SB Nation User Blog: thatshortkid

Children's Home + Aid 2009 Holiday Gift Drive

thatshortkid — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:15:46 -0000

Children's Home + Aid 2009 Holiday Gift Drive

"Holiday Gift Drive
November 2 to December 22
[...]
For the third year, Paul Konerko and Jim Thome, together with their wives Jennifer and Andrea, and the Chicago White Sox organization are joining with Children's Home + Aid to reach out to the public to ask for holiday gift donations to help fill these holiday wish lists.
[...]
Chicago Metropolitan Drop-Off Locations

Gifts and donations can be dropped off between November 2 and December 22 during regular business hours at the following Chicago Metropolitan locations:

1. Children's Home + Aid, 100 N. Western Ave., 2nd Floor, Chicago
2. U.S. Cellular Field, Gate 4, 333 W. 35th St., Chicago
3. Kaplan Tutoring, 1459 W. Webster Ave, Chicago, IL (Dec. 1 - Dec. 15)
4. Children's Home + Aid's Rice Child + Family Center, 1101 Washington St., Evanston
5. Kaplan Tutoring, 1249 S. Naper Blvd., Naperville, IL (Dec. 1 - Dec. 15)"

I found out after flying in town for a family holiday party this past weekend and dropping off gifts on the way that just inside the doors of the drop-off location of Gate 4 is also where a certain glass case holding certain pieces of hardware is also located. Just sayin'.

White Sox' Secret Weapon: Booze

thatshortkid — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:14:59 -0000

White Sox' Secret Weapon: Booze

Miguel Cabrera had a blood-alcohol level more than three times the legal limit when he was involved in a physical altercation with his wife early Saturday morning, according to the Birmingham Police.

Cabrera had been partying with buddies from the Chicago White Sox after Friday night's game at Birmingham's Townsend Hotel, Birmingham Police Chief Richard Patterson said.

...

He went 0-for-3, finishing the White Sox series 0-for-11.

Jon Garland: The Fire and the Passion

thatshortkid — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 15:37:57 -0000

Jon Garland: The Fire and the Passion

And if Garland doesn't seem to reciprocate the energy pouring out of the stands, well, that's just Garland.

When he has been at his best, Garland is known as a stone-faced assassin. When he hasn't been so good, that stoic nature gets tagged as indifference.

"I've had that my whole career, especially in Chicago," he said. "There are a lot of people passionate about their sports in that city. If you're not wearing it on your sleeve they think you don't care.

"That's the one thing I have always hated. I really, really dislike when people say that. Just because you don't go out there and show the same emotion as another person, it doesn't mean you're not giving the same effort."

clip of AJ on RAW. if you know of any other / better clips, please post a link.

thatshortkid — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 06:44:38 -0000

clip of AJ on RAW.

if you know of any other / better clips, please post a link.

2010 Pie

thatshortkid — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 20:03:53 -0000

2010 Pie

A long, long time ago...
I can still remember
How spring training used to make me smile.
And I knew the boys had a chance
To make it to the Autumn Dance
And, maybe, stick around for a while.

But late August made me shiver
With every loss they delivered.
Bad news on the front page;
No more hope at this stage.

I laughed so hard I almost cried
When I read the dumb shit about pride,
Turned off the games and went outside
The day the season died.

So bye-bye, Count, Thome, and Dye.
See you later alligator,
We'll call up young and cheap guys.
Sign scrap heap fodder Kenny pulls out his backside
Saying, "this'll be the team that gets pie."
"this'll be the team that gets pie."

Did you think we'd rise above,
And did you have faith in Fields' glove,
Because Cora tells you so?
Do you believe who they put out,
Goggles, The Bridge, all those shut outs,
And poor Q! limping off the field real slow?

Well, there was the Colon experiment,
We all know how awesome that went.
Him and the Count just shat the bed,
How many innings will DJ get?

We called up a Georgia broncin buck
Tore the stitches off after initial suck,
But even He couldn't save this clusterfuck
The day the season died.

I started singin
"Bye-bye, Count, Thome, and Dye."
See you later alligator,
We'll call up young and cheap guys.
Sign scrap heap fodder Kenny pulls out his backside
Saying, "this'll be the team that gets pie."
"this'll be the team that gets pie."

