TGIMFF!!! My fellow Internet brethren, how are things with you? I'm a bit down myself for some reason. Yes, it's a beautiful day in Chicago. Yes, it's the beginning of a Summer weekend. Yes, I'm healthy, and have great family/friends/significant other...I guess it's just a case of the blues. I've never dealt with depression or anything like that, but can't someone just have the blues anymore? Now everything always has to have a diagnosis..."You're not just down, you suffer from: Major Depressive Disorder, Dysthymic Disorder, Manic Depression, Post Partum Depression, Atypical Depression, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), etc., etc." "Take this prescription, and this anti-biotic, and do this, and don't do that, and, and, and"....it's getting to be a bit ridiculous.
For me, it's all just a state of mind. I know that there are some out there who just can't escape their life of melancholia, and I feel bad for that group. For most of us however, it's good to just accept the fact that you're going to feel down every once in awhile. There's NO reason to fake being happy all of the time, because it ain't true. Everything is NOT OK sometimes...and that's...OK. I know that my particular case is a combination of things: Being low on money, short on direction, the Chicago Cubs (I know it sounds ridiculous, but I can't help it), anxious about my music, etc., etc. Everyone has their own set of problems/worries, so I'm not going to bore you completely by getting into mine, but let's just be real with each other. Life sucks sometimes. That's just the way it is.
You simply have to find your non-destructive release. When they're winning, the Cubs are a great release for me. The problem is that when they're losing (now), they're gasoline on the fire for my particular case of the blues. I also like to play music (write songs/record/shows/etc.), this is another great release for me. I wrote a song last night (3/4 of it I guess...need to finish it today). Of course, since I was feeling a bit down, guess what the song was about? You guessed it. Feeling down. It seems to just kind of add to the sadness. As most of you reading this know, I've been known to enjoy my share of drinks from time to time. Now I know that all of you mongoloids are already jumping up to cast your stones..."Webby! You S.O.B.! Drinking is NOT a NON-destructive release moron!" Well, that may be true. For you.
Drinking is a touchy subject with me (I'm well aware that that statement sounds a bit strange). I mean, if you tell someone that you like to go to bars, and when you're not out on the town, you'll tend to enjoy a couple of cold ones at the house (whether you're with others, or by your lonesome), the judging process will immediately begin. People love to judge. Along with reality TV, Judd Apatow movies, and sushi, judging is smack dab in the middle of the "team photo" of things that the average Joe loves to do on a daily basis. I guess it's human nature, but believe me. Drinking does NOT have to be a destructive activity.
Don't drink to forget, or to blackout, or to get laid. Don't drink with a vengeance, or to gain the courage to fight that guy, or kiss that girl. Don't drink to be seen, or to be the center of attention, and don't drink if you don't want to drink. These are ALL destructive methods. These people are usually drinking Bud Light's or Vodka Red Bull's (make that ANYTHING with Red Bull) and have gel in their hair and a "club shirt" on. These people pick a fight with you when you accidentally bump into them while in a crowded setting. These people smother girls, and don't tip bar tenders. We ALL know who these people are. Don't be these people. Let them fight who they need to fight outside of the bar, and then walk home by themselves to their virtual girlfriends.
Remember the scene in the movie "Death Proof" where Kurt Russell (Stuntman Mike) says: "You know a bar offers all kinds of things other than alcohol. Like women, nacho grande platters, the fellowships of fascinating individuals like Warren here...alcohol is just a lubricant for all of the individual encounters that a bar offers." This couldn't be more true. You can't achieve this feeling at a club (what you'll achieve is a ton of the individuals in the paragraph above), but at a bar, where you can sit down in the company of friends or even complete strangers and have a drink (and a nacho grande platter), my friends, there are very few better things in this life of ours. Just be sure to drink in the form of celebration. Drink to dance. Drink to sing. Drink arm in arm, hand in hand. Sit at the bar next to the oldest and crustiest guy that you can find, order a beer and a shot, and just listen. Just hunker down and listen. Within five minutes, that guy will start telling you some of the most amazing stories that you've ever heard, and he'll probably buy you a drink too. You'll learn more from that old man at the bar than you EVER did in school.
