SB Nation User Blog: Charlie77

The Offseason: Todd Helton's Christmas Tree

Charlie77 — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:52:37 -0000

via i304.photobucket.com (click to enlarge)

This is how I imagine Todd's holiday home, in a cabin with snow and whitetails falling outside. Christmas cards from his best friends on the tree and his favorite pictures hanging on the log wall. Todd's maglite christmas lights has him covered in case of a blackout. He probably cut down his own tree, which explains the eagle eggs in the nest. I'm sure he will release them when it's warm enough, and after he's trained them to kill for food or retrieve his Bud Light.

The only thing Todd's tree is missing are gifts.

Poll

What gifts will Todd Helton receive for 2010?

RockDrive: The Offseason

Charlie77 — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 00:31:51 -0000

via i304.photobucket.com (click on image to enlarge)

This offseason I wanted to tinker with the format a little and create a design in Illustrator instead of Photoshop. It's fun to draw in Illustrator and definitely gives the look a more cartoon feel. It also gives me greater creative license to play with.

The Tiger Woods controversy that hit over the weekend left me devastated. Tiger is the same age as me and I've always followed his career with respect because of the way he has lived his life, until now. Charles Barkley once said, " I'm not a role model... Just because I dunk a basketball doesn't mean I should raise your kids."

It was a statement I agreed with, but children look up to athletes whether they want to be a role model or not. Kobe Bryant is another athlete that has made Tigerlike mistakes, he has been villified at every Nuggets game and is someone who I would never let my children root for; let alone buy his shoes or any other sponsored products. Some experts believe Tiger's indescretions may have cost him over $100 million in sponsorship. Tigers issues caused him to withdraw from his own charity tournament. So what's your opinion on athletes as role models, and please participate in the poll.

Poll

Who would you nominate as the Rockies best Role Model?

Purple Row donates $100 to the Mike Coolbaugh Memorial

Charlie77 — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:22:44 -0000

Congratulations fellow Rowbots, the check we have all been waiting for arrived in the mail and I have spent it. Back on September 17th we placed submissions for a worthy charity in which to donate our money to and the overwhelming response was for the Mike Coolbaugh Memorial. The timing for the donation is perfect as the Memorial Golf Tournament occurs on November 7th. Anyone interested in playing in the tournament is welcome to join in at the Tapatio Springs Golf Resort in Boerne, TX. The cost to play is $125 but anyone who pre-registers will receive a $50 discount for 18 holes and dinner. The dinner also includes a live auction for donated items such as a Spring Training Trip to Arizona, autographed jerseys and other autographed merchandise.

This morning I submitted the money to the Mike Coolbaugh Memorial and received this reply in response.

Thank you so much Charlie for the generous donation from PurpleRow. We truly appreciate support from individuals and groups like yours. We have a sign made for the tournament listing the "Friends" of Mike Coolbaugh - so how should I list your organization? As PurpleRow or Purplerow Cares? Let me know so I make sure to get it right. Thank you again for your support for the Coolbaugh Family.

Sincerely,

Kristin Frank

Coolbaugh Memorial Tournament

If anyone would like to contribute individually to the Mike Coolbaugh Memorial, donations are welcome in any amount. According to the website donations are used for

The proceeds from this year's tournament will go partially to help support Mandy and the kids, but also to start a baseball clinic for kids from San Antonio who have lost a family member. She also wants to do what she can to promote safer conditions for baseball players, coaches and fans at every level.

Here is a picture of the check we received from Café Press for the sales of Purple Row merchandise. Holly and I want to thank everyone for their support of Purple Row Cares and hope that it continues in the future. The check we received was for all the sales from June to September. Everyone needs to start thinking of another charity, already we have earned nearly $80 for sales through ~~October~~ Rocktober.

via i304.photobucket.com

Here is a Rockies playoff shirt I designed for Purple Row Cares using the Rock-tober theme. I have...

Charlie77 — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:54:42 -0000

Here is a Rockies playoff shirt I designed for Purple Row Cares using the Rock-tober theme. I have to be careful how it's worded to avoid infringing on an 80's rock radio station or Hard Rock Cafe's Breast Cancer awareness month in October.

The pictured shirt sells for $13.99 and other selections are available with this design including a women's v-neck. The link to the website is listed below.

Choose a charity for Purple Row Cares!

Charlie77 — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:44:44 -0000

Congratulations fellow Rowboticons! Three long months ago we came together with the goal to celebrate our own identity and donate the proceeds to charity.The day was June 5th and the Rockies were 14.5 games back after an up and down season which could only be described as disappointing. After Purple Row Cares was launched and other "Hurdles" were cleared the Rockies went on an eleven game winning streak and continued winning 17 of 18. While some people may claim Karma was introduced to the Rockies season by those contributing towards Purple Row Cares, I would agree with them. Who else could claim credit? Of course it's all on us, just like crossing your fingers on an important atbat or holding your breath as the closer finishes out the 9th, it's all on us..the fans!

Sales to date have been good, leading Purple Row Cares to generate $78 in income. The question now is what should we do with it? Post your ideas for a charity to donate to and I will put together a list for us to vote on.

Here is an inventory of what has sold and the commission earned so far. It doesn't show the bonus we earned from Cafe Press for our sales in June. Commission from sales are not released for 60 days after the product is received and there is a minimum of $50 earned before a check is cut. So the first check will be released sometime next week. Any questions on Purple Row Cares can be emailed to Purplerowcares@gmail.com and either myself or Holly96 will respond. Thanks to all who have contributed so far!

