SB Nation User Blog: rockhead

Tulo to the DL

rockhead — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:22:15 -0000

Tulo to the DL

Who next????

Confessions of a reticent Rockhead

rockhead — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 05:43:36 -0000

Although I have been keeping up with all things Purple Row, I haven’t posted much lately. Largely because I don’t what to say. The “State of the Rockies” is obvious, which is to say “a mess.”

I’m a diehard and I’ll never abandon ship, but I swear I don’t know what to think anymore. Our Rox are just plain terrible. Reading all the comments makes it more confounding to me. “Fire Hurdle” (+1), “Trade Yorvit, Matty, Garrett, whoever for some pitching.” Or not. (I’m on record for trading for some pitching, but not exactly sure who we might be trading for.) Thus is the life of a fan who loves his team, but really doesn’t follow the “leader board”, as it were. I truthfully don’t have the time or the energy.

Quite obviously our Rox are playing way below their skill level, but I’ll be damned if I can offer any real solutions. Help me out here fellow fans.

If Hurdle is fired, who gets the job? Vinny? Walt? Could either one really make a difference? I’d be in heavily in favor of Walt, but that’s only because he was, and remains, one of my favorite Rockies.

If DOD puts Matty (Yorvit, Garrett) on the trading block, who (what) can we realistically expect in return?

Is it all just hopeless this year, and we just look ahead to 2009? (I’m leaning toward this philosophy.)

As a fan, I’m just a mess right now. Trying to learn more about baseball, however, I’m asking those of you who have far more knowledge than I to help me make sense of what could, should, maybe-oughta happen.

Thanks for your help, Rowers. (We really have to find or invent a better word for all those who populate this wonderful place. But that’s probably a separate post/poll.)

Drew Litton's take

rockhead — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:43:46 -0000

Drew Litton's take

Vocabulary Time

rockhead — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 02:13:00 -0000

Google's "define" feature is one of my favorite tools. And since I'm at a near loss for words regarding a certain baseball team, I thought I'd help out fellow PR residents who might be in the same situation. There could be a pop quiz at any time.

Excruciating: agonizing: extremely painful

Frustration: A feeling of discomfort, disappointment, or insecurity aroused by a blocking of gratification or by the existence of unresolved problems.

Failure: In general, failure refers to the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective. It may be viewed as the opposite of success.

Defenestrate: throw through or out of the window. Also; great word taught to the Rockhead by a certain Silverblood.

Clutch: In American sports terminology, means performing well under extreme pressure.

Choke: a derogatory term for poor performance under pressure or in a crucial situation. Also; Choke is an episode of the animated series Beavis and Butt-Head.

Slump: a noticeable deterioration in performance or quality. Also; Tulowitzki, Troy.

Blow: botch: make a mess of, destroy or ruin; Also; lay eggs; "certain insects are said to blow"; (annnnnnnnnnd that’s enough for this one.)

April: the fourth month, named from an abbreviation for Aphrodite.

Aphrodite: goddess of love and beauty and daughter of Zeus. (Clearly, April was intended as a cruel joke by someone who hated baseball.)

May: the month following April and preceding June. Also; the Roman goddess of growth and increase. (Who says mythology isn’t worth learning?)

Fan: (also "whiff") missing the ball completely. Also; a fan or supporter is someone who has an intense, occasionally overwhelming liking of a sporting club.

Hope: A belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. Believing that a positive outcome is possible even when there is some evidence to the contrary. See also; fan.

Add your own, just remember to keep it within the PR guidelines. (Rox Girl is watching, you know.)

It's just so true, yes? Got a big chuckle out of this one!

rockhead — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:46:12 -0000

It's just so true, yes? Got a big chuckle out of this one!

Regrouping

rockhead — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 22:02:52 -0000

Went digging into the quotes box last night for something to make me feel better about our Rockies and the week that was. Thought I’d share some of my favorites with the Row. I feel better already. Hope the same for all of you.

Got a favorite baseball quote? Post it here as a source of inspiration or a good chuckle for all to enjoy!

It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. ~A. Bartlett Giamatti

Baseball is almost the only orderly thing in a very unorderly world. If you get three strikes, even the best lawyer in the world can't get you off. ~Bill Veeck

You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the goddamn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all. ~Earl Weaver

I was such a dangerous hitter I even got intentional walks in batting practice. ~Casey Stengel

Baseball is not necessarily an obsessive-compulsive disorder, like washing your hands 100 times a day, but it's beginning to seem that way. We're reaching the point where you can be a truly dedicated, state-of-the-art fan or you can have a life. Take your pick. ~Thomas Boswell, Washington Post, 13 April 1990

Baseball? It's just a game - as simple as a ball and a bat. Yet, as complex as the American spirit it symbolizes. It's a sport, business - and sometimes even religion. ~Ernie Harwell

More than any other American sport, baseball creates the magnetic, addictive illusion that it can almost be understood. ~Thomas Boswell

Don't tell me about the world. Not today. It's springtime and they're knocking a baseball around fields where the grass is damp and green in the morning and the kids are trying to hit the curve ball. ~Pete Hamill

Baseball is reassuring. It makes me feel as if the world is not going to blow up. ~Sharon Olds, This Sporting Life, 1987

