So there will be a few of these upcoming, but on Saturday, July 11 there will be a Sounders game and Mariner game on the same day.  The Sounders match against a damn fine Houston Dynamo starts at 1PM.  The Mariners game against Texas that night starts at 7:10PM.  That leaves a good three hours of bar time in between to hang out and bs.

I will most likely be heading to Fuel for pregame festivities for the Sounders, but mostly I am wondering how many LL folks are planning on going to both or either of the games and if you all want to meet up somewhere between the two games.  I am throwing this up to give everyone a chance to do a head count and throw out ideas for where to meet up.

A comment by PositivePaul on Brett's Facebook page last night took me back in time.  Basically Paul said he hopes either Brett or me is able to catch a homer from Griffey this season.

Well, I have caught a good number of homers over the years and the cool part is most of them have been Mariner players.  Tino was my first but I also have an Edgar, Boone, Sexson, Roberto Kelly, Jose Offerman!, Paul Sorrento and Raul Ibanez just to name a few. 

However, I never caught a Griffey homer outside of batting practice.  The reason is a pretty simple one.  My seats in the Kingdome were in the front row in right field.  Griffey hardly ever hit cheapies back in the day.  They went into the second or third deck over my head or they were hit more towards centerfield.  I saw hundreds of homers off his bat over the years, but rarely was I close to one.

There was the one that got away though and oh how painful a memory it is.  It was the next to last game of the 1997 season and Jr. was well on his way to the MVP award.  Most people remember this particular game because Lou brought Randy out of the pen in relief of Omar Olivares to get his 20th win.He became the M's first 20 game winner that day because of it.

It just so happened that Griffey also hit his 56th and final homer of the season on that day.  It was a shallow shot just to left of my seats off of a pitch from Brad Rigby.  I jumped out of my seat and ran over to the spot.  I put my glove up and stretched my 5'9" frame out to the ball waiting for the glorious moment.  Just as the ball was about to hit my mitt I see an arm reach in front of mine and grab the ball at the last second.

I look over and some guy standing about 6'6" is jumping for joy.  I was so pissed I wanted to punch him, but he had a teenage girl with him so I just walked away.  Turns out the asshole turned the whole thing into a fiasco as he asked for the moon from the team and Griffey in return for the ball.

I don't know whatever became of that ball, but I know if I had caught it that I would have kept it just like all of the other balls I have caught over the years.  Ok I did throw the Lenny Webster one at Norm Charlton and I gave the Kelly one to my cousin, but this one would have been a cherished catch.

As time has gone by I have mostly forgotten that day and how upset I was, but now I have to admit that I do in fact want my Griffey homer.  Maybe having a slower bat and weakened muscles will play into my favor this year, who knows.  You are back Jr. and as much as I am not all that pumped about it, hit me a damn ball to rectify what was a very sad day for me 12 years ago.

So it is Friday the 13th.  I happen to work with one of the most superstitious people I have ever met.  He refuses to have his name on any work order that ends in 13.  That is just the tip of the iceberg with this guy, but I will not turn this post into a rant about how strange he is.  Honestly, I'm rather shocked he showed up for work today.

From my perspective superstitions drive me crazy.  However, long ago I came to realize that everyone needs something to get them through the day feeling safe so to each their own.

That having been said, do any of you have any odd superstitions?  Do you know anyone who has some interesting superstitions beyond the run of the mill stuff?

Other topic ideas are Valentine's Day, spring training physicals, 3-day weekends, whether getting a tooth pulled without pain medication is worse than resigning Griffey or not, and the usual Xbox, music, movie, book and weather conversations.

Today is the day that many of us who are season ticket holders must pay the Mariners their money for the right to watch this team in 2009.  My wife is never fond of such a large outlay of cash to start off the year, but I had been doing this for 10 years before I met her so she has always been smart enough to not fight that battle.  Anyone else giving the M's a bunch of money today?

On another note I had a first happen to me yesterday.  I was on a sales call downtown and when I got back to my car my meter had run out and a meter maid was writing me up.  Instead of getting mad I had a friendly chat with her while I awaited my ticket.  She printed a slip out and handed it to me.  I looked down and saw the words "Courtesy Notice" with a $0 next to it.

