Video Games
I was just remembering about the time, when I was a kid, that my father broke his leg skiing. This was in Boston. Me and my sister had wanted to get a Nintendo forever, but my father shunned those kinds of things and never let us get it. During this trip, we had been given a certain amount of money to spend as we saw fit. So when he broke his leg he went to the hospital. We went to Lechmere and bought Nintendos. We were the happiest kids in the world. I think we got GameBoys too, it was crazy. I felt like the luckiest kid in the world.

We went to see my dad in the hospital to say goodbye because we had to go back to Guatemala for school. He had to stay and heal. He was in bed and his hair looked like it was wet. My mom told me it was because of the morphine. He had this button in his hand he kept pressing and the smile on his face never faltered. He just lay there looking at us, smiling. I had never seen him like that. My mother told us it was the morphine.

So, for some reason, we unzipped a backpack and showed him what was inside. He looked in without any interest and didn't really react. It was like he didn't care. The Nintendo was in the backpack. And then we went home to Guatemala.

I also remember that on his way home, a few weeks later, he had a stopover in Miami and we asked if he could buy us some gameboy games. He shrugged it off and when he got home we crowded around his suitcase and his crutches. When we asked about the Gameboy games he looked at us seriously and didn't say anything. The drugs had worn off.

So Anyway, this is what I was thinking of when I remembered something I've felt about videogames that I've never seen anyone else mention: the positive side.

If there is one thing videogames have taught me, and I think they can teach kids everywhere, is never to give up.

So many times I would get to a certain part of the game and say to myself "Wow, that is impossible." And at first glance, it is. There is no way you can beat this boss, pass this level, etc. But you try again and again, and again. Your mind starts to figure out how this could be done, then your fingers start acquiring the necessary dexterity to do what your mind wants them to as fast as it wants to.

And then you pass. You win. You succeed.
This is a very valuable lesson that video games can teach young kids.

Keep trying, nothing is impossible. You can do it.

What else can teach an 8-year-old that?

MY BULLS!
Up 2-0 after last night's game, which I only saw from the third quarter on (stupid class, although a girl in my class had great tickets and didn't go, she later found out that in the seat next to hers was Carlos Zambrano - sucks for her).

What a game. I was lucky enough to see Gordon's awesome fake and layup, Nocioni's disgusting block near the end, and Hinrigh just plain getting filthy on the Wizards. Damn I love this team.

When people say "But the NBA sucks" I say, "I know, it does." BUt these Bulls aren't the NBA. THey are the closes thing to a college team you can find. I really good college team.

A nice article debating the question.

More on Sisco
Rookie left-hander Andrew Sisco is being auditioned as the setup man for right-hander Ambiorix Burgos, a rookie being auditioned as the closer.

There was a reason that no right-hander was warming Pena is the manager of the Royals.

"With Sisco, I don't care if it's a righty or a lefty because he's already proved he can get right-handers out," Pena said.

"There's no reason for me to get two people up when I have in my mind that this guy can do the job. Why should I warm up two guys when I know I'm going to go with Sisco, no matter whether it's right or left."

After striking out Torii Hunter in relief of Lima, right-handers were batting .135 against Sisco compared to .167 by lefties.

Like I said before, it's amazing they're going to trust this kid this much when he hasn't proven himself. I like seeing this kind of move to give a young guy who (so far) has shown he can get guys out, but I think this will backfire.

I hope it does so we can get him back.

No way
You gotta be freaking kidding me.

DuBois Watch
With Milton the lefty on the hill yesterday, DuBois got another start and he didn't disappoint.

He went 1-3 with his second homer of the year and 2 RBIs. But he did drop an easy fly ball that allowed a run to score. Which sucked.

TOtals:
DuBois: 7-24, .292, .346OBP, 2HR, 7RBIs
Hollandsworth: 12-56,.214, .313OBP, 1HR, 5RBIs

So, again, DuBois is producing a ton more than Hollandsworth is in limited ABs. Although, you know what, I like this theory of grooming a minor leaguer player in his adjustment to the bigs. Let DuBois have success in 300-400 ABs this season. If he ends up with a .270AVG, 15-20HRs, and 50-60RBIs, then he'll be ready for full time next season

Rule V Draft
There's this thing in baseball called the Rule V draft. What happens in baseball, since there are so many players in each organization and it's so hard to make it to the major leagues, is there are 4 different levels of play. AAA, AA, A, and Rookie Ball. Each team can has a 40-man roster. 25 of them are on the Major League team. The rest are what you call "protected." That means that they can't be chosen in the Rule V draft. What the draft does is allow teams to take gambles on players that may not be "ready."

