Then I played a bunch of 10c/20c limit. Won about $30. Those are what you'd call very soft games.

Just now I finished a $10 tournament. I'm finishing up the final table as I write this.

Nothing really memerable has happened.

One hand that reminded me of something needs to be noted, I think.

Early in the tournament, I have KcTc. The table is 8 handed. The UTG has 3,000 chips, I have 1,200. He limps. One fold. It's my turn. What should I do.

I limped behind him. I think a fold would have been fine. But, if I'd have been first in I'd probably have raised. And, if the UTG player had only had a couple hundred chips I'd probably have raised (blinds were small).

The point is, both your stack size and his stack size is important to take into account. If you're both deep you want to avoid any kind of raising war, but you do want to limp in with the hopes of busting him. I probably wasn't so deep as to make that an important point to keep in mind.

Anyway, I finished 4th in the tournment. Cashed $71. Makes up a little for the fiascos in the 3/6 limit game.

I think that puts the bankroll at $265. At adding $10 a day I'd have been better off if I hadn't played at all in the last month.

10 Sports Moments often overlooked

2006-08-11T13:36:00.000-07:00

Today on SonsoftheSportsGuy.com, our pal "BostonSucksMyBalls" mocked the overexposure of the Buckner play in the '86 World Series. His reasoning is, the game was tied, even if Buckner makes the play, they go to the 11th (and that's making the assumption Buckner beats Mets' speedster Mookie Wilson to the bag, which is unlikely). However, the debate turned to moments that have, for some reason or another, been overlooked by the mass media.

10. Chris Chambliss wins 1976 Pennant for the Yankees-I don't like the Yankees. Never have, never will. However, this play is one of TWO walk-off LCS homers (the other one was one that was beaten into our collective heads during the '04 ALCS, the Aaron Boone homer to win the '03 ALCS). This was the culmination of a great series between the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals. Game 5 was a classic, that saw a brawl between Graig Nettles and George Brett break out at home plate, a dramatic game-tying 3-run shot from Brett in the top of the 8th, but the most dramatic came in the bottom of the ninth, as Chambliss led off with a solo shot to win the game for the Yanks. In the celebration following, Chambliss was nearly torn apart circling the bases.

9. Jim O'Brien wins Super Bowl V for the Baltimore Colts-Contrary to popular belief, Adam Vinatieri WASN'T the first player to win a Super Bowl with a late field goal. In 1971, the Baltimore Colts faced the perennial bridesmaid Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl V. The game was not exactly super, as the teams combined for 11 turnovers, none more important than Craig Morton's pass being intercepted by Mike Curtis (off the outstetched fingertips of Dan Reeves) late in the game to set the stage for O'Brien's game-winning field goal with 4 seconds left.

8. Cleveland Indians defeat Boston Red Sox 8-3 to win 1948 American League Title-This, until 1978, was the ONLY one-game playoff in American League history. Both teams came into the game 96-58, with the Red Sox sweeping a pair from the Yankees to get here, while the Indians lost two straight to the Tigers. However, in a move that baffled everyone, Boston skipper Joe McCarthy started journeyman Denny Galehouse, who was roughed up by the Cleveland offense. Cleveland went on to win the World Series in 6 over the Boston Braves, their last World Series title.

7. Loyola-Chicago stuns Cincinnati to win 1963 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship-One of the forgotten classics of the NCAA Tournament, Cincinnati came into the game the 2-time defending national champion, looking for their third straight. Loyola was a heavy underdog coming into the game, but George Ireland's squad held tough, and a Vic Rouse basket with time running down handed the Ramblers the first (and only) title to a Chicago or Illinois basketball team. Lost in this is the fact that Loyola was one of the few teams that actually started more than 2 black players in a single game. Still, social ramifications aside, this is a game that has fallen through the cracks of history.

6. San Francisco Giants win 1962 National League Pennant over the L.A. Dodgers in 3-game playoff-Although the 1951 playoff between these two franchises gets most of the love, these two did move the rivalry to the West Coast, and in 1962, put on a classic pennant race for the California fans. It all came down to the third game of a 3-game playoff at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Like the 1951 series, the Dodgers went into the 9th inning holding the lead. And like the 1951 series, the Dodgers gave up 4 runs to the Giants in the 9th, scoring on 4 walks, 2 hits, and one error to clinch the pennant 6-4 in Chavez Ravine.

5. Broncos defeat Raiders 20-17 in 1977 AFC Championship Game with help from controversial call-The 1977 Denver Broncos were a solid, if not spectacular team with a great defense known as the "Orange Crush." They won the AFC West that year over the defending World Champion Oakland Raiders, who then defeated the Baltimore Colts in the AFC Divisional Playoffs to meet the Broncos (who defeated Pittsburgh 34-21 in the other divisional playoff) in the AFC Title game. With the Broncos nursing a 7-3 lead in the 3rd quarter, the Broncos recovered a fumble at the Oakland 17 and drove down to the 2. On the next play, Jack Tatum hit Rob Lytle, knocking the ball loose and giving Oakland the ball. However, the refs ruled the play dead before the fumble, and Denver scored to take a 14-3 lead. The Raiders never recovered, and Denver held on for a 20-17 win and its first AFC Title.

4. Avery Johnson hits late jumper to give Spurs first world title over the Knicks-In many ways, the 1999 NBA season is forgettable. It saw a lockout that nearly forced the cancellation of the season 5 years before the NHL did the same thing. It also saw scoring go down and the end of the Bulls dynasty. The playoffs were a little better, but the Knicks, the 8-seed from the East, won the Eastern Conference Finals over Indiana in 6 games, 2 of which had controversial refereeing from Dick Bavetta (ok, that was cheap, but I still hate the Knicks for that season. I loved those late '90s Pacers). They met the Spurs, who steamrolled the T-Wolves, Lakers, and Trail Blazers in a combined 12 games. The Spurs took the first two in San Antonio, then split the next two in Madison Square Garden. Game 5, much like its predecessors, was ugly. Late in the game, the Knicks clung to a 77-76 lead. With 2.1 seconds left, Avery Johnson launched a 20-footer from the right wing and nailed it, giving the Spurs their first title. This series also saw the explosion of Tim Duncan on the basketball scene, as he averaged 27.4 points and 14 rebounds a game.