I asked her why I was not getting a ticket and she said I was the first person to not yell at her in months and that she very much appreciated that.  She then wished me a good day, jumped on her Segway and rolled off.  I was totally caught off guard and was blown away to finally meet a nice meter maid.  Do any of you have stories of being caught off guard like that?

Lastly, one month until in Spring Training for those of you who care.  Anyone heading south to catch some sun and meaningless scrimmages this year?

So I left work early in Magnolia because my wife was talking about how much snow we had at home.  There was snow in Seattle, but not enough to scare me. 

Well, I got home to Burien and holy crap!  There is half a foot of snow stacked up against my front door.

On another note.  If you think Hip-Hop is easy I give you this.  I suggest watching until the end for the true humor of it all.

Well, have at it.  We all seem to have a lot to say about nothing today since there is no baseball news.

Today pdb heads to Ohio through Indiana to see his wife.

NOLA should be nearing the end of her journey from Louisiana to the great Northwest.

Faux has been on the road a lot lately, but I'm not sure if he is back home yet or not.

Who will be traveling for Thanksgiving next week?

A few of the Off-Topic regulars will be traveling to the Renton Highlands tonight for bowling and socializing.

Other topics:

Thank God that Scholarship Poll is over.  I hate seeing the worst in people and that showed it.  Kudos to Dave for staying above the fray and showing what a great person he is.

How the hell did my roll of toilet paper make it out of the plant with no perforation?

So Thingray was finally outed by deapseadv.  Good sleuthing Kermit.

Is the world ending soon now that Coach had a comment go green?

In deference to all the hard work that the regular Off-Topicers have put in I take my virgin swing at this so they may have a day off.

Possible topics for discussion:

People filpped out when this happened.  I had it happen to me when I was an umpire and I think everyone, including Rick Reilly, needs to chill out.  Your thoughts.

I have noticed with the drop in temperature and shorter days that I am losing motivation to finish my latest house project.  Does anyone else lose motivation this time of year?

There has been a lot of talk about influential people who have died this year.  Obscure to many, Gregory McDonald was a big one for me because Fletch is my all time favorite comedy.  What person who has passed this year do you believe deserves more props?

Lastly, I accidentally told the bride during vows on Friday to take the groom as her wedded wife.  Thankfully I was quick on my feet and made a joke of it before moving on.  Anyone else had a public slip of the tongue they would like to share?

Have at it kids.  I will now drive to work and catch up with you all later.

I must admit I have been spoiled over the years.  I have had season tickets in Right Field since 1994 and between Buhner and Ichiro I have seen some solid play over the years.  Not to mention entertaining.

I am excited about Balentien being our new every day Right Fielder.   Not because I think he will be a superstar, but rather because he is not some old stiff just waiting for retirement.  I prefer paying money to watch athletes, not some broken down shell of a slugger. 

Yeah, I know, that is what Jay was at the end, but that man gave Mariner fans plenty of good days to be thankful for.  And if Balentien can even come close to the career that Buhner had we will be very blessed. 

I am very much hoping he can live up to the name Curacoa Crusher because I think that is a damn cool nickname.  Also as a former bartender who has spent time on the neighboring Island of Aruba, I plan on concocting a cocktail with that very name that has a local, as in Curacao home of Balentien, flair to it.  Therefore it  has to have Rum and Curacao of course, but I am asking for ideas on what else I should use.

The plan is to make 12 varieties of drinks this weekend and have my friends test drive them.  I will report back as to what drink has become the official drink of Wladimir Balentien.

Bring on the ideas.

Pretty funny stuff right here.  During the game a PI photographer came down and took a bunch of shots of me and my pals.  He took down our names and went on his merry way. 

I thought nothing of it since this is not the first time this has happened, but low and behold I made it into the paper this time.  They even spelled my name correctly.  I am the one with my mitt out begging for a strikeout on page A6.

You can also see me on slide 24 here.

Here's to Felix getting us win #2 tonight.  I will be in my seats again tonight in Section 108 should anyone want to drop by and say hi.