Never drink to forget, drink to remember...and just let them blues fade away. I'm on MY way right now.
Hit me up on facebook, www.myspace.com/theskyfall, or in the comments section of this blog. Right now I'm listening to "Avoiding Catatonic Surrender" by Tim Barry. Kind of sums up how I feel right now. Drinks of Choice: PBR, shot of Rye.
Make it a weekend to REMEMBER.
Webby
Friday, August 14, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Good Pitching will Beat Good Hitting any time, and Vice Versa.
Friends, how in the hell are you? I finally received the first three of my seven new songs that I recorded acoustically back on August 2nd. I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out considering how rushed the process was, so I posted them online for you to enjoy/make fun of. I'm supposed to get the rest of them back this weekend, so that will be good. I'm definitely anxious to hear the other four, because there are at least two in that batch that I think that I'll like more than these three. We shall see.
Back in 2006 I started a little project called "the skyfall" because I felt weird just calling my acoustic stuff "Matt Weber." So I think that I'm just going to keep that name (partly because I like it, partly because no one else is using it as of now). So the songs are up on www.myspace.com/theskyfall, along with a song that I recorded back in like 2005. I guess the idea from this little seven song EP that I've done is to pick three songs that I think that other people will like the most and then send them out as a demo to try and book as many shows as possible. It might be a bit of a "pipe dream," but with the thousands and thousands of bars/venues/coffee shops in the Chicagoland area that host live music every day, I'm hoping to get to the point where I'm playing some sort of acoustic set around four to five nights a week, thus making decent money all while doing something that I thoroughly enjoy. Will it work? I know that I have my doubters out there, but even if I'm playing four to five nights a month...at least I'm playing music again.
Has anyone noticed how the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox have completely flipped? Ponder this: When you think about Sox GM Kenny Williams, what comes to your mind? Probably that he is one of the best GM's in baseball considering that he finds a way to be competitive pretty much year in and year out all while having his hands tied financially (due to a fiscally responsible owner/lack of attendance/etc.). When you think about Jim Hendry on the other hand, it's a lot different feeling. You probably consider him to be a mid-level GM (still not bad, but definitely NOT a top-5 guy), who makes some decent trades/acquisitions, but has his mistakes covered up a lot more easily due to the flexibility he possesses (high payroll/high attendance/ballpark that attracts fans even when the team's losing/etc.). Man, have those roles reversed this season.
When Jim Hendry traded Mark DeRosa, everyone (including me, and probably you) thought that he was simply piling up prospects to make a run at let's say...Brian Roberts, or Jake Peavy. We ALL knew that Soriano was a bad lead off hitter, and that Brian Roberts would be exactly what the doctor ordered in that spot. A TRUE lead off hitter, that bats left handed and possesses great speed/stolen base ability. If Hendry wasn't going to deliver on Roberts, then we at least KNEW that he'd acquire Padres' ace Jake Peavy. I mean, anyone can use a former Cy Young Award winner in their rotation, so that would have definitely worked out as well. Little did we know, Jim Hendry was NOT stocking up on prospects to make another acquisition to IMPROVE on a 97 win ball club, he was simply following orders to dump payroll after the Milton Bradley signing (which obviously turned out to be a bad one). What? The Cubs, dumping payroll? The team that outbids THEMSELVES to get the guy(s) that they want? Yes. Without an owner, the team was told that it could NOT add any payroll to improve on a division champion. So Hendry, knowing that his team needed another left handed bat, signed Milton Bradley. Since that contract added $10 million to his payroll for '09, he had to dump somewhere (funny, I know). The problem is that he was loaded with bad contracts (no body's fault but his own, but remember, he was led to believe that the bank account wouldn't run out). Obviously, NO one would take on Soriano (8 years/$136 million), or Fukudome (4 years/$48 million), or Ramirez (5 years/$75 million), or Lee (5 years/$65 million), and he wasn't going to trade any pitching. So he chose to not resign Kerry Wood, and to trade the ONLY good contract that he possessed...Mark DeRosa (who also happened to be the Cubs' MOST VALUABLE PLAYER). This, along with injuries, and under performance by key players, has led to a slightly above .500 baseball team for 2009.