Now last year we got the Central crown
Stood to repeat since the rest are down,
But it just wasn't meant to be.
When you trot out Gobble, Broadway, and Nessie,
Plus Linebrink shits bricks for all to see,
At least there was perfection from Buehrle...

Oh, and then The Ace got knocked around,
After another seventeen sat down.
Danks' shakiness returned,
Was shutdown or got burned.
And while Floyd's been solid down the stretch,
There were points where he'd make you wretch,
Wise ensured legacy with The Catch.
But still, the season died.

We were singing,
"Bye-bye, Count, Thome, and Dye."
See you later alligator,
We'll call up young and cheap guys.
Sign scrap heap fodder Kenny pulls out his backside
Saying, "this'll be the team that gets pie."
"this'll be the team that gets pie."

Defense melted in a summer swelter,
Bullpen giving up bombs; better seek shelter,
Just two back then falling fast.
Last games on dome's fake-ass grass
The old guys tried for one last gasp,
People shout to stop living in the past.

Now the trade deadline was taken shrewd,
We locked up Peavy and that Rios dude.
We want to go to The Dance,
Oh, but we screw up every chance!
'cause the facepalm lineups take the field;
Runners the pitching would always yield.
Errors galore, their fate was sealed.
The day the season died.

Oh, for the day they were in first place,
Instead of Pods out there with bad breaks
With no time left to start again.
So come on: Pods be nimble, Pods be quick!
Pods picked off like a dumb prick
Cause the devil's gonna collect, my friend.

Oh, and Ozzie kept Alex in a cage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage.
No snowball's chance in hell
Could break the doghouse spell.
And as Sox fans argue into the night
About when Peavy's start is right,
The offense loses all its fight
The day the season died.

They were singing,
"Bye-bye, Count, Thome, and Dye."
See you later alligator,
We'll call up young and cheap guys.
Sign scrap heap fodder Kenny pulls out his backside
Saying, "this'll be the team that gets pie."
"this'll be the team that gets pie."

Next year we'll get a healthy Q!,
A Savior with less defense miscues,
Some contracts will be turned away.
A shakeup in the lineup core
Can't play the same guys as years before,
No sense paying them for declining play.

And on the nets: commenters screamed,
The kittehs cried, dumb statements reamed.
The right rail was a joke and
"No subject lines" verboten.
And the one guy that I like most:
Sat at home, bored, career is toast.
Sign Frank so he ends as a Pale Hose
Now that the season's died.

And we'll be singing,
"Bye-bye, Count, Thome, and Dye."
See you later alligator,
We'll call up young and cheap guys.
Sign scrap heap fodder Kenny pulls out his backside
Saying, "this'll be the team that gets pie."
"this'll be the team that gets pie."

We'll be singing,
"Bye-bye, Count, Thome, and Dye."
See you later alligator,
We'll call up young and cheap guys.
Sign scrap heap fodder Kenny pulls out his backside
Saying, "this'll be the team that gets pie."
"this'll be the team that gets pie."

Schoeneweis' better half found dead

thatshortkid — Wed, 20 May 2009 23:39:13 -0000

Schoeneweis' better half found dead

The wife of Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Scott Schoeneweis was found dead in their home Wednesday afternoon.

Gabrielle Dawn Schoeneweis, 39, was found by the couple's 14-year-old daughter, and was unresponsive when deputies made it to the home shortly after Noon.

MLB At Bat 2009 full version dropped

thatshortkid — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:26:07 -0000

MLB At Bat 2009 full version dropped

MLB.com At Bat 2009 has just been released for the iPhone and iPod Touch at the App Store. The new version costs just $9.99 and is good through the 2009 postseason.

SSS Meetup: PST Edition

thatshortkid — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:52:33 -0000

Inspired by hsa's and U-God's attempts at herding cats (and Angels single-game tickets going on sale Saturday), I thought I'd send out a feeler to see what the interest is in a Left Coast meetup. Barring any of y'all getting on a plane and going West, I guess this one mostly goes out to the known PSTers or those that lurk. Hell, we'll even count the Mountain folks too.

