Taking the boy to his first Halos game at Yankees Stadium 4/14, which got me thinking - he needs new Angels gear for this season. Stuck in Central PA as we are, I can't run out to Target to grab him something and the selection at mlb.com is horrendous. No luck on ebay either.

Would anyone be interested in participating in an infant/toddler Angels clothing exchange? I have a few newborn onesies and a sweet zip up hoodie size 6 mos. that he can't wear anymore. As is the case with most baby clothes, they were hardly worn. I'd be happy to send them off to whoever can use them. In exchange, I'd love to hear from anyone who has anything 12-18 mos. that they can part with.

Whaddaya say, HH?

Who's making it to The Yards this weekend? There certainly isn't much motivation even if you're slightly more than a casual Halos fan. Why? Well...

Continue reading this post »

What was for the most part one of the greatest days ever for me, turned into a nightmare as a buddy and I were leaving the stadium after The Derby last night.

A season ticket holder friend called around 3 pm and offered me her seats in 422 for $75 a piece. I'd been saying that if I could get in the door for that price I would pull the trigger, so it was  a no-brainer (face value was $180). We left FanFest (and the ridiculously long line for Goose Gossage's signature) and hustled down to Mission Viejo to pick them up and then hauled ass back to The Big A for the show. 

I wasn't particularly drawn to the lineup for this year's Derby, but was real eager to see a ball reach areas of The Big A that I'd never seen, and in that regards, they didn't disappoint. And of course booing Swisher and Papi was just icing on the cake (that cake was then stomped all over when Papi won. Boo.). 

At some point during the first round, I wandered out to the concourse for a smoke and ran into the Hud Dog buying a soda for his boy. Told him that he was missed in the booth and he gave me a "World Series Champion ring" fist bump and a hug. Cool guy.

Now, I've met a few of you on here, and have even taken in a few games with a couple of you, so I know what you're thinking. You're thinking I drank 47 beers and was running my mouth and being an obnoxious a-hole, to which I respond, not this time!

What I'm about to describe won't come as a surprise, but should serve as a friendly reminder to keep your wits about you when attending a game at our stadium, regardless of the opponent.

As my friend and I made our way out of the stadium, both in Angels gear, a dude and his accomplice, both decked out in Dodgers gear, approached me looking for a fight, asking ME what MY problem is, telling me that I have a big mouth, and saying other things meant to incite me into throwing a punch. This was all very confusing because 1.) I'd never seen these dudes before in my life, and 2.) I was relatively sober and knew that I hadn't been mouthing off in the seats so I couldn't have said anything from afar that may have offended someone, and 3.) I definitely hadn't said anything about the Dodgers, any Dodger player, or Dodgers fans.

I'm sure I squirmed for a few moments before I finally tried to end this mini-altercation by simply turning my back on the thugs, but they weren't through with us yet. It took everything in me not to escalate this seemingly random act of aggression, but I kept envisioning my body lying on the ground in a pool of blood, gutted, in what I was convinced at this point was a gang initiation ritual. You could say I was feeling quite threatened. Had I been 47 beers deep, I know I wouldn't have been able to maintain composure, and probably wouldn't be sitting here typing this journal entry that's become way too long already.

I turned around one more time and looked the dude square in the eye and said as matter-of-factly and as intimidating as a 5'11" beer-bellied, long-haired, white dude can be, "You have the wrong guy".

Next thing I know, Thug A grabs my buddy by the throat and choke slams him up against the wall - all 5'9", 120 pounds of him. Real cool, tough guy.

At this point, the yellow-shirts moved in and the thugs took off.

Maybe I over-exaggerated the thread title - neither of the perps actually laid a hand on me - but it was a near-jumping. We didn't hang around to see what became of the situation because, frankly, I was certain that the thugs who approached us had associates waiting in the wings, prepared to throw down at any moment.

Anyway, moral of the story is it's now been proven that you can't expect to be able to enjoy even the Home Run Derby, a seemingly neutral team sports event, without fear of altercation with blue-clad thugs.

Be careful out there, fans.

I've known the opponents for a long time, but looking at this cool interactive page over at NFL.com puts a huge damper on my expectations for the 2010 season. The folks over there have rated the Redskins schedule as the 8th most difficult in the league.