Kenny Williams, however, is all of a sudden Mr. free spender! He's had no problem adding guys that make a LOT of money over the last few years. Jim Thome (7 years/$95 million), Orlando Cabrera (4 years/$32 million), Scott Linebrink (4 years/$19 million), Ken Griffey Jr. (9 years/$112 million...just payed a pro-rated amount for half of a season), and then the two big ones in the last few weeks. Jake Peavy (4 years/$63 million) and Alex Rios (6 years/$64 million). Why have the roles reversed you might ask? Well, obviously the stability of ownership is key, but I think that it has more to do with Kenny's long term plan.
Over the last few years, Williams has transformed an aging past their prime ball club, into a young vibrant team all while staying competitive in the process. Just look at that pitching staff. Gavin Floyd, John Danks, and now Jake Peavy to go along with the always reliable Mark Buehrle (Aaron Poreda possibly not too far behind). Young, good, and contractually locked up. With the steroids era seemingly in the rear view mirror, teams are putting more emphasis back on speed and athleticism as opposed to guys that just bash the ball around (Konerko, Thome, Dye, A.J., etc.) Kenny Williams seems to really be leading the charge by acquiring guys like Rios and Alexei Ramirez, and drafting and developing guys like Gordon Beckham and Chris Getz. Also, when you look ahead to Jordan Danks, Jared Mitchell, Dayan Viciedo, Tyler Flowers, etc., the sky is the limit for at least the next five years or so. I think that it's his clear-cut plan that has loosened the pockets of The Chairmen (it certainly isn't their attendance).
That is why the roles have reversed my friends. Jim Hendry was told "Win, and win now!" by his bosses heading into the 2007 season, because they knew that they could get the most possible value out of the franchise if it was a winner. So Hendry signed the big name manager that was available along with some key free agents, and turned a 66 win team into the Central Division champions. Then going into 2008, he added to that ball club with guys like Kosuke Fukudome, Jim Edmonds, Reed Johnson, the development of Geovany Soto, and made a big splash by acquiring Oakland ace Rich Harden mid-season. He put all of his eggs in 2008's basket and the team cruised to a 97 win, division championship season. They of course inexplicably flopped again in the playoffs, and then the proverbial financial clamps came down on ol' Jimmy heading into '09, thus leading us to where we are today.
There are a lot of people that are clamoring for the head of Jim Hendry on the Northside. I think that that's a bit premature. The guy is probably the best GM in Cubs' history (not that that's saying much). I mean think about it. He's won three division championships in six years (and is still competing in this 2009 race). By comparison, Kenny Williams has one just two division championships in his eight years of service on the Southside. Now obviously Kenny has a World Series ring, but a GM can't get blamed for what happens in the postseason. His job is to simply build a team that's good enough to make it to October, once you get there, it's a complete crap shoot based on match ups and who's the hottest team at the time. I'm not saying that Hendry is a better GM than Williams (I don't think that he is), but I'm a little disgusted with the fact that people already want him gone. Kenny has the loyalty of Jerry Reinsdorf and the entire organization almost to a fault (and probably always will), maybe Hendry would perform a little bit better if he had a little backing as well. As far as Lou goes...let's wait and see.
Hit me up on facebook, myspace.com/theskyfall, or in the comments section of this blog. Right now I'm listening to "The City that Day" by Matt Skiba. Drinks of Choice: A&W, a summer delight.
Thanks.