Scanning the schedules, I see:

May 25-26-27 (M-Tu-W) @ LAA: This series starts on Memorial Day. I'll be at all 3, but given that it's a weekday series, I would only expect locals to show up to this one, if at all. All night games.
Aug 10-11-12 (M-Tu-W) @ SEA: Another weekday series. But hey, it's in hsa's backyard. All night games.
Aug 14-15-16 (F-Sa-Su) @ OAK: This one's interesting. On Toonder (RIP) and rhythm's turf, within reasonable distance of where most of us out here live, and a weekend series. Ample opporunity to thank OCab for his services and swoon over Gio and Sweeney. Night-Day-Day.
Sep 11-12-13 (F-Sa-Su) @ LAA: Well, this is either going to be part of a pennant race or an afterthought. Night-Day-TBD
Sep 15-16-17 (Tu-W-Th) @ SEA: No weekends in Seattle this year! Night-Night-Late Afternoon.

If anybody feels like booing the shit out of a team or being generally antagonistic, I'd be up for seeing when the Twinks/Scrubs come out this way as well. I also doubt we need a poll just yet.

Baseball on the Radio on the Phone: MLB Mobile offerings

thatshortkid — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 19:41:59 -0000

As has been noted both in the MSM and by Chiburb and I, the 2009 MLB iPhone app "Lite" version dropped recently with the full version set for release April 2. It looks like MLB upped the ante somewhat on their mobile offerings and from what they're advertising, should be separating money from bank accounts in the near future.

I downloaded the iPhone app to give it a whirl (hell, it's free). At first blush, it appears that they repackaged the $4.99 app from last year and sent it out as the "free" version to whet your appetite during Spring Training/WBC. All the Gameday functions, score updates, and video highlights are there. Not that this data (minus video) can't be viewed via the always free, phone-agnostic WAP interface, it's got that nice iPhone polish and it's not like I got swindled for $5 like last year's offering.

The major new feature that is being added to MLB's mobile offerings across the board is access to Gameday Audio. This isn't just in the iPhone app, you can get it on your Crackberry, Windows Mobile device, or (maybe, I'd read the fine print) your non-smartphone as well. Home and away feeds are available (oh boy! DJ and Farmio in my pocket!). I don't know how MLB and XM's partnerships go, but I know this stopped me from shopping around for a mobile XM receiver. I've used the Pandora and Public Radio apps for some time and while the Pandora app picks back up pretty well after a dead zone, the NPR app dies. Here's to hoping their coders made a solid product for those that will use this on-the-go.

TANSTAAFL: The app price hasn't been released yet, other than the "under $10" quote from the NYT article. I did ask around the MLB forums and no, they will not be offering bundling of the app with any MLB.tv offering. Even though Gameday Audio is bundled with any MLB.tv package, listening via computer and listening via mobile phone are considered by them to be different products and thus you have to pay twice.

[TANSTAAFL update (2/25, 3:30PM PST): while looking up SAMs question, I tried out the WAP interface and it appears that they removed the Live Pitch-by-Pitch function. Must be the gentle nudge via sledgehammer to push you towards their pay-for products.]

[MLB mobile]

[MLB At Bat]

[MLB At Bat iTunes link]

Swine gain flight; MLB.tv appears to not be half-baked product

thatshortkid — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 22:55:15 -0000

In a boon to those of us that use the internet to view the yearly 162, it looks like MLB actually tried to put out a decent product this year. Perusing over this year's ads and FAQ, it looks like the product this go-round is going to actually be something to get excited about.

Highlights that interested me:

Switching from Microsoft Silverlight as the streaming technology to Adobe Flash. Yes, this was covered before, but it still is the biggest piece of news IMO. Rather than sticking with a crappy reinvention of the wheel, MLB went for the, uh, wheel. Flash 9.x req'd, Flash 10.x rec'd. (Crossing fingers for it to work on PS3)

HD Broadcast quality available. If your intertubes can take it, the highest bandwidth feed offered is 3Mbps, with a resolution of 720p. I couldn't find any information on whether it will be combined with some form of 5.1 audio or not.

Live Game DVR. Now the same convenience that everybody that has a TV has.

Live Radio Feed. I would half-ass this with Gameday audio by pausing the feed to allow the muted video to catch up, but now it's built-in. Feature not useful for White Sox fans, however.

There's some carryovers from last year (multi-game view, Home and Away feeds, player/game info), some enhancements (PIP, Chat), but not a bad product overall. Contrary to tickets, the price went down ($10) from last year.

I was going to renew anyway, but it kind of feels like it's going to be worth it this time.

[main ad]

[FAQ/req's]