Random Off-Day Thread

ESPN Magazine says

A.J. Burnett, Blue Jays
Possible Suitors: Anyone in need of starting pitching, which means the Cardinals, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Marlins, Mets, White Sox and Yankees.

Amy Buchan of the Arizona Diamondbacks often knows about baseball transactions before the players even find out the news. How does she do it? Buchan isn’t a confidante of Josh Byrnes, Diamondbacks general manager, or even a well-placed official with Major League Baseball.

“I might mention that I’m taking so-and-so player for a hospital visit and the word comes down that I probably shouldn’t do that,” Buchan said Tuesday during a speech before the Sun City Grand Memorabilia Club. “That’s when I usually know that something is going on.” As the Diamondbacks director of community relations, Buchan serves as the liaison between the community and the team…

It also reports that organist Bobby Freeman is opening a restaurant in Surprise.

As for Ibanez, the Diamondbacks have expressed interest. But when they first made contact, Arizona officials got a cool reception because the Mariners aren’t all that keen on trading Ibanez, the club’s RBI leader.

Looking at our upcoming pitching matchups, here’s hoping the Petit Unit will go at least 5 innings and we get Greg Maddux who in his last 14 games has gone 0-5 with 8 no decisions. Considering Maddux won at least 15 games a year for what, 15 years or something, this must be his worst season ever.

I’m going to miss the Johnson vs Zito matchup?!? Dangit, that would’ve been fun. The whole series with the Giants looks great. Can’t wait to see my boys tomorrow. :)

AI had auditions up here last week… I stayed far, far away from the madhouse.

often thought of auditioning for American Idol- laugh all you want, but I am a choir nerd…American Idol is the only reality tv I watch, and it’s mostly because it’s turned into such a spectacle. The audition weeks are the most entertaining parts of the entire series- you can tell who is going to win right off the bat (I called David Cook as the winner at his first audition, thankyouverymuch) and laugh at the people who suck a lot and think that they’re really really good.

I’d like to think that Webb will beat Timcecum, which puts us in great position for a sweep against the Giants. Unfortunately, the offense/defense will probably falter in one/all of those games, so who knows. I’d settle for two of three.

Ditto against the Padres. Even though Davis has pitched well this year, I’m not confident about the middle game. The bookends are solid again though: Petit against Maddux, who we destroy, and Haren against anyone, let alone Seung Baek.

OK, I admit it…....I watch Am. Idol the first couple episodes just to check out the freaks. I stop watching the minute it gets “serious”

As for guilty pleasures:: Yeah….....I watch Denise Richards. She’s a real witch, but she’s still hot.

My only exposure to reality TV is through The Soup. I get my share of unintentionally hilarious behavior from attention “hounds” (gotta avoid that profanity filter) without having to sit through hours of inanity.

Who do you pick to win each division/wild card from here on in…

My picks:

NL East: Phillies
NL Cent: Cubs
NL West: Pad…..I mean Diamondbacks
Wild Card: Brewers

AL East: Red Sox
Al Cent: Indians
AL West: Angels
Wild Card: Rays

So that’s all of those teams now damned to collapse….

I need help finding textbooks on the cheap. The NAU bookstore wants way more than I can spend for one semester- it’ll be fine once I have a job in Flagstaff, but right now, with no job, I cannot justify spending over $400 for one semester’s worth of textbooks.

Any sites you can reccomend are much appreciated- I believe someone already mentioned half.com, and I’ve found some good deals on there. Any others?

The game was 3-6 with the bases loaded and my cousin said that he wanted to see a grand slam.. and guess what. He got his wish. Oh well, at least i got a cheap shirt out of my trip. So fun despite the cubbies winning.

I just keep getting drawn away to do other things. First I have to go clean. Then one of my friends is co-dependant and having life problems. Then I have to go make dinner. It never ends.

I think today is the first off-day in a while where I wish there was a game. Past few off-days, I was glad for the break from the stressing out. Today, though, I wish we had a game to watch.

Baseball has the longest season in sports, yet the fans seem the most sensitive day to day regarding the results. Football is the shortest season, yet fans seem the least (or at least less than baseball) sensitive to game to game results.

Maybe it’s because more teams can get in the playoffs for football, whereas in baseball if you don’t win your division you’re basically not getting in.

me putting off posting my Peter Clifford vs Evan Frey Prospect Smackdown. I’ve been working it all day, after having absolutely zero sleep last night. I really only need to write a paragraph that summarize how Evan Frey profiles as a hitter, then another paragraph stating how I feel about him as a player, and then finally just a closing paragraph to wrap it up and tie it all together.

It’s a 100% sure thing for tomorrow morning though.

From 9,000 feet in the Andes mountains in Quito, Ecuador….