Webby
Back in 2006 I started a little project called "the skyfall" because I felt weird just calling my acoustic stuff "Matt Weber." So I think that I'm just going to keep that name (partly because I like it, partly because no one else is using it as of now). So the songs are up on www.myspace.com/theskyfall, along with a song that I recorded back in like 2005. I guess the idea from this little seven song EP that I've done is to pick three songs that I think that other people will like the most and then send them out as a demo to try and book as many shows as possible. It might be a bit of a "pipe dream," but with the thousands and thousands of bars/venues/coffee shops in the Chicagoland area that host live music every day, I'm hoping to get to the point where I'm playing some sort of acoustic set around four to five nights a week, thus making decent money all while doing something that I thoroughly enjoy. Will it work? I know that I have my doubters out there, but even if I'm playing four to five nights a month...at least I'm playing music again.
Has anyone noticed how the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox have completely flipped? Ponder this: When you think about Sox GM Kenny Williams, what comes to your mind? Probably that he is one of the best GM's in baseball considering that he finds a way to be competitive pretty much year in and year out all while having his hands tied financially (due to a fiscally responsible owner/lack of attendance/etc.). When you think about Jim Hendry on the other hand, it's a lot different feeling. You probably consider him to be a mid-level GM (still not bad, but definitely NOT a top-5 guy), who makes some decent trades/acquisitions, but has his mistakes covered up a lot more easily due to the flexibility he possesses (high payroll/high attendance/ballpark that attracts fans even when the team's losing/etc.). Man, have those roles reversed this season.
When Jim Hendry traded Mark DeRosa, everyone (including me, and probably you) thought that he was simply piling up prospects to make a run at let's say...Brian Roberts, or Jake Peavy. We ALL knew that Soriano was a bad lead off hitter, and that Brian Roberts would be exactly what the doctor ordered in that spot. A TRUE lead off hitter, that bats left handed and possesses great speed/stolen base ability. If Hendry wasn't going to deliver on Roberts, then we at least KNEW that he'd acquire Padres' ace Jake Peavy. I mean, anyone can use a former Cy Young Award winner in their rotation, so that would have definitely worked out as well. Little did we know, Jim Hendry was NOT stocking up on prospects to make another acquisition to IMPROVE on a 97 win ball club, he was simply following orders to dump payroll after the Milton Bradley signing (which obviously turned out to be a bad one). What? The Cubs, dumping payroll? The team that outbids THEMSELVES to get the guy(s) that they want? Yes. Without an owner, the team was told that it could NOT add any payroll to improve on a division champion. So Hendry, knowing that his team needed another left handed bat, signed Milton Bradley. Since that contract added $10 million to his payroll for '09, he had to dump somewhere (funny, I know). The problem is that he was loaded with bad contracts (no body's fault but his own, but remember, he was led to believe that the bank account wouldn't run out). Obviously, NO one would take on Soriano (8 years/$136 million), or Fukudome (4 years/$48 million), or Ramirez (5 years/$75 million), or Lee (5 years/$65 million), and he wasn't going to trade any pitching. So he chose to not resign Kerry Wood, and to trade the ONLY good contract that he possessed...Mark DeRosa (who also happened to be the Cubs' MOST VALUABLE PLAYER). This, along with injuries, and under performance by key players, has led to a slightly above .500 baseball team for 2009.
Kenny Williams, however, is all of a sudden Mr. free spender! He's had no problem adding guys that make a LOT of money over the last few years. Jim Thome (7 years/$95 million), Orlando Cabrera (4 years/$32 million), Scott Linebrink (4 years/$19 million), Ken Griffey Jr. (9 years/$112 million...just payed a pro-rated amount for half of a season), and then the two big ones in the last few weeks. Jake Peavy (4 years/$63 million) and Alex Rios (6 years/$64 million). Why have the roles reversed you might ask? Well, obviously the stability of ownership is key, but I think that it has more to do with Kenny's long term plan.