3. Lew Burdette shuts out Yanks on 2 days rest to clinch 1957 World Title for Braves-The 1957 season was the coming out party for the Milwaukee Braves, who had fallen just short of the Brooklyn Dodgers in '56. The Braves featured a solid pitching corps of Bob Buhl, Warren Spahn, and Lew Burdette. Buhl struggled in the Series, going 0-1 with a 10.80 ERA in only 3.2 innings of work. However, Spahn was solid, and Burdette was amazing, going 3-0 with an ERA of 0.67 in the Series. His best performance was his last, Game 7 at Yankee Stadium. After shutting the Yanks out 1-0 in Game 5 at County Stadium in Milwaukee, Burdette was even more masterful, holding the Yanks to 7 hits in a 5-0 win, giving the Braves their first World Title since 1914, when they were located in Boston.

2. Mike Scott no-hits Giants to clinch 1986 NL West Crown for the Houston Astros-In 1986, Mike Scott, and his newfangled pitch, the split-fingered fastball, were taking over baseball. Along with 39-year-old Nolan Ryan, the Astros stunned baseball analysts by storming to a lead in the NL West, and on September 25, Mike Scott took the mound against the Giants with a chance to clinch the title for the Astros and set up an NLCS against the New York Mets. Scott was literally unhittable that night, as, for the first time in baseball history, a division or pennant was won thanks to a no-hitter. Scott pitched all nine-innings, walking 2, hitting 1, and striking out 13 in giving the Astros their first division crown since 1980.

1. Bill Mazeroski hits walk-off homer in Game 7 to win 1960 World Series for the Pirates-The 1960 World Series looked, on paper, like a mismatch. The out-of-nowhere Pirates, led by Don Hoak and Dick Groat, would take on the mighty New York Yankees, who had won 15 straight going into the playoffs. The first game, however, showed this series would be a little different, as the Pirates stunned the Yanks 6-4. The next two games, however, showed the world that the Yanks would not be easily deterred, as the Bombers destroyed the Pirates 16-3 and 10-0. However, the Pirates won the next two, 3-2 and 5-2, setting up a possible clincher in Game 6. However, Whitey Ford and the Yankee offense would have none of that, as they both dominated the Pirates en route to a 12-0 win, setting up the decisive game 7. The game started off well for the Bucs, as a 2-run Rocky Nelson homer and a 2-RBI single by Bill Virdon gave the Pirates a 4-0 lead. However, Moose Skowron and Yogi Berra hit homers in the 5th and sixth, staking the Yanks to a 5-4 lead. It got worse for the Pirates in the 8th, as a 2-out, 2-run double by Clete Boyer gave the Yanks a 7-4 lead. The bottom of the 8th, however, would prove to be disastrous for the Yanks. Gino Cimoli got a single to lead off the inning, then Virdon hit a sure double play ball to shortstop Tony Kubek. However, the ball hit a pebble, hitting Kubek in the throat and giving the Pirates men on first and second. Kubek was replaced by Joe DeMaestri. Dick Groat followed that up with an RBI single to cut the lead to 7-5. Bob Skinner followed with a sacrifice bunt to put men on second and third, then Rocky Nelson hit a short fly to right, giving the Pirates 2 outs and a man on 3rd. The next batter, Roberto Clemente, would prove to be the most important play of the game. He hit a slow roller to Skowron, but pitcher Jim Coates did not cover the bag, and Clemente beat Skowron to the bag, allowing Virdon to score and Groat to advance to 2nd. The next batter, former Yankee Hal Smith hit a 3-run shot to give the Pirates a 9-7 lead. The Yanks, however, refused to die, getting singles from Bobby Richardson, ex-Pirate Dale Long, and Mickey Mantle (all sandwiched around a Roger Maris foul-out) to cut the lead to 9-8 and put runners on the corners. Yogi Berra then hit a rocket down the first base line that Rocky Nelson grabbed and tagged first for the out. However, in the confusion, Mickey Mantle was able to get back to 1st, allowing pinch-runner Gil McDougald to score the game-tying run. That tie would last all of 2 pitches, as Bill Mazeroski hit the first, and to date, only walk-off World Series Game 7 homer in history. For the Series, the Yanks outscored the Pirates 55-27, outhit them 91-60, and still lost the Series. Sadly, this moment seems to be overlooked for moments like Kirk Gibson's homer, Carlton Fisk's homer, Reggie Jackson's 3-homer game, and even Joe Carter's walk-off homer (although his is overlooked), and ESPECIALLY the Bobby Thomson homer. '

This list is not out to antagonize anybody, it's to show that from time to time, moments that are great are overlooked, while other great moments are beaten into the ground.

2006 World Series of Poker Bracelet Unveiled

2006-07-31T22:55:00.000-07:00

It is the epitome of excellence in the poker world. For almost four decades now, the World Series of Poker has crowned champions and, along with the cash for winning the event, awarded the victors further awards in the form of a gold bracelet. These bracelets not only recognize the achievement of winning a WSOP tournament but also have become the benchmark of success in the poker community. On June 6th, Harrah's displayed for the first time the awards that will be available once the events start on June 25th.

Poker Affiliate Program

"It's impossible to overstate the value of a World Series of Poker gold bracelet to anyone who takes the game seriously," stated World Series of Poker Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack during the unveiling. "It is the equivalent of winning the Stanley Cup in hockey or the Lombardi Trophy in football. As such, the champion's bracelet at the 37th Annual World Series of Poker will be the best ever, something the winner will take pride in for a lifetime."

The schedule of events at this year's World Series has forty five events and, for forty four of them, the bracelet will be special. Each winner of an official event during these events will receive a bracelet constructed by Triton Jewelry, a division of Frederick Goldman, Inc. These bracelets will be made from 14-karat yellow gold and accentuated by full cut white diamonds. The center plaque of the bracelet will have one-third a carat of diamonds and be held together by thirty five grams of solid diamond cut rope chain. While these bracelets are exquisite, the World Champion's bracelet will most definitely outshine it.

Poker Affiliate Marketing

The winner of the $10,000 Championship Event, in addition to the estimated $10 million first place bounty, will also have a specially created bracelet to add to his (or her) jewelry collection. The Champion's bracelet will be created from 14-karat white and yellow gold with full cut diamonds. The plaque that is the centerpiece of the bracelet will have 170 hand picked diamonds weighing in at six carats. Each suit that is displayed under the World Series logo will also have special attention, as they will be created from jewels (a heart shaped ruby, a princess cut ruby for diamonds, a black sapphire for the spades and three round black diamonds for clubs) that will separate the World Champion's bracelet from the others. Holding this together will be a solid diamond cut rope chain that weighs in at almost sixty grams.