The great thing about baseball is that there's a crisis every day. ~Gabe Paul

Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. ~George F. Will, Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball, 1990

You know you're pitching well when the batters look as bad as you do at the plate. ~Duke Snider, 1975

Spread the diaper in the position of the diamond with you at bat. Then fold second base down to home and set the baby on the pitcher's mound. Put first base and third together, bring up home plate and pin the three together. Of course, in case of rain, you gotta call the game and start all over again. ~Jimmy Piersal, on how to diaper a baby, 1968

It never ceases to amaze me how many of baseball's wounds are self-inflicted. ~Bill Veeck

What are we at the park for except to win? I'd trip my mother. I'd help her up, brusher her off, tell her I'm sorry. But mother don't make it to third. ~Leo Durocher

A hot dog at the ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz. ~Humphrey Bogart

That's the true harbinger of spring, not crocuses or swallows returning to Capistrano, but the sound of a bat on a ball. ~Bill Veeck

SI Cover with (clap clap clapclapclap clapclapclapclap) Tulo!

rockhead — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:03:07 -0000

SI Cover with (clap clap clapclapclap clapclapclapclap) Tulo!

That toolbar button is slick.

What's Up for Early Spring?

rockhead — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 03:41:24 -0000

So spring reached first base here in Denver today. March the 2nd promises a return to winter, but God, it was sweet to sit in the sun and enjoy the warmth. As I know that all of us are counting the days until March 31, I thought it might be fun to open a thread about spring coming, what's on the agenda for the rest of you for the remainder of March while we wait on the official opening of the Major League Baseball season, and for me, the return home of the 2007 National League Champions.

I've got a few things scheduled: order some plants to arrive in May when it's safe to plant them; get the ceiling fixed in the basement where a very old pipe blew out this winter and ruined the felt on my pool table; replace said felt (again); get the dog groomed; clean out my fridge. The fridge cleaning scares me the most. I always put it off, and I'm always sorry. Yecccccccccccch.

What's up for the rest of you?

Weighty Issues of State ;)

rockhead — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 06:07:10 -0000

While we all debate the merits or demerits of contracts, their length and expense, who should stay and who should go, a troubling question comes to my mind. Namely, how long is Dinger's contract? Did the Rockies sell their soul to the devil when they signed off on Dinger, or is it just the first and least publicized bad deal they ever made?

Somewhere in an office building in Denver, back in the early 90s, somebody got paid to hatch even the very idea of this preposterous signing, and I'm demanding to know who that person was. They must be held accountable for the years of salary that have been thrown at this dinosaur. He's annoying at the ballpark, and downright embarrassing on camera. Whilst watching last season's playoffs on the tube, I found myself deeply troubled. "The Rockies have finally made it big, and the entire country is looking only at Barney's forgotten cousin" is all I could think about. "Is this any way for a grown-up franchise to act?"

All sarcasm aside, it is my fervent and passionate belief that Dinger must go. Well, maybe not passionate, but still....Dinger has to go. And while I believe this with all my heart, I confess that I am at a complete loss as to what (or who) should replace him. I've racked my middle-aged brain for a good 10 minutes or so about this, and haven't come up with a decent idea. Truthfully, I would love a mascot along the lines of the Philly Phanatic parading around Coors, (without some of the attitude, mind you), but can't think of what (or who) that would be.

Then, of course, it came to me! My fellow Rockies In Arms on the Row will have an idea or 20! So, here's our task friends. We must come up with a replacement for Dinger. Whether that replacement looks cute enough to sell plush toys should not be the only criteria. Said replacement must relate Colorado. Or not. I still don't know what the Phanatic has to do with Philadelphia, but he's an institution. Said replacement must have some amusement value, and I'm not talking about the sarcastic kind. (I can handle that end for everyone.) Said replacement could maybe have something to do with baseball. Or not. In other words, who's got an idea?

Funny what you come across when you Google Dinger.

It finally caught up with me

rockhead — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:29:09 -0000

Yesterday, I got out of bed, showered, got dressed and went to work. A normal Monday. Until about three in the afternoon. A tiredness I haven't felt in ages came over me. I was barely able to stay awake for the rest of the afternoon.

Today, I simply could not get out of bed and go to work. I hit the snooze button until it bled I think. I finally got up and called in sick. I simply couldn't go in. I went back to bed and slept another three hours.

When I did manage to drag myself out of bed, I started making some coffee. It was only then that I realized what was wrong with me.

During the last month, I had given every ounce of emotional energy I had to the Rockies. I had watched everything there was to watch on TV, read both Denver papers front to back looking for any Rockies news, scoured the internet for news and "opinion", found and joined Purple Row. And it was all so exhilarating. Now that it's over, I am purely and simply exhausted.

A similar thing happened to me when my dad became so ill and then passed away. I had put all my energy into helping my mother though that process. It was only after I got back to Denver that I realized how exhausted I was.

I did manage to venture out and grab a few groceries this afternoon, scoop up both "special editions" of the papers, and get back home. Tonight I'm starting to feel a little bit like "normal" again.

Still - I wouldn't trade it for the world. What a run, what a ride, what a (fill in the blank). Incredible. I am wondering, however, if any of you other denizens of the Row have had a similar experience? How has the end of Rocktober affected you?