Over the last few years, Williams has transformed an aging past their prime ball club, into a young vibrant team all while staying competitive in the process. Just look at that pitching staff. Gavin Floyd, John Danks, and now Jake Peavy to go along with the always reliable Mark Buehrle (Aaron Poreda possibly not too far behind). Young, good, and contractually locked up. With the steroids era seemingly in the rear view mirror, teams are putting more emphasis back on speed and athleticism as opposed to guys that just bash the ball around (Konerko, Thome, Dye, A.J., etc.) Kenny Williams seems to really be leading the charge by acquiring guys like Rios and Alexei Ramirez, and drafting and developing guys like Gordon Beckham and Chris Getz. Also, when you look ahead to Jordan Danks, Jared Mitchell, Dayan Viciedo, Tyler Flowers, etc., the sky is the limit for at least the next five years or so. I think that it's his clear-cut plan that has loosened the pockets of The Chairmen (it certainly isn't their attendance).
That is why the roles have reversed my friends. Jim Hendry was told "Win, and win now!" by his bosses heading into the 2007 season, because they knew that they could get the most possible value out of the franchise if it was a winner. So Hendry signed the big name manager that was available along with some key free agents, and turned a 66 win team into the Central Division champions. Then going into 2008, he added to that ball club with guys like Kosuke Fukudome, Jim Edmonds, Reed Johnson, the development of Geovany Soto, and made a big splash by acquiring Oakland ace Rich Harden mid-season. He put all of his eggs in 2008's basket and the team cruised to a 97 win, division championship season. They of course inexplicably flopped again in the playoffs, and then the proverbial financial clamps came down on ol' Jimmy heading into '09, thus leading us to where we are today.
There are a lot of people that are clamoring for the head of Jim Hendry on the Northside. I think that that's a bit premature. The guy is probably the best GM in Cubs' history (not that that's saying much). I mean think about it. He's won three division championships in six years (and is still competing in this 2009 race). By comparison, Kenny Williams has one just two division championships in his eight years of service on the Southside. Now obviously Kenny has a World Series ring, but a GM can't get blamed for what happens in the postseason. His job is to simply build a team that's good enough to make it to October, once you get there, it's a complete crap shoot based on match ups and who's the hottest team at the time. I'm not saying that Hendry is a better GM than Williams (I don't think that he is), but I'm a little disgusted with the fact that people already want him gone. Kenny has the loyalty of Jerry Reinsdorf and the entire organization almost to a fault (and probably always will), maybe Hendry would perform a little bit better if he had a little backing as well. As far as Lou goes...let's wait and see.
Hit me up on facebook, myspace.com/theskyfall, or in the comments section of this blog. Right now I'm listening to "The City that Day" by Matt Skiba. Drinks of Choice: A&W, a summer delight.
Thanks.
Webby
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Next Up: Tyler Perry's "House of Payne" followed by "Meet the Parents" Very Funny.
Hey, hey. Good to have you back. Sorry for not posting yesterday (no computer access). The Cubs continue to disgust me, and continue to show how valuable Aramis Ramirez is to their team. Everyone knew that the guy would be missed, but my goodness! This is getting ridiculous. Now I know that no one would ever compare Aramis to let's say...Pujols, or A-Rod, but when you take him out of your lineup, it hurts HIS team just as bad as their respective teams. The Yankees didn't start winning until Alex Rodriguez returned from hip surgery, and if you took Albert Pujols from the Cardinals, they would fall flat on their faces as well, even with Matt Holliday/Mark DeRosa. When you take your star player out of the equation, not only does it effect his position/spot in the order, it trickles down to every player on that 25 man roster. And that's exactly what is happening to the Cubs. Hopefully A-Ram can return from this cortisone shot and have a productive final 7-8 weeks while not hurting himself for the future. We'll see...
Another pedestrian win for my softball team last night in the first round of the playoffs. We extended our winning streak to eight games in a row by beating The Score 22-7 in five innings (slaughter rule), and improved our record to (9-2) overall. I had a terrible game offensively (0 for 3, RBI), but I'll take the win. I must admit that we felt disrespected by only getting the #3 seed in the tournament after beating the #1 seeded team (Jack FM) head to head, so I guess we kind of took it out on the #2 seeded Score guys. Jack FM ended up losing in their first round game to The Mix, so I guess all is well that ends well. It'll be the #4 seeded Mix vs. us in the championship game next week. We beat The Mix pretty handily in our regular season match-up with them, but as your Chicago Cubs know far too well, regular season victories mean very little come playoff time. Whatever happens, it's been the most fun that I've had on a softball team in all of the years that I've played.