New coaching staff, new systems on both sides of the ball, new QB...and the 8th toughest schedule?  Dan Snyder, you are finally paying for your devilish ways.  

All that being said, it's only April and the homer in me still says we win 10 games.  Just don't ask me how or against what teams. 

Let's hear your win/loss projections.

Let's take a look at the draft history of the new Redskins Exec. VP of Blah Blah Blah and ::gasp:: GENERAL MANAGER.

I'm only looking at his stint in Tampa Bay and I didn't look into player injuries, so keep that in mind when I say a player only played so many games in a given season.  Draft results can be found here.

Allen was hired to GM the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2004.  In the draft that year he selected Michael Clayton, WR, 15th overall.  Clayton had an incredible rookie season and then faded into oblivion.

His 5th round pick in 2004 was Jeb Terry, OG.  Terry played 3 seasons in the NFL, but this pick kicks off a trend that should give Redskins fans something to be optimistic about.

2005 was TB's best draft under Allen.  They selected Cadillac Williams 5th overall and Barrett Ruud 36th.  Both had an immediate impact and led the team to an 11-5 record, an NFC South title, and a Wild Card matchup with your Washington Redskins.  I hope you can forgive us, Bruce, if we forgive you for that last-second win over us the same season.

In the 4th round of the 2005 draft, TB drafted another OG, Dan Buenning, who started all 16 games his rookie year, but he too faded into oblivion and is no longer in the league.

Brace yourself, because here's where things get foreign for Redskins fans.  

In the 1st round of the  2006 draft TB drafted ANOTHER OG, Davin Joseph, 23rd overall.  Wow, could it be? A GM in Washington who understands the value of OL? Joseph made the Pro Bowl once but has only played in 2 games in 2009.  

Jeremy Trueblood, OT, was selected in the 2nd round of the 2006 draft.  He started 45 games in his first 3 seasons in the league, but has only played 3 games in 2009.  This is a promising trend, right?

In the 2007 draft, TB took Gaines Adams 4th overall, and Arron Sears, OT, 35th.  Sears started 31 games in 2007-8, but there is no indication he has played any games in 2009.  Please correct me if that's wrong.  Tampa Bay would win the NFC South title in 2007.

In 2008, Allen's final draft as GM in Tampa Bay, Aqib Talib was taken in the 1st.  They drafted another OG, Jeremy Zuttah, in the 3rd round.  Zuttah started 5 games his rookie season and has played in 4 games in 2009 with no starts.

Could this be the change we're looking for?  A GM who understands the value of an OL?  Allen's track record drafting skill players, like Clayton and Bruce Gradkowski in the 6th round of the 2006 draft, is a bit shaky, but I'm cautiously optimistic given the attention he's paid to the OL in the early rounds of drafts.

After all, we know who really calls the shots at Redskins Park.

About 6 years ago I packed everything I owned into a 4' x 6' Uhaul and moved out to Southern CA. Of course my allegiance to the Redskins came with me. In my time out here I've met some great new friends, one of which is a die-hard 49ers fan. Up until last season, he suffered through exactly what we've been suffering through for much of the decade.

But then something up there changed, and his team is back to being competitive again. 

When Mike Nolan was relieved of his duties, the front office in SF had enough wherewithal to look within the organization and find their next great Head Coach. Enter Mike Singletary - the man, the myth, the legend. This guy is as spit-fire, in your face, won't take no shit from nobody as you could possibly ask for from your team's head coach, and his players have adopted that attitude. They are a team. They win together, and they lose together and when they lose, they are held as accountable as the coaching staff.

It's much more than him dropping his draws in the locker room to make a point. For Singletary, it's all about accountability, and that's exactly how it should be in a profession with salaries as high as those in the NFL. Take a look at this video and tell me that had the Redskins suffered as humiliating a defeat (yes, the Detroit loss was humiliating, but at least the Redskins had the opportunity to win it at the end) as the 49ers faithful endured this past Sunday that you wouldn't feel like your team was still in good hands.