Completed Product Sales

" See Totals

Thumbnail	Completed	Product Description	Product Number	Store	Returns	Commission	Total
	2	PurpleRowCares For Charity Organic Men's Fitted T-Shirt	391542425	PurpleRowCares	-	$6.90	$13.80
	2	PurpleRowCares For Charity Women's Dark T-Shirt	391542442	PurpleRowCares	-	$6.00	$12.00
	2	PurpleRowCares For Charity Dark T-Shirt	391542444	PurpleRowCares	-	$5.70	$11.40
	1	PurpleRowCares For Charity Organic Men's T-Shirt	391542431	PurpleRowCares	-	$6.90	$6.90
	1	PurpleRowCares For Charity Men's Fitted T-Shirt (dark)	391542443	PurpleRowCares	-	$6.60	$6.60
	1	PurpleRowCares For Charity Dark T-Shirt	391542444	PurpleRowCares	-	$5.70	$5.70
	1	PurpleRowCares For Charity Ringer T	391542446	PurpleRowCares	-	$4.50	$4.50
	1	PurpleRowCares For Charity Mug	392273914	PurpleRowCares	-	$3.30	$3.30
	1	PurpleRowCares For Charity Value T-shirt	391542450	PurpleRowCares	-	$2.70	$2.70
	1	PurpleRowCares For Charity Light T-Shirt	391542459	PurpleRowCares	-	$2.20	$2.20
	1	PurpleRowCares For Charity White T-Shirt	391542461	PurpleRowCares	-	$2.20	$2.20
Totals	14				$0.00		$71.30

Seth Smith is so hot the league forces him to wear a Warning Label.

Charlie77 — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:00:49 -0000

Seth Smith is so hot the league forces him to wear a Warning Label.

Seth Smith is good and he should start over Hawpe

Charlie77 — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 05:17:59 -0000

It’s time for Seth Smith to take his place at the table at the expense of Brad Hawpe. Opponents of Seth have argued that his bat should gather dust on the bench only to be swiffered off for late game heroics. While Smith is lights out as a pinch hitter, he actually performs better earlier in the game posting a .350 Average with a 1.014 OPS in innings 4-6.

Seth burst onto the scene in 2007 during the Rockies run for Awesomeness with a .625 Avg and 1.500 OPS. He then continued his Awesomeness in the playoffs with a .500 Avg and 1.167 OPS. You’ll notice I’m only using two offensive stats for comparison; batting average and on base plus slugging percentage because they cover the basic offensive skills of hitting, reaching base and power.

via i304.photobucket.com

When comparing their career numbers Smith posts a slightly higher Avg .292 to Hawpe’s .286, however Brad’s OPS of .877 is a tic above Seth’s .872. In looking at their career performances in the second half of the season Seth’s performance improves to .305/.886 while Hawpe’s falls to .269/.833. Brad Hawpe continues to waste AB’s against LHP like he stole them from his Grandmother’s purse, posting .244/.752 against Smith’s .256/.870 and don’t tell me Hawpe has improved because he’s hitting .252 this year, meanwhile Seth is popp’n a .357 (magnum). Hawpe might even be a better late innings PH because his numbers (.297/.878) are higher than Smith’s (.286/.907) in innings 7-9.

So now that I’ve shown why Smith is a better hitter than Hawpe, let’s get to the easy part; defense. It can be argued that defense is more important than hitting and anyone that saw Ian Stewart steal 2 runs from the Nationals while K’ing four times would be swayed. To show how bad of a defender Brad is let's compare him to Barry Bonds. In Bonds final season he was limping from a steroids swollen knee and posted a -15 UZR/150. It was Bonds worst UZR/150 in his final four seasons. Amazingly it was a better defensive year than our Hawpe's -20 this year! On the flip side, Seth Smith is the second best outfielder on the Rockies with a UZR/150 of +19. Which means he saves 19 runs for the Rockies in a season.

HOLD ON A MINUTE!! BRAD HAWPE HAS A GREAT ARM says the man in the backrow. Heck yeah he throws out runners, 3 of them this season the same as Seth Smith. In 137 plays, Hawpe only has 3 outfield assists; meanwhile Smith has 3 in only 66 plays. Starting Smith would allow CarGo to slide into right field, and Carlos has a great arm throwing out 4 runs in 66 plays this season. So have I convinced you? Should the starting outfield be Smith, Dex, CarGo? Let me know.

Poll

Should Seth Smith be starting over Brad Hawpe?

Yes

44 votes

No

49 votes

93 votes | Poll has closed

Time to update the Map: Where are you?

Charlie77 — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 02:40:27 -0000

After moving my family from San Diego to St. George, Utah I thought it would be a good idea to update the Purple Row map. Since there are a lot of new actives on Purple Row lately and with people moving around for college now is a good time to post your new location! Powered by Google Maps, our map was adopted after Holly96’s fanpost earlier this year. It shows how far-flung Rockies fans are, from England to South Korea there is a Purple Row of fans covering the globe.

via i304.photobucket.com

I also thought it would be fun to see some pics of people who have been wearing their Purple Row shirts in public. The Rowbots shown in the picture are from right to left: Russ, Walkoff59, Jcn7vc and Charlie77. JC’s pic is sick, sitting in the Purple Row looking all gangsta. We are close to having enough money to donate to charity, just a couple more shirts people!

via i304.photobucket.com

Get well soon Mrs. MondoGarage!

Charlie77 — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:45:11 -0000

Get well soon Mrs. MondoGarage!

High Wiff Warning along with hurricane Santana threatens Rockies playoff launch.

Charlie77 — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:30:01 -0000

High Wiff Warning along with hurricane Santana threatens Rockies playoff launch.