Poker Room Online

The bracelets that have been created for this year's tournament are quite special, befitting the achievement of beating the best players in the world to win one. We'll see who gets these pieces of jewelry in just a few weeks as the World Series gets ready to start.

Poker Room

In which I snub world opinion

2006-07-27T11:52:00.000-07:00

I've been mulling this one over for a couple of weeks now. Finally I think it's time ...

Call me a narrow minded, ethnocentric American, but I detest the World Cup. There, I said it. Note that it's not soccer itself that bugs me; rather it's the World Cup. Why does this grand spectacle of sports bug me so much?

Well I've got to string you along for a little while, so I'll start with the common complaints that DO NOT bother me -- low scoring and perceived lack of action. These are two oft-voiced complaints about baseball and my blog title should tell you that I'm okay with a slow-paced, low scoring game. In fact, I love to watch a good 1-0 or 2-1 baseball game.

So if it's not that watching soccer is about as exciting as watching paint dry, then what is my complaint? My complaint is that the referee seems to decide way too many contests with arbitrary calls (or non-calls) in the box. I know it wasn't every match, but it SEEMED as if every contest in the most recent Cup was decided, in very large part, by whether or not the referee awarded a penalty kick on some questionable play. The end of the Australia/Italy game drove me over the edge. What really riled me up, though, was the general reaction to the end-of-game call. The commentators all seemed to indicate it wasn't really a foul, but the Australian guy still was at fault for sliding and giving the Italian guy the opportunity to "sell it" to the referee. This was the final stages of the self-proclaimed greatest sporting event in the world and games were being decided on the basis of whether one player was a good enough actor to get a call from an official? WTF?!?!

See, that's what gets me -- the arbitrary nature of the outcomes of the matches. It just seemed to me that many games were won, not necessarily by the better team, but by the team that was fortunate enough to get a call. That's it -- 90+ minutes of hard fought action and the outcome is decided by one whistle.

Think about the 4 "major" stick and ball sports in the U.S. and think about what these events have in common:

Franco Harris' Immaculate Reception. [Ooh, or the 2003 Fiesta Bowl between Miami and OSU.]Don Denkinger's call at 1st base in the 1985 World Series. The 1972 Olympic basketball gold medal game. [Also game 6 of the '98 NBA finals -- the Jordan push.] Brett Hull's questionable goal in the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals.

Okay you might not recognize all of them at first glance, but if you're a sports fan you can quickly figure out (if you care to click through) the significance of those events. Those were times when officiating decisions (or non-decisions) had MAJOR impacts on the championships of the major sports leagues. John Madden is still upset 30+ years after the Immaculate Reception and I'm still madder than hell at Don Denkinger. Heck, someone (ESPN or HBO, I think) even made a movie not too long ago about the 1972 Olympic basketball thing. These events stick in our minds because it just seems so blatantly unfair and wrong that a questionable bit of officiating should decide the final champion. In one World Cup, conversely, there seemed to be multiple games "decided" by the referees.

I won't deny the World Cup is the biggest sporting event on the planet, yet the outcomes remind of nothing more than the Saturday morning "rasslin" shows I watched as a kid. Who would win the match depended on whether or not the ref saw Masked Avenger pull that chain from his trunks. Seriously, that's what all the diving and writhing around on the ground reminded me of. I'm sure these guys (the soccer players) are very skilled and I'm sure theirs is not an easy game. It seems a shame that their games come down to which side has better actors.

I'm not going to be arrogant enough to suggest changes that might improve the spectacle that is the World Cup. Instead I'm just going to make the point that it is a spectacle more so than a true quest for the world's best soccer team. If people want to participate in all the pomp, circumstance, and drunken revelry that go with such a grand spectacle, more power to them. If, though, you're going to argue that my apathy toward future Cups shows me to be an ignorant or biased sports fan, you'll have to come up with a more compelling argument than, "Everyone else in the rest of the world loves it, hence you're wrong." That argument hasn't convinced me that Jimmy Stewart was a great actor, nor did it convince my mother than I should be allowed to have a motorcycle when I was a young lad. It's going to take more than that to get me excited about South Africa in 2010.

Last week was a pretty decent week highlighted by two ok cashes in ...

2006-07-20T20:18:00.000-07:00

Last week was a pretty decent week highlighted by two ok cashes in some tournaments. I got second in one of the “deep stack” tournaments on Pacific (worst players anywhere) and hit 25th in one of the $10 rebuys on Stars. I really thought I was going to final table at Stars, but I went card dead the last hour and that was that. It is now obvious to me why that is regarded as one of the best MTTs anywhere. I found it painfully easy to trap people with hands as weak as top pair. They would just put giant amounts of chips in the pot with nothing. Going into the third hour I thought I was overmatched because I was checking out my tablemate’s stats at the pokerdb and everybody but me and a few others had five figure winnings.

Last Friday I was at Mandalay Bay for a concert and they had already set up roughly 20 poker tables for the upcoming WPT event. These were set up right by the poker room and took the place of a bunch of slot machines. Now, as a gaming management major, I would like to know why they have a bunch of poker tables sitting unused a week before they are needed. They have to be losing thousands of dollars. Come to think of it, I was there about three weeks ago and they had already begun setting things up for the event. This makes no sense to me and it’s one of the reasons I’m very afraid to go work in the corporate world.

My internet had been on the fritz the past few days which allowed me to catch up on some recreational reading. At the start of the year I began using my Party points and FPP’s for an enormous amount of poker literature. Over the past week I was able to take care of Chris Moneymaker’s book and One of a Kind by Nolan Dalla. Oh, and both of these were apparently autographed copies since I ordered them from the Stars VIP store. I guess I’m one of the cool kids now. Moneymaker’s book is worth the read but I wouldn’t pay money to purchase it. One of a Kind was much better and I’d recommend that one to anybody, especially if you enjoy depressing yourself.

Also, the Orleans Open is coming up at the beginning of July and will be running for the first few weeks of the month. There are some events scheduled during the blogger get together. If you’re interested, go here. I’m thinking of playing in a few of the smaller $200-$300 events if things go well between now and then. On that note, does anybody have any information on the different satellites they run at the World Series? Moneymaker’s book said something about $100 single table satellites which would be wonderful for a player of my limited means to try and get into some of the smaller events.

