July 15, 2008
Today saw the 79th MLB All-Star game, the final played at original Yankee Stadium, which is considered by most the "sports cathedral" of the world. It was a true rubber match for most of the game, the first since 1990 to go 4 innings scoreless.
They would have had to go back a few more years if it weren't for Matt Holiday of the Rockies hitting the second hit, and first home run of the game. The home run gave the NL a temporary lead of 1-0. The NL went up 2-0 before the AL rallied to tie. The NL again gained the lead, only for the AL to once again tie. The game was epic all around, and along with the insanely entertaining home run derby last night (Josh Hamilton of the Rangers, recovering heroin addict who hit a record 28 HRs in the first round) is a fitting start of the end for Yankees Stadium.
The game was the longest in All Star game History by the 12th inning, and went into the bottom of the 15th.
Holiday was not the only Rockie to do well in the game, Aaron Cook came in in the bottom of the 10th with the bases loaded due to Dan Uggla's two errors in the inning. Luckily for the NL, Cook pitched 3 scoreless innings, and the defense was miraculous.
Two plays in a row were a force at home, and the last out of the inning was an amazing charging play on a ground ball by Miguel Tijada, in which he rocket flipped to first, flailing, off balance. Cook did give up a hit, though the Center Fielder at the time, Nate McClouth, threw out Navarro at home. Navarro was trying to score from second base, and the play was a razor's edge close tag.
"This game", as Joe Buck (Head Commentator of FOX and all around know-it-all) said, "has had everything!" It was the most exciting 4-3 game I have ever seen, and a great All Star weekend all around. It will be sad to see old Yankee go down, but new Yankee Stadium looks a great deal alike, and will have to offer 21st century amenities for over $1 Billion.
NBA
In Denver today, Marcus Camby's reign as the best defender, and one of the most feared Centers in the league ended as he was traded to the Clippers for a future 2nd round pick.
I understand the Nuggets had to drop salary, which they did partially by trading Eddie Najera away, and Camby was to make around $10 Million next season. Yet, did they have to get absolutely nothing in return?
I mean at around $10 Million, Camby has a tradable salary, even though he is aging and has been injury riddled in the past. Although, he started many of the games the past 2 seasons, playing in 70 in 06-07.
The last person selected by the Nuggets in the draft was Leon Powe, in the 2nd round. He is actually in the league, we dropped him and the Celtics picked him up. Karl didn't think he could play, but somehow he found minutes on the World Champion Celtics during the season.
We draft horribly, and a second round pick in the NBA is basically worthless.
The problem is, Camby and Najera are easy answers to dropping salary, compared to other options. A.I. decided to stick with the team for the final year of his over $20 Million contract. K-Mart has a ridiculously high salary(thanks to the Nuggets "cough" friend Kiki Vandewege) and has been more than injury riddled, has poor work ethic, and a bad attitude towards coaches and players. Although, he had his best season last year as a Nugget, surprisingly.
Kiki by the way also drafted huge bust Nikoli uh...Ski-tish-vee-lee is the phonetic way to spell it, and recently tried to steal Carmelo from the Nuggets in a trade for Richard Jefferson. Nene was payed a huge amount of money by the Nuggets via Kiki(when he was the GM). Nene, although a rising talent, has already had a major surgery on a knee and is currently undergoing chemotherapy for cancer that was found. Nene was also drafted in front of Amare Stoudemire, the NBA All Star, and backup center for the USA Men's Olympic Team. Well he was until he pulled out due to an injury.
Carmelo is about the only other option to drop money, yet I would have hated it if he were traded. Basically, Stan "The BIG Man" Kroenke, owner of the AVS, Nuggets, Pepsi Center etc., was not about to pay another $50 Million to the league for being $25 Million over the salary cap. After all, the Nuggets were only the 8th best team in the West this year, even though their record was an impressive 50-32.
All in all, a sad day in national (league) and local sports history. Old Yankee is almost closed after being open 85 years, and Marcus "Cambles soup" Camby leaves the Nuggets.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Underhanded, dirty, no good scoundrels, and Sports too!