I want to kind of tie the Chicago Cubs and my experience with softball together a little bit. (I'm well aware that this sounds meatballish already...but PLEASE hear me out). I'm going to tell you about a certain occurrence that seems to take place all of the time in the world of sports. You never know when it's actually going to happen, or to whom, but it happens repeatedly whether you're talking about professional athletes or a stupid radio softball league. I can't take credit for the title (it's HIGHLY debated between my friends Herb Lawrence and Thomas Hall on who DOES deserve the credit), but I GUARANTEE that you reading this will add this little gem of a saying to your vocabulary IMMEDIATELY (if you haven't already).
It's a little thing that we like to call T.B.S.
Yes. T.B.S. (Tight Booty Syndrome). Very funny (I DID come up with that). What causes T.B.S.? No one knows, but it's there. It's DEFINITELY there. The 2008 Chicago Cubs were coming off of a playoff berth in 2007 in which they were embarrassingly swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks in three games. So they went out there and took it to their opponents, running the gauntlet on the National League that season by building a big division cushion in the first half, landing an NL record 8 players on the All-Star team, and coasting their way to a league leading 97 wins and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. When they got to October however, instead of being that loose, relaxed team from the regular season that always seemed to hit with men on base, and didn't get flustered when a guy made an error or walked somebody, they inexplicably reverted back to that playoff team of '07. They started gripping the bats, booting the ball around the field, and walking guys left and right. That team suffered from one of the WORST cases of T.B.S. that I've EVER seen!
It happens on smaller levels too. I played on The Score softball team for the last three seasons. When I left the station before the beginning of this season, I joined my current team. The main difference from the team that I play on now, and my friends/former teammates on The Score team is simply ATTITUDE. Softball (like any other sport) is FUN. It's a game played outdoors, with your friends, in the summertime. What's more fun than that? What happens when you take something that is fun and turn it into something that is too serious? I'll tell you what happens...T.B.S. When I played on The Score team, I found myself (a guy that doesn't take ANYTHING that seriously) getting caught up in their over seriousness of the game, to the point that it effected MY play on the field. I would make stupid errors that I've never made before, and I would grip the bat too tight in key situations. In the regular season we were fine. We'd relax, have fun, and just rely on our talent (which wasn't much, but we're playing in a "radio" softball league). So of course, we would coast through the regular season, but come playoff time, when the games mattered and money was on the line...dead fish. Why? Pressure bursts pipes when you care too much.
With my current team, we set the tone early-on that we were just going to play loose and have fun (as you should in a stupid rec-league softball season). I remember getting swept in a double header our second and third games of the season dropping our record to (1-2). At the bar after the game, we decided that instead of getting on each other and taking this league so seriously, we were going to take more of the "Manny" approach. There's a reason why Manny is so clutch in the playoffs. He doesn't care. I know that it bothers a lot of people when you tell them that a millionaire athlete doesn't care, but Manny Ramirez doesn't care, and that's part of the reason why he's so successful. When a player just relaxes and relies on his natural abilities, he's at his absolute best. It's the old baseball cliche' of "not thinking too much." We adapted that little philosophy to our softball team, and we haven't lost since.
I'm good friends with a lot of the players on The Score softball team, and know all of them very well. They of course were doing a lot of talking before the game about how we were just a speed bump between them and the championship game and that was fine. I have no problem with a little trash talk (even if it is about something as nerdy as a radio softball league), but even with the fact that they had an identical record as us, and had actually beaten us in the regular season, there was NO doubt in my mind that we were going to win the game. Why? Because while they were constantly talking about the game on facebook, we were doing other things like: watching TV, drinking, talking to members of the opposite sex...you know, NOT thinking about the game. We were ACTUALLY relaxed and loose, instead of just TALKING about being relaxed/loose.