Wright as rain

2006-07-18T12:32:00.000-07:00

Dr. Uetz
Well the All-Star game has passed us. I must admit, I was looking forward to it with all the anticipation of a man heading to a Kenny G concert. Seriously, since the inception of interleague play, the mid summer classic has held all the appeal of a Democratic Party fundraiser featuring the comedy of Sinbad. But it still beats any other all-star game.

And the saving grace for me this year was that it turned out to be a well pitched game (except for the top of the 9th). It was nice to see David Wright hit a home run. It couldn't happen to a nicer kid. Really. Have you ever seen an interview with David Wright? You just know he watch Bull Durham and soaked it all in. He probably recites the Great Monologue to himself as he cruises the Long Island Expressway. He's a class act. And so was Crash Davis.

So the AL won again and gets home field advantage in the World Series. Congrats. I'm happy for you. But now that the game is over and we begin our trek down the backside of the season, I feel compelled to make a few predictions for what remains of the 2006 season. Not because I've been aching to look into my crystal ball, but because it's Wednesday and I committed to a deadline.

1. Will Dusty Baker still be wearing Cubby Blue come October? Does it really matter?No it doesn't. And he won't. The next manager? Steve Stone.

2. Mets, Cardinals and Dodgers in the playoffs. Wildcard? Can't tell. Crystal ball is clouded by Makers Mark residue from last night.

3. Scott Kazmir will win the Cy Young so that I can continue to boil in my disgust over the trade that sent him away from Shea.

4. Bud Selig will be eaten by a pack of wild dogs in the remote wilderness of Western Canada. It will be known as the day God returned baseball to the fans.

Amen and good luck to you and your team, unless that team is in the NL East and is not the Mets.

Ace of Spades

2006-07-17T12:24:00.000-07:00

ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday the United States was deeply concerned about mounting civilian casualties in Lebanon but that an immediate ceasefire would not solve the problem.

Bitch, please. You couldn't give two fucks about civi casualties in Lebanon. On one hand you say you're concerned about innocent people getting blown to shit, then in the next breath you're saying that stopping the bombing runs won't be of value. Now what the fuck is it?

You know what I smell? I smell a rat. I smell a set up. Hezbollah captures two Israeli soldiers and Israels response is to bomb the crap out of an entire country. How the hell does that work? The minute Iraq turned out to be a washout in terms of WMD's, the Neo-cons and PNAC shit eaters were quick to point out that they meant to say IRAN, not IRAQ, IRAN is the biggest threat in the M.E. But Iran and it's nutbar President weren't taking the bait. Try as they might, the Bush idiots and their Administration of carpetlickers couldn't get Iran to say BOO! Naturally this makes the right-wing assholes in Israel nervous as shit and they're now jumping at the bit to have Iran in the crosshairs as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, with 130,000 US troops in Iraq shooting at shadows, the cavalry isn't coming anytime soon.

So now we have Israel flattening a country and stirring up shit and saying that every rocket hitting Tel Aviv and Haifa has big fucking stickers on it saying Made In Syria or Made in Iran. Meanwhile, Syria and Iran are sitting back watching this all unfold saying, prove it. So now Israel and the Bush dolts have a problem on their hands. Unless Iran decides to stand up and say, "Yep, those were our fucking bombs", any type of attack on Syria or Iran will viewed as an act of aggression, and then the shit will really hit the fan. The fanatics in the Israeli gov't would love nothing more than to launch a few tactical nukes at Iran, but this would surely cause a ripple effect that would awaken people like Russia and China. And even with the firepower Israel may have, kicking a hornets nest into the face of someone like China would likely have repercussions that would leave Israel glowing in the dark for a few years.

It's like the World Series of Poker. Todays players are Israel, the USA, Iran, and Syria. In the one corner is Israel who's waving their cards in the air and throwing poker chips at Iran and Syria. In the other corner is the Bush Players who are down to two cards and even less chips. And in the middle are Iran and Syria with their poker faces on. Are they bluffing? Do they have a full house or are they ready to flop? Somebody at this table has an Ace up their sleeve. The question is who, and when are they going to use it? All the while there's this pesky fly called Hezbollah that just keeps buzzing around distracting all the tv cameras that are supposed to be focused on the main players. Place your bets people......

Big names in sports leave, yet most are focused on the Tigers

2006-07-11T23:45:00.000-07:00

In recent weeks we have seen Steve Yzerman retire, Ben Wallace go to the Bulls, and now Shanahan leave the Red Wings for the New York Rangers. If not for the red hot Tigers, this news may have been a bigger deal. Now granted, we all knew sooner or later Yzerman had to retire, the other two departures normally would have received a much greater reaction. Not to say people didn't mention them, but in the same breath it was sorta like "Who cares? How bout them Tigers!?!?!" What else is great is something that we haven't seen in years, Tiger fans outta town. I'm guessing that only a handful of these fans traveled to the game and that the majority relocated at some point from the Detroit region. Likely, they were hear during either the 1968 season or 1984, and like many of us have been heart broke for many years as we watched as this team lacked any sort of desire to win. We've all been waiting for the Tigers to fall off, but it simply hasn't happened. Every single time them pesky White Sox start closing in, they drop a few, the Tigers drop a few, then the Tigers start winning, extending their lead a few games over them.

"For Love of the Game" was on cable again yesterday. In fact, it was on alternating channels on Encore practically all day. While a week or so ago I didn't think much of it, it's quite obvious now, the reason it's being played so much is just like the line from the movie states "we don't stink right now, we're the best team in baseball." The Tigers have a rich history, a history that dates back over 100 years. You have generations of people that once lived in Detroit, remember going to Michigan and Trumbull, yet for all too long those memories seemed like but a dream to many. Now, those memories are being dusted off, and the cable networks see the Tigers as the team to watch, and in turn "For Love of the Game" has been played over and over. There are a more than a few details dating back to the glory days. One is when Chapel, the pitcher, is asked by his girl "Haven't you ever had your heart broken?". He responds with "Yeah. When we lost the pennant in '87." Another flashback when he's on the mound, looks in the upper deck of Tigers Stadium and sees what is assumed to be his mom and dad, with a "1984 World Series" banner hanging below. I wish they'd show this movie during movie nights at Campus Martius. Seems like it may be played at the State or the Fox soon, as I vaguely remember seeing a poster or something while waiting for a cab.