49ers Humbled After Loss

Mike Singletary and the 49ers organization have built their team around football players, not bloated salary seeking me first individuals, which is what much of the Redskins roster consists of.  If an individual like Dre Bly appears to be losing sight of the common goal, he is held accountable, as you just saw in the video. Imagine if Zorn trotted DeAngelo Hall to the podium and made him apologize for not being able to tackle Jake Delhomme at the end of the game Sunday. Wouldn't you feel slightly more confident in the direction of this team?

I can only hope that someone at Redskins Park has taken notice of the transformations under way in cities like SF and ATL, and vows to do the same thing in DC. 

Link

Sad twist to the Nick Adenhart tragedy. Nick Shou at the OC Weekly claims to have gotten his hands on a toxicological report this morning showing that Courtney Stewart (the driver of the car that Nick was a passenger in) had a .16 Blood Alcohol Content at the time of the accident. That is twice the legal limit in the state of CA, but what's more bothersome is that Courtney Stewart was only 20 years old the day she died.

Gallo's attorneys must be salivating.

I already know most of your sentiment for the OCW, so save it.  Nick Shou broke the story and TMZ is the only other place to have picked it up at this point.

The alleged Toxocological Exam is below.  Damn.

via blogs.ocweekly.com

via blogs.ocweekly.com

According the official site's Probable PItchers page, Ervin will face Bahstan Thursday afternoon and Big John will start Saturday afternoon in Texas. Saunders next start has been pushed back to Friday. A good night out of Mr. Palmer tonight (5/13) and he'll most likely settle into the 5th spot, at least until Mosely is back.

That lines the rotation up like this:  Ervin, Saunders, Lackey, Weaver, Palmer/Mosely.  Looks like winning 6 of 9 to me.  

Prediction: Mike will have to lean on the pen in Ervs' and John's first start or two, driving Ca1IFORNIA ANGELS into a disastrous fit of rage.

Here's a few shots I took of the pre-game activities and the raising of the 2008 Division Champ Flag.  

The strangest thing I saw at the Big A yesterday was the bubbles.  Bubbles?  Yeah, bubbles.  

Up to about 30 minutes prior to the pre-game activities, there was a bubble machine behind the wall in CF releasing these bubbles of the "A" logo. According to an LA Times reporter who was doing a "story" on this cutting edge marketing strategy for Wednesday's business section (seriously, that's not a joke), the idea was for the bubbles to float up and out of the stadium and across Orange County and Southern CA causing everyone in the area to look to the sky and collectively gasp "Oh yeah!  The Angels!".  

First I couldn't tell what they were (had to ask an usher) and second they were pretty much dissipated by the time they made their way out of the stadium.  Might want to rethink that one for next year.... 

It wouldn't be Opening Day in America without a big ass flag stretched across the outfield.

The Anthem and Fly-over were both mediocre.  The jets were slow and quiet this year, but no Kenny G is never a bad thing.

Then the fun began.  The baddest Angels (plus Quinlan) hiked through CF to raise the flag.  

Quinlan?  Really, Mike?  I can think of at least 4 other Angels who contributed more than The Q, but whatever, it was a nice gesture and I'm sure he was stoked to be out there. 

Shields looked like he wanted to grab the camera from my hands and beat me with it.

Ninja came out and they all posed for photos and raised the flag.  Glorious!

Here's to another great season of Angels Baseball.  I can't wait to be there when the boys hoist the WORLD CHAMPIONS flag in 2010!

Thought you guys might be interested in getting away from hypotheticals and discuss stuff that's actually happening with the team.

From JLC at RI, so proceed with caution.

I have zero ability to speak intelligently about the salary cap implications of these restructured contracts, so I'm hoping this FanPost can serve as an educate ReggieBullits as well.

My initial reaction is to freak the fug out and question why the F.O. has extended ARE to 2015 (I like Carter, and think he could be a force with some semblance of talent lining up on the other end, but the thought of him as a Redskin in 2015 is a bit frightening as well).

I understand the need to get under the cap for 2009 and therefore understand the need to restructure contracts (that much I do know), but why in the hell does it have to be for so long.  I mean, DaVinnie can't really be relying on ARE as the future of the franchise....right?  

Cutting Plack is a head-scratcher as well.  He at least showed potential in the 2nd Philthy game.