The simplified version of the way it works is this:
Let's say Carlos P is a minor league player of some promise. Not a whole lot, but maybe in a few years he'll be decent. Let's say he's 20 right now. So he's in A ball or Rookie ball trying to get better. But he isn't on the team's 40-man roster because he doesn't seem to have THAT much promise and he's still so young. Then comes along a crappy Major League team and says, "We would like to have that guy."

They can.

In the Rule V draft they pick him in exchange for $50,000. The sticking point is this: the team has to keep him on the Major League team for the rest of the season. Which is highly unlikely for 20-year-old Carlos P. Since he's so young and inexperienced and all. If they can't keep him on the team the whole season they can offer him back to the team they picked him from for $25,000. No harm, no foul.

Rarely does the player stick and become anyone of notice, especially in that first season. Hitters stay on the bench and lose a year of development, pitchers pitch in blowouts, if ever. So it's a risk.

But Johan Santana was one of those players, so you never know. Of course, Johan went back to the minors after that first year to get his shit together. But at that point, he was the property of the Twins.

Why am I mentioning this?

Andy Sisco, that's why.

Andy is a 22-year-old taken by the Royals in the Rule V draft and is serving out his "trial" year in the KC bullpen. He was a big prospect for the Cubs, but they have a lot of them and they didn't protect him. Plus, he was only in A ball.

But the Royals got him, have played him, and he's done very well so far. Not only that, yesterday Pena (the manager for the Royals) says this:

"We're going to use Sisco as the setup man in the eighth, and the ninth is Burgos," Pena said.

Which doesn't seem like much. It was only a blurb, no big deal, right?

Well, to me it is. They are going to take a kid out of A ball and use him as a setup man? Risky. Hopefully we'll get him back, somehow, cause he's good.

His numbers this season so far:

14.2 IP, 7H, 2 ER, 0HR, 2BB, 16Ks, 1.23ERA in 9 games

What do I like? THe k/BB ratio is phenomenal. The hits are very low. He looks good. I can see why Pena made the call...

...oh that and their horrible bullpen.

KFC
I have been telling everyone I know that the reason why Kentucky Fried Chicken changed its name to KFC was because what they were using was genetically engineered or something so far away from chicken that the government wouldn't let them call it that.

Turns out this is an urban legend.

So I was wrong. The real reason was to de-emphasize the word 'fried' and the 'chicken' to imply that they serve more than just chicken.

Makes sense.

I have to say something
So you are up 10-3 in the last inning and the guy who pitched yesterday, your new "closer", has a history of arm problems. Everyone is aware of it. He shouldn't throw very often. It's why he isn't named "the" closer outright.

So it's 10-3. Last inning. Who does Baker put in? Leicester? That would be my call. After all, he never gets a chance otherwise and he needs to get his work in. Otherwise, why is he on the team? But no, Baker puts in Chad Fox, who threw the day before. Why?

"We were getting Rem loose,'' Baker said. "But we didn't have time. ... I'm glad we won the game, but I hope Foxy is all right.''

What kind of a moron are you? This was the most obvious call in the world. Everyone knew it didn't make sense. Even if Fox wouldn't have popped whatever he popped in his elbow and gone onto the DL (which he will, trust me, it was ugly). Even then, it was a terrible move. You wouldn't be able to use him the next day if it was a closing situation.

God! What the hell Baker? This guy just seems to overthink sometimes and miss the obvious. I can't believe he missed this. What a terrible move.

Abdon is dead
I saw the headline and thought "My god, yes, he's finally retired!"

Turns out he died. Either way.

He was the only real TV personality in baseball in Guatemala, whatever that's worth. He was a horrible gamecaller, a yankee fan, an annoying announcer, and one of the most arrogant sons of bitches around.

Another day, another dollar.

Yankees
I'm starting to see what will happen in the future. The Yankees will get so bloated and so expensive and WON'T win, that Steinbrenner will get so pissed he will blow up the team a la the Marlins after their World Series win.

Imagine that, trading all the big names/contracts for mediocre minor leagers. They will be the next Cleveland Indians of the pre-1990s success.

It'll be awesome.