That movie reminded me of something else that I had nearly forgot about, the closest I ever came to witnessing a no-hitter. It must have been around 2002 or so. Jeff Weaver was on the mound and had pitched around 8 innings without giving up a hit. Then, a player who had never played the outfield in his career (I wanna say it was Craig Pauquette) misjudged a ball and as he backed up the ball bounced off the outfield wall. I believe that was the only hit gave up that game. I was seated with a friend behind home plate, about 5 rows back. The Tigers really stunk that year, as they had for many years, but on that day we almost witnessed a rarity at Comerica Park. Who knows if I'll ever witness something that magical again, as the small crowd in attendance were on their feet as we could all taste history being made. It wasn't long after, maybe a season or two, and Jeff Weaver was traded. He has kind of slid every since, never really playing to the ability it seemed he had. I'm sure his off the field antics may have played a part in this. Most recently he was sent down to the minors by his current team and replaced with his younger brother. Talk about a slap in the face!

I got a couple of friends coming up for the Chicago White Sox Thursday day game here in a few weeks. I'm getting pretty excited about it, as it'll be my first weekday day game since the home opener. My plan to head to Chicago for the Tigers series next month fell through, as every game is already sold out. If you plan on hitting up the CWS in Detroit, I highly suggest you get tickets now for the July and August outing, as I'm sure both series will be sellouts before game day. On a side note, I keep getting emails from the Tigers organization, placing more and more restrictions on these free vouchers season ticket holders received. That being said, I think next home game I'm going to exchange all the vouchers I have to assure that they get used up.

GO TIGERS!

Superman Returns

2006-07-10T18:09:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, that over the last year I have become a huge Smallville fan. The television series on the WB network is as good as any television series on air. I have the first 4 seasons on DVD and it at least once on a weekly basis, sometimes more. With the success of the television series, I expected Superman Returns would to do well at the box office.

Superman Returns is essentially a follow up to Superman 2 staring Christopher Reeve. That series, based on the DC comic did well between the years 1978 – 1987. For every generation, there has been a Superman, for those in the 1950’s it was George Reeves, In the 1990’s on television in Lois and Clark it was Dean Cain, and for the 1980’s among the favorites was the late Christopher Reeve.

Reeves took on the role and responsibility of Superman like no other. It was his appearances on Smallville in season two and season three that had many thinking that he had passed along the mantra to Tom Welling, Clark Kent of the Smallville series. With Superman Returns, Brandon Routh proves that Superman is more than any actor, he is goes beyond the expectations of fans to the heart and dreams of those wanting more.

I won’t say Superman Returns is the best of the Superman series. It is quite good though. I especially enjoyed the soul searching done with the characters. We see the struggle of decisions made in the past, and the consequences of living with those decisions. We see Clark Kent, the alter ego of Superman, struggle with those issues. One of the beautiful things about the character is his willingness to move on and move ahead, despite the disappointments.

This action packed story is infused with just that, story. While the action and special effects abound, Superman always has been, and thankfully still is, about story. The story of a Savior sent from the Heavens above to provide salvation to mankind. Those stories are more than coincidental in the plot of this and virtually every other Superman. Many will recall that it was Hollywood Jesus that first drew attention to this theme some years ago. If you want an analogy of the film thought about and processed over the years you have to look no further than this web site.

There is a great deal of spiritual commentary in the film. Many have processed that; I could as well, but will simply say the sacrificial, crucifixion scene in the movie was as touching and well played as in any Superman movie ever. We genuinely care about the Savior who would sacrifice himself because of the love he has for others. While we know the outcome, we know that Superman must live; we still feel the pain of the punishment he took for those he loved.

Superman’s ability to execute justice, yet at the same time, love those around him are attributes about the man that we appreciate. We realize that he is so much more than us, but he is still one of us. We realize he has unexplainable powers, yet he is tender, caring and loving. He goes out of his way to love and be kind to children, even taking the time to help a small child get her kitty out of a tree when battling the injustices of the world around her. Superman is truly a Savior, Messiah Character; one many can relate to and hope for.

Technically, the story is very good, this movie flows well and the direction by Bryan Singer is top notch. There is a very good cast. Brandon Routh will satisfy the desire of many, even the Tom Welling fans in his portrayal. Kate Bosworth is a beautiful Lois Lane who has matured from the character on Superman II, and I especially enjoyed Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. I was concerned how the character of Richard White would be portrayed, but was even pleased with the direction of the film here. James Marsden did a great job, and provides a character that we can sympathize with and care about.

Superman is a story we desire. It is a story we need, it is a story we want. Superman is the story of a power greater than us, caring for us, and ultimately, even though some like Lois Lane, think they don’t need it, provides salvation for us. Superman is in essence the story of a Messiah, a Savior. It is a story that has been told before, some say some 2,000 years before. It still has meaning, and it still has purpose. Thank God the story lives.

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more indepth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

Superman Returns

2006-07-10T18:08:00.000-07:00

Superman Returns

2006-07-10T18:07:00.000-07:00

Spot the irony

2006-07-10T18:04:00.000-07:00

Bit late on this one, but sure what the hell.

Whilst I support the Irish government's recent decision to celebrate the Somme and the 1916 rebellion, I can't help but notice a glaring irony. Which I myself am now guilty of.

Yes, many nationalists, unionists, protestants and catholics died at the Somme and they died defending an imperialistic war fought between age old monarchs and antiquated systems of European political institution. That doesn't bother me, the further time passes after a war the more irrelevant the cause will become. In 200 years time, people will pour scorn on mockery on World War II, you could even say it has already begun (Excellent series btw).

For the Irish government to celebrate the 1916 rebellion and the battle of the Somme in the same breath is glaring hypocrisy. It was the same soldiers that were fighting in the first world war that tied Connelly to a chair and shot him. Not only that, but less than two years later, the war of independence, the trench trained soldiers had swapped the fields of Flanders for the fields of Fingal.

Many of the black and tans were frustrated former trench veterans. How can the Irish government celebrate the soldiers of the Somme yet at the same time celebrate the war of independence when in one instance they were fighting side by side yet two years down the line fighting against one another in the most successful guerilla warfare campaigns ever launched?

Before I reap the unionist whirlwind of condemnation for noting the success of guerilla warfare, the tactics and methods Collins developed have been taught at military training institutions throughout the world, including Westpoint. You may not like what he fought for but without the tactics of Collins, I doubt the Allies would have won WWII. Collins taught the Allies that wars would no longer be fought face to face, pike to pike or gun to gun by people dressed in uniform.

