Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The arch overlooks the field making for one of the greatest views in sports. Unfortunately for Cardinal fans, a nice view might be about all they have to look forward to this year if the starting rotation continues to be plagued by injuries.

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You know you wanna. Can Ohio St beat the Longhorns? Honestly I don't think the Longhorns have played a defense like the Buckeyes before and if they get some pressure and some good licks on McCoy... get him nice and rattled I think Ohio St could win. Ultimately I think It's all up to the promising Ohio St Defense. Also heard some rumours that Boeckman and Pryor would be in some formations together... you guys hear anything more in depth about it?

Hey guys, first off have an awesome thanksgiving! I just wanted to share one last thing that I now have to be thankful for... I just got accepted to go to Mizzou! While I'd like to get away from Missouri, I am pretty happy to get the chance to go to a place that feels like home... and thank God for dorms... I will be seeing as little of my mom and sister as I can... haha. Anyway, just wanted to let some people who have had a surprising impact on my life and a huge impact on my fanhood know about this next chapter in my life.

While I know I'll be studying entomology in grad school (maybe in Ohio?) I will probably study something with agriculture or biology for undergrad. Agricultural photojournalism looks enticing!

Talk to everyone later!

Pete Mackanin seems to be moving pretty quickly up the ladder. After posting a 49-31 record with the Reds as the interim manager, he was brought to New York as a pro scout for the Yankees... Same job he originally had with the Reds if I'm not mistaken. Now he's joined the World Series Champion Phillies... as their Bench Coach! Story can be found here.

The guy has kept moving up... Expos, Pirates, Reds, Yanks, Phils... Congrats Pete!

Hey all, We got back today at about 8:00 PM Central Time... left about 5:00 AM, but went the wrong way for two hours.

Let's start with the trip down:

Left early Sunday morning and made it to Nawlins in about 14 hours. Interesting story on the way down there... Saw a family of three in the back of a pickup drinking beer... This includes a kid who was probably 12.

Anyway, we took 31 youth and 8 adults. In my group we had about 15 people including only 3 guys (including me). We worked in the Lower Ninth Ward on a small black baptist church called Greater New Jerusalem Baptist Church. We grouted tiles and after covering up the floor with paper, the real work began. After setting up a rickety old scaffolding, two other people and myself scraped and mudded the ceiling and sprayed it with a mud hopper. We worked a good 7 hours per day for 5 days. The walls were also scraped and mudded and a mosaic was framed with stained plywood.

We took one night to go down to the French Quarter and had some great fun. We ate at a Cajun restaurant called Mulate's (I had Blackened Catfish and we all got to try alligator which tastes like chicken), and then got Beignets and walked along the river. New Orleans certainly has some... Interesting shops... And no guys, sorry but  I felt that getting smashed and STD'd on a church mission trip might have been a BIT inappropriate... :D

Here are some pics:

Holding a Lizard During a break:

UP ON THE SCAFFOLDING:

I never realized how great private bathrooms and showers are... I'm happy to answer any and all questions!

Well, come tomorrow (Sunday) at 5:00 AM Central time, I'll be on my way to New Orleans for a church mission trip. This will be my third mission trip and second one to N'Aleans. About 40 youth and parents will be working on houses. 2 years ago we did house gutting in New Orleans... Had to wear the Haz-Mat suits and respirators... so this shouldn't be as bad.

Anyway, once I'm back I'll fill you all in on the experience, hopefully it'll be a pretty fulfilling one. See ya in a week!

-crolfer

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I've been pretty busy lately... So busy in fact that, although all three Reds games against the Cardinals were televised... (That makes 4 Reds games available on TV total so far for me this year), I was able to catch about a total of 2 innings. Anyways, one of the things that I've been busy with is umpiring, and it really opened my eyes up to a whole new part of the sport. Because this is my first year of umping, I've been doing the 10-12 or so age groups and have really noticed a few things... Some parents are total dicks.

I know a lot of people on here are parents... mostly relatively new at that, so I just want to weigh in and say that until high school... sports should be about learning and having fun, not about winning... A lot of those kids were only there cuz there parents forced them to play. Teach mechanics, not competition. And for God's sake... Don't let them throw a curve before they're around 15 or 16, and even then might be a bit early...

I also have to admit that umping (especially behind the plate) is a lot harder than it looks...

Oh yeah... GO REDS!!!!