July 14, 2008
Well it's been three weeks since my former place of employment, Pizza Street, closed in my hometown of Fort Collins. I know, I know, "Pizza Street, Rich?" you ask with a tint of "what's so great about a pizza place?" in your voice, but honestly, I had it pretty good there.
I was given a decent birth in being able to run the store, taking on the responsibilities of making sure customers were satisfied, and even was allowed to drink at work if I wanted.
I worked at the Street from Jan '07 through June 20th '08, and was promoted to Assistant Manager in November of '07. What also started in November was envelopes full of cash instead of checks. I knew this was not exactly legal, but looked the other way because taxes were not being taken out. On June 17th I attended a store meeting in which one of the owners told two drivers and myself that the Street would close that weekend!
Everyone knows when you are planning on quitting a job, you should give your employer two weeks notice, yet they didn't even give us one week!
After being laid off, I claimed unemployment through the great state of Colorado. Even though there are more strict rules, like visiting possible employers 5 times a week, instead of 3, I was up to the adventure. Until I received paper work from the state in which the owner of Pizza Street said I made less than I did in the last quarter of '07, and apparently did not make any money through them in the first half of this year!
This of course affected the amount of money I can receive through unemployment, down to about $200 a month, which is $100 short to even make my cheap rent.
This is so frustrating, and appalling that the two owners are heartless enough to kick me while I'm down, due to them.
Both gave me lip service and acted friendly to me also. Brian said of all the employees, he was worried about me most. Tom constantly sided with me in disputes about Tiffany, the GM of my store, and reassured me I would know if the store would be closing even for a move, let alone a store closure. I understand that the unemployment payments I may acquire would come from their "struggling" pockets, yet I feel they owe me at this point.
The problem is, I really just want another job. I do not want to be on unemployment because I know that it will be a huge hassle to get everything worked out about how much I really made last year, and that I worked there this year. There are no records showing how much money I made, therefore, I cannot think of a way to prove so. Overall, Pizza Street, and I mean the Pizza Streets in Colorado, are owned and run by dirty, lying, no good scoundrels that care about nothing more than fattening their wallets. Then again, this is Capitalist America, isn't it?
Sports!
MLB
Now onto my true love, sports. The Colorado Rockies, my favorite MLB team since 1993 and the days of Baseball a Mile High, are blowing it throughout the first half of the season, again. It seems to happen every year. Spring Training, excitement, high hopes and dreams for the Rockies, especially after their magical season of '07. Yet, just like last year, the Rox are far from first place in the division, and pitching is a major reason why.
Jeff Francis, the "Ace" of the staff has looked more like a Joker. At 3-7 and a 5.67 ERA, Francis has been down right horrible in the first half. Morales was sent back down to the Springs and AAA ball, Jimenez gives up at least two home runs a game, I can throw it harder than Redman, and don't get me started on Vizcaino (who I had the "pleasure" of watching in person a week ago).
Then again, so has the entirety of the Rockies. Tulo, Holiday, Francis, Hawpe, Taveras, it seems everyone has been hurt this year. Bad luck or not, the Rox will need something monumental once again to happen in the second half if they want to make the playoffs for two consecutive years.
I just found out the Home run Derby is tonight! YAY! Oh BTW, two Rockies in the All Star game, Holiday and Cook, our only good pitcher. And Clint Hurdle, the manager of the '07 National League Champs!
NBA
Donaghy and Foster, sitting in a tree, B-E-T-T-I-N-G! The referee found gambling and fixing games, Tim Donaghy, is getting another ref in trouble this week. After the feds looked at Donaghy's phone records, they found that he called Scott Foster, another NBA official, before and after 54 of the 57 games the two officiated together during the 06-07 season! According to ESPN. This is appalling, and I can only hope that nothing is found that further soils the NBA. I am a huge fan of the NBA and Denver Nuggets, and would hate for there to be a wide-spread conspirency in the Association. One thing is for sure, if the two were in it together, or other Refs are found to have been betting, David "Too" Stern will come down on them, hard.
This is my second blog post ever so thank you to anyone who read any of it, and please comment! I gotta go catch the home run derby, peace!