I am not a supporter of war for any reason and I abhore killing, but myself a hypocrite, I do enjoy reading about military tactics and campaigns.

I digress, but is Irish neutrality now so anally retentive that they will commemorate both sides of a war just to satisfy everyone?

Maybe we have to.

Filling an iPod legally

2006-07-06T16:53:00.000-07:00

Is it possible to fill an iPod legitimately? I will ignore the fact that the act of ripping your own CD is still an infringing activity under UK law due to the absence of a private copying exception in copyright law. As reported earlier, the British Phonogram Industry has kindly communicated that they will not enforce such actions.

I hadn't realised just how much space 60 GB is until I started trying to fill it. In the last weeks I have been engaging in a ripping festival transferring my CD collection into unprotected AAC and MP3 formats. I have ripped the majority of the 305 CDs that I own (latest and final count), and left some that I was not interested in ever listening to again. Leaving out some songs from other CDs, and removing duplicates, this produced an excess of 4,300 songs. This is still considerably short of the advertised 15,000 song capacity of the iPod.

The next stage was to load my MP3 collection, which was surprisingly small once I removed all the music that I owned and burned the music that I actually want to listen to. I have been increasingly reluctant to download music permanently from P2P newtworks, I think that it is more ethical to purchase the music if you like the artist, and as a professional with a salary I see no reason why not to do this. My downloaded collection is made up mostly of Latin music that I cannot obtain here in the UK, which is the manner in which I justify owning downloads.

With that done, this left just under 5,000 songs on the iPod. I then proceeded to browse the iTunes music store. There is quite a lot of choice there, but I have been troubled by the DRM protection in the music. My first purchasing experience was to buy Carmina Burana; the operation was seamless, and the music was available in seconds with excellent quality. However, the iTunes DRM does not work well with other players. I have been listening to my music with Winamp because of the playback quality and a MP3 digital effects enhancer that I use to improve the sound, but the purchased music would only play with iTunes. There are several solutions available online for this problem, but some require untested third party software. My choice is to burn the purchased music into a blank CD, and then rip it back into MP3s, which removes the protection. I have been wondering if this constitutes a circumvention of the technical protection measures as present in the WIPO Copyright Treaty, the European Copyright Directive and the UK's CDPA. It probably does, but I cannot see any other way of playing the music in the way that I want and with the player of my choice.

Another source of music has been a growing Creative Commons music collection. I now have 83 songs released under various CC licences. I was particularly glad to find an MP3 CD with the materials distributed at the iCommons Summit in Rio; this CD contained music from all over the world, some of it is extremely good! I hope that the music can be made available for download eventually. The other source is the famous Wired CD, which can also be downloaded in its entirety from the Creative Commons website.

The next step was to find worthy podcasts to subscribe to. This has been quite a revelation for me, I was aware of the popularity of the new medium, but I have been blown away by the wealth of choice. It seems like everything is subject to a podcast nowadays, from Anime to World Cup coverage. However, I have been disappointed by the few options in Spanish. Even Costa Rican podcasts seem to be recorded mostly by American expats and Christian missionaries. I have now subscribed to a series of techie podcasts:

(links to RSS feeds)

Byte (en español), México
Digital Planet, BBC.
EFF Line Noise, EFF.
New Scientist Podcast, New Scientist.
PRI's The World Technology Podcast, Public Radio International.
Science on Guardian Unlimited, The Guardian.
Slashdot Review.

Unfortunately, these podcasts barely cover 100 MBs. What else to do? There are the video and picture capabilities of the 5G iPod. I have now uploaded 660 pictures into the pod, a nice way of keeping your pictures mobile, and you can create a slide show that will display your photographs while playing music. A word of warning though, if you use iTunes to load the pictures, they are loaded into a proprietary database that can only be read by iTunes and the iPod software. An alternative is to create a folder with Explorer and just upload the files into it. As for video, I have uploaded the excellent Troops, and will probably upload some other favourites, like The Power of Nightmares and Macross Zero, although I need to convert them into Quicktime format.

With 35 GB to fill, I'm running out of ideas.

World Series

2006-05-09T21:14:00.000-07:00

The first two games of the series are played in the home ballpark of the team awarded home-field advantage; the next three are in the other team's ballpark, and the final two, if necessary, are back in the first team's ballpark. That has been the pattern since 1924, with the exception of World War II, when travel restrictions were in place. Until 2003, the team given the home-field advantage was switched every year between the American League and the National League. Starting with the 2003 World Series, the league that wins the mid-season All-Star Game has been awarded home-field advantage.

2006-04-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

newyorkmetsfan new articles for Sunday, April 16, 2006Game 6 of the 1986 World Series reenacted in RBI baseball
This is strangely compelling and highly entertaining, especially if you're a baseball or RBI fan (I spent many lunch hours at the donut shop by my high school playing RBI).

Annie Duke : How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed, and ...
So, you move up to the harder stuff, particularly the hardcore World Poker Tour. Then, you want to try something a little bit different, so you watch the World Series of Poker. Next thing you know, you’re looking for poker hits all over ...

Remediating Baseball
The video, created by Lastowka, depicts the ninth inning of the 1986 World Series, in which the Red Sox, just one out away from winning the World series, saw their Series hopes dashed on Bill Buckner's tenth inning error. ...

Is Poker Losing Its First Flush?
ESPN showcases the “World Series of Poker,” in June, and this year’s entry list is expected to briskly outpace last year’s roster of about 5600. And the Bravo network continues to play the glamour card on “Celebrity Poker Showdown” (Ben ...

RIDING THE HORSES
Sure, there will be happy talk about the possibility of Roger Clemens' return to Boston, riding in on his white horse to pitch the team back to the World Series. But at this point, that's all just speculation. And Clemens, like Wells, ...

The Fight That Benched Dusty
As part of the celebration commemorating the 1981 World Series win, Dusty Baker will be honored at Dodger Stadium on Monday night prior to the game. ... That's one of the reasons I want to get back to the World Series so bad. ...

2006 World Series of Poker
World Series of Poker for 2006 is only sixty days away. The mother of all poker tournaments, the WSOP, will start the '06 run of almost fifty days of continuous major tournament poker action. As in 2005, the big event will be held at ...

1986 World Series As Told By RBI Baseball
The '86 World Series final game re-enacted in RBI Baseball in which the New York Mets defeated the Boston Red Sox, thanks to dumb luck and a lengthy curse. By final game, we mean the last inning of Game Six, pitch-for-pitch. ...

History of Poker
The pinnacle of the poker world, The World Series of Poker, attracts players from all over the world every year to compete for money and titles as the world's top Poker players. Poker will always be around and will continue to grow and ...

The Chicago White Sox: 2005 World Series
Quote: "Okay, so just why am I revisiting the success of the Chicago White Sox 2005 team that won their first World Series after an almost 90 year wait? Because I care, by crikey. As the lords of baseball unleash another regular season ...

Replay of ‘86 World Series Game Six
This is great. Game six of the 1986 world series re-enacted in the old RBI Baseball video game. I wonder if they'll re-enact this movie next.

[Video] Game 6 of the 1986 World Series re-enacted in "RBI ...

I'm talking as slowly as I can
Remember, most people in the world have little or no interest in the World Series or the Super Bowl. What we call "soccer" is football everywhere else. And it's the most popular sport on the planet.) • Slow down. ...

1986 World Series as realized on a Nintendo
San Diego Serenade's 1986 World Series re-enacted on RBI Baseball. It's oh so good. Oh so good. Found it on Deadspin though I can't help but think that I should've found it myself considering San Diego Serenade's local and all. ...

US STATE DEPARTMENT TO TEACH AMERICANS TRAVELLING ABROAD... HOW ...
Remember, most people in the world have little or no interest in the World Series or the Super Bowl. What we call "soccer" is football everywhere else. And it's the most popular sport on the planet.) • Speak lower and slower. ...

victory is mine!
The second most obvious is that I get to play in a few big tournaments each year, most notably the World Series of Poker and the World Championship of Online Poker, while flying the Team PokerStars flag. ...

Now Batting For Wally Pipp
You see, Wally was replaced by a rookie by the name of Lou "Iron Horse" Gehrig, who went on to play sixteen seasons with the pinstripes, setting a consecutive-games record that stood for seven decades, playing in seven World Series and ...

If only Dubya could learn this....
Remember, most people in the world have little or no interest in the World Series or the Super Bowl. What we call "soccer" is football everywhere else. And it's the most popular sport on the planet. Slow down We talk fast, eat fast, ...

Do our collections reflect ourselves?
I also had a bunch of action games, some shooter titles, nearly all of the Treasure games (I'm missing Rakugaki Showtime), a few sports titles (I actually popped in Major League Baseball 2K5: World Series Edition last night after I ...

1986 World Series, Game Six: Nintendo Style
Done by some old-school gaming genius in RBI Baseball, a Nintendo game released in 1987. If you don't remember this classic (Red Sox vs. Mets), you should catch up on your baseball history... (Link stolen from waxy.org)

2006-04-10T22:06:00.000-07:00

newyorkmetsfan new articles for Tuesday, April 11, 2006[Video] Game 6 of the 1986 World Series re-enacted in "RBI ...

Game 6 of the 1986 World Series Re-Enacted in 8-Bit Glory on ...
You remember Game 6 of the 1986 World Series? The Boston Red Sox up two against the New York Mets in the top of the 10th with two outs, before Bill Buckner lets a slow roller from Mookie Wilson go right between his legs? ...

DC SCENE MONDAY
DICK HELLER, WASHINGTON TIMES - The best professional baseball team in the District's history probably wasn't the original Washington Senators, whose generally unfortunate 60-year history was punctuated by a World Series championship in ...

ChiSox, former players receive World Series rings
The White Sox received their World Series rings in a pregame ceremony.

Search for The Magic Bullet (5th in a series): One Planet Living
The results leave open the possibility that there may come a time when the balance of power between nations of the world may revolve around disparities between ecological debtor nations and ecological lender nations, and a new economics ...

1986 World Series Game 6 Re-Enacted in RBI Baseball
I decided that I wanted to enter this YouTube Cybersmack contest and 2in $25000 for creating the best internet viral video, so I decided to re-enact Game Six of the 1986 World Series in RBI Baseball, my favorite video game of all time. ...

The World's Most Meaningless Term
"That's when my public school principal (in Orange, CA) decreed that the '69 World Series would be played over the school PA system. With the games starting at 10 AM local time, I could hear most of the game at recesses and lunch. ...

Cubs 1-0, on way to World Series
Steven:. Yeah, I wish. But it wasn'ta shabby start by any means. 16-7? Let's keep it going I say. Meanwhile, the current champs are getting theirs handed to them by the team they barely held off at the end of last year, Cleveland. ...

Am I The Only One? By Alan Granoff
Gee whiz, you win one World Series every 3 centuries and you get an attitude. At least I stopped reminding you about Buckner and 1986, didn’tI? Oops, sorry, good buddy, guess old habits are hard to break!!!

My Favorite Baseball Moment Re-Enacted
A guy at the site San Diego Serenade re-enacted Game 6 of the 1986 World Series using RBI Baseball. This is the coolest thing ever. Go check it out.

Network-centric Warfare and the Next World Order
Part I of the Next World Order series explored the issues involved with calculating a 21st century American military force planning strategy. Part II addresses the failed efforts of Donald Rumsfeld and others to "transform" the force to ...

Okay, sports fans. I’ve been given the green light by the co-host ...
Today, the Tigers have their home opener against the World Series champion White Sox. To my supreme satisfaction, the Sox have started the season 2-4, losing 2 of 3 to both the Tribe and the Royals. Tee hee. The Royals. ...

Record Crowd on Hand as Tigers Fall to ChiSox
Despite falling to the 2005 World Series Champions today, there is no doubt that the citizens of Detroit are prepared for plenty of Tigers baseball this summer. Standing at 5-2, the Tigers are still off to a promising start. ...

Brilliant Use of RBI Baseball
San Diego Serenade, a music blog with an impressive tinge of sports knowledge that I plugged here last week re-enacted the 10th inning of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series using the old RBI Baseball video game . It's a bit lengthy, ...

Sorry about that last post, ladies and gentlemen. It's time for ...
I tore off a couple of feet when he tried to jump back over the fence, and planted it in my parent's backyard. We returned for game 3 of the World Series. No, I wasn't there for the post Series riot. I was also there with the woman who ...

Tutorials for Google Earth and GE Community
... to placemarks - steps for adding pictures/web links and text. Check out some other contributions by 'Up_the_Spurs': US Medals of Honor Recipients, MLB World Series Winners, Victoria Cross Recipients, and Heavy Weight Boxing Champions.