Well it's been three weeks since my former place of employment, Pizza Street, closed in my hometown of Fort Collins. I know, I know, "Pizza Street, Rich?" you ask with a tint of "what's so great about a pizza place?" in your voice, but honestly, I had it pretty good there.
I was given a decent birth in being able to run the store, taking on the responsibilities of making sure customers were satisfied, and even was allowed to drink at work if I wanted.
I worked at the Street from Jan '07 through June 20th '08, and was promoted to Assistant Manager in November of '07. What also started in November was envelopes full of cash instead of checks. I knew this was not exactly legal, but looked the other way because taxes were not being taken out. On June 17th I attended a store meeting in which one of the owners told two drivers and myself that the Street would close that weekend!
Everyone knows when you are planning on quitting a job, you should give your employer two weeks notice, yet they didn't even give us one week!
After being laid off, I claimed unemployment through the great state of Colorado. Even though there are more strict rules, like visiting possible employers 5 times a week, instead of 3, I was up to the adventure. Until I received paper work from the state in which the owner of Pizza Street said I made less than I did in the last quarter of '07, and apparently did not make any money through them in the first half of this year!
This of course affected the amount of money I can receive through unemployment, down to about $200 a month, which is $100 short to even make my cheap rent.
This is so frustrating, and appalling that the two owners are heartless enough to kick me while I'm down, due to them.
Both gave me lip service and acted friendly to me also. Brian said of all the employees, he was worried about me most. Tom constantly sided with me in disputes about Tiffany, the GM of my store, and reassured me I would know if the store would be closing even for a move, let alone a store closure. I understand that the unemployment payments I may acquire would come from their "struggling" pockets, yet I feel they owe me at this point.
The problem is, I really just want another job. I do not want to be on unemployment because I know that it will be a huge hassle to get everything worked out about how much I really made last year, and that I worked there this year. There are no records showing how much money I made, therefore, I cannot think of a way to prove so. Overall, Pizza Street, and I mean the Pizza Streets in Colorado, are owned and run by dirty, lying, no good scoundrels that care about nothing more than fattening their wallets. Then again, this is Capitalist America, isn't it?
Sports!
MLB
Now onto my true love, sports. The Colorado Rockies, my favorite MLB team since 1993 and the days of Baseball a Mile High, are blowing it throughout the first half of the season, again. It seems to happen every year. Spring Training, excitement, high hopes and dreams for the Rockies, especially after their magical season of '07. Yet, just like last year, the Rox are far from first place in the division, and pitching is a major reason why.
Jeff Francis, the "Ace" of the staff has looked more like a Joker. At 3-7 and a 5.67 ERA, Francis has been down right horrible in the first half. Morales was sent back down to the Springs and AAA ball, Jimenez gives up at least two home runs a game, I can throw it harder than Redman, and don't get me started on Vizcaino (who I had the "pleasure" of watching in person a week ago).
Then again, so has the entirety of the Rockies. Tulo, Holiday, Francis, Hawpe, Taveras, it seems everyone has been hurt this year. Bad luck or not, the Rox will need something monumental once again to happen in the second half if they want to make the playoffs for two consecutive years.
I just found out the Home run Derby is tonight! YAY! Oh BTW, two Rockies in the All Star game, Holiday and Cook, our only good pitcher. And Clint Hurdle, the manager of the '07 National League Champs!
NBA
Donaghy and Foster, sitting in a tree, B-E-T-T-I-N-G! The referee found gambling and fixing games, Tim Donaghy, is getting another ref in trouble this week. After the feds looked at Donaghy's phone records, they found that he called Scott Foster, another NBA official, before and after 54 of the 57 games the two officiated together during the 06-07 season! According to ESPN. This is appalling, and I can only hope that nothing is found that further soils the NBA. I am a huge fan of the NBA and Denver Nuggets, and would hate for there to be a wide-spread conspirency in the Association. One thing is for sure, if the two were in it together, or other Refs are found to have been betting, David "Too" Stern will come down on them, hard.
This is my second blog post ever so thank you to anyone who read any of it, and please comment! I gotta go catch the home run derby, peace!
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