Change of Scenery for Jen Leo
I moved to Vegas last year to watch the World Series of Poker. Met a great guy and followed him to LA-- Burbank, actually. Well, we've just rented a cute house a few miles from Old Pasadena. I love Pasadena. And I'm looking to start a ...

The Bill Buckner Shuffle I'm not a Mets fan, but I'm fast becoming ...
Some guy managed to sync up audio from Game 6 of the 1986 Mets/Red Sox World Series with footage reenacted on RBI Baseball for the NES. Truly epic. Link from San Diego Serenade. Returning to music (in a sense), a great Mets post with ...

2006-04-02T20:59:00.000-07:00

newyorkmetsfan new articles for Sunday, April 02, 2006Completely Unfounded Baseball Predictions
Last year, after the White Sox won the World Series, thereby making two of the three most notable loser franchises winners in the past two years, and I proclaimed the Cubs to be this year's winners, joining both Sox. ...

More Predictions
Sox World Series Sox-related J Stark No playoff NYY over StL Cy: Beckett P Gammons No playoff NYY over StL Cy: Beckett J Crasnick No playoff A's over Atl B Olney No playoff A's over SF T Kurkjian Wild card NYY over StL ...

ESPN Pundits Predict 2006 Season Outcome
Seriously -- the Dodgers beat the Twins in the World Series? Either Neyer's trying to be funny -- in which case, stick to your day job, Rob -- or his prediction partner is Jack Daniels. Otherwise, Jason Stark, Jerry Crasnick, Rob Neyer, ...

One on One: 2006 Predictions
And as is only appropriate, we close today with our picks for the World Series. Sure, sure, neither of us had even considered the White Sox last year, but we're both sure we nailed it this year. ...

Happy Opening Day!
In a Life magazine preview of the 1960 World Series, in which he got a hit in every game of Pittsburgh's stunning upset of the New York Yankees, he was criticized for what was called his "Latin American variety of showboating" ...

Reviews & Previews: Books & the Draft
Author Charles Euchner uses the 2001 World Series as a backdrop to weave in-depth stories ... What initially piqued my interest in the book was the fact that this World Series was the beginning of the end of the Evil Empire's tyranny, ...

2006 Baseball Predictions
World Series: White Sox over Astros, Cardinals over Yankees. AL MVP: Alex Rodriguez NL MVP: Albert Pujols ... World Series: A's over Cardinals. AL MVP: David Ortiz NL MVP: Albert Pujols. AL Cy Young: Joe Blanton NL Cy Young: Jake Peavy ...

Baseball is Back and All is Good in the World
A team wins the World Series, their first in 88 years, and the main story in the following spring is whether they can win it all again. Similarly, you could prove a major theorem, answering an 88 year-old question, and a few months ...

giants seek first world series title since 1989
In the 1989 World Series, Jose Canseco hit .357 with a homer, 4 walks, 3 RBI, and 5 runs scored. Mark McGwire chipped in with a .294 average. Clearly, the A's victory in that Series should be expunged from the record books. ...

Executive Moves, Venture Funding and Mergers and Acquisitions - 2 ...
Chorus Systems Triangle Park, NC; a developer of IT support software that automatically detects, diagnoses, and fixes enterprise computing problems; $9 million; Series B; Core Capital Partners, Inflection Point Ventures and Anthem ...

Getting Ready for the World Series of Poker!
The series starts on June 25th and the final event wont wrap up until mid-August. ... 28-Jul-06 No-Limit Texas Hold'em World Championship Event $10000.00 ... Thanks for reading, see you at the World Series of Poker! Wild Bill.

poker strategy: Rick Throws down the gauntlet
... world series of poker world series of poker world series of poker http://www.mine-poker.com/world-series-of-poker.html http://www.mine-poker.com/world-series-of-poker.html slack neurologists family full tilt poker full tilt poker ...

poker hand: Senator Kennedy smacks Rick
... math galaxies,embellished world series of poker world series of poker world series of poker http://www.mine-poker.com/world-series-of-poker.html http://www.mine-poker.com/world-series-of-poker.html adhesions Mecca alerts maiming ...

Aussies punt rugby World Series
The ARU has come up with a way of making Tests between World Cups matter. They believe rugby needs a “World Series” in which the results of Tests ... Tests between World Cups are often regarded as preparation for the next [. ...

2006 MLB Predictions
A World Champ with the same cast won't fall off as far as he has them falling. AL WEST: I need Texas to suck. Holy crap! We have the same World Series result!!!! Clearly, we are BRILLIANT! TEAMS WE EXACTLY AGREE ON: ...

Opening Day Pessimism
World Series = Cardinals beat the Angels Links: Mike Wallace on the Tiger Woods story … Wallace, however, admitted that the two segments devoted to Tiger Woods on "60 Minutes" the previous day was a tank job, with Woods and Co. ...

“Am I The Only One?” By Alan Granoff
50 or so years later, I feel the same way, maybe even worse, since those Stinkees beat my Metsies in the 2000 World Series. However, this is a real baseball website, and I’m sure you don’t want me to ramble on more than I ususally do. ...

Gillick Setting Stage for Trading Abreu
Conterras was exceptional in the 2nd half of the season and in the post season, while Dye was the World Series MVP who is a right-handed hitting outfielder. Both guys are "money" when it counts and have had success in the post season ...

Barry Bonds Had a Himalyan Range of Bacne
I might admit that I kind of blanked-out on the blanking-out of the Houston Astros in the World Series about five and a half months ago (does that performance technically count as an "appearance"?) As Jeff Bagwell's traitorous shoulder ...

A Day of Thunderbolts
It is apropos that today I am working through Tom Adelman's book on the summer of 1975 and the "greatest World Series ever played." I sat on my front porch reading and watching the storms form and ignite, and I was startled by the ...

World Series

2006-02-09T17:01:00.000-08:00

The World Series is the championship series of Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada, the culmination of the sport's postseason each October. It is played between the pennant winner of the American League and the pennant winner of the National League. The Series winner is determined through a best-of-seven playoff (except in 1903, 1919, 1920 and 1921 when the winner was determined through a best-of-nine playoff) and is awarded the World Series Trophy, as well as World Series rings. Baseball has employed various championship formulas since the 1850s. The modern World Series has been an annual event since 1903, with the exceptions of 1904 and 1994.