We were behind 5-2 heading into the second inning of the game after a couple of un-characteristic errors by our defense. They of course started taunting us by saying that "we were nervous" and "scared." Instead of letting the pressure "burst our pipes," we produced a diamond from all of that pressure and scored five runs in the second making the score 7-5 heading into the bottom of the inning. It was then that I KNEW that their inevitable T.B.S. would set in like it had in the three previous seasons that I played with that group of individuals. They quietly went down in order 1-2-3, and we responded with seven more runs on the board in the 3rd blowing the game wide open and silencing all of the fake confidence from that side of the field in the process. The noise from all of the simultaneous heads dropping was deafening.
I'm not sure if the current Cubs/Score team will always have T.B.S. come playoff time, or if that is something that can be cured. I just know that when you don't care, and don't take things too seriously, stuff always seems to work out. Just ask Manny.
Hit me up on facebook or in the comments section of this blog. Right now I'm listening to "Midsummer Classic" by Sundowner. Drinks of choice: coffee.
Later.
Webby
Another pedestrian win for my softball team last night in the first round of the playoffs. We extended our winning streak to eight games in a row by beating The Score 22-7 in five innings (slaughter rule), and improved our record to (9-2) overall. I had a terrible game offensively (0 for 3, RBI), but I'll take the win. I must admit that we felt disrespected by only getting the #3 seed in the tournament after beating the #1 seeded team (Jack FM) head to head, so I guess we kind of took it out on the #2 seeded Score guys. Jack FM ended up losing in their first round game to The Mix, so I guess all is well that ends well. It'll be the #4 seeded Mix vs. us in the championship game next week. We beat The Mix pretty handily in our regular season match-up with them, but as your Chicago Cubs know far too well, regular season victories mean very little come playoff time. Whatever happens, it's been the most fun that I've had on a softball team in all of the years that I've played.
I want to kind of tie the Chicago Cubs and my experience with softball together a little bit. (I'm well aware that this sounds meatballish already...but PLEASE hear me out). I'm going to tell you about a certain occurrence that seems to take place all of the time in the world of sports. You never know when it's actually going to happen, or to whom, but it happens repeatedly whether you're talking about professional athletes or a stupid radio softball league. I can't take credit for the title (it's HIGHLY debated between my friends Herb Lawrence and Thomas Hall on who DOES deserve the credit), but I GUARANTEE that you reading this will add this little gem of a saying to your vocabulary IMMEDIATELY (if you haven't already).
It's a little thing that we like to call T.B.S.
Yes. T.B.S. (Tight Booty Syndrome). Very funny (I DID come up with that). What causes T.B.S.? No one knows, but it's there. It's DEFINITELY there. The 2008 Chicago Cubs were coming off of a playoff berth in 2007 in which they were embarrassingly swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks in three games. So they went out there and took it to their opponents, running the gauntlet on the National League that season by building a big division cushion in the first half, landing an NL record 8 players on the All-Star team, and coasting their way to a league leading 97 wins and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. When they got to October however, instead of being that loose, relaxed team from the regular season that always seemed to hit with men on base, and didn't get flustered when a guy made an error or walked somebody, they inexplicably reverted back to that playoff team of '07. They started gripping the bats, booting the ball around the field, and walking guys left and right. That team suffered from one of the WORST cases of T.B.S. that I've EVER seen!
It happens on smaller levels too. I played on The Score softball team for the last three seasons. When I left the station before the beginning of this season, I joined my current team. The main difference from the team that I play on now, and my friends/former teammates on The Score team is simply ATTITUDE. Softball (like any other sport) is FUN. It's a game played outdoors, with your friends, in the summertime. What's more fun than that? What happens when you take something that is fun and turn it into something that is too serious? I'll tell you what happens...T.B.S. When I played on The Score team, I found myself (a guy that doesn't take ANYTHING that seriously) getting caught up in their over seriousness of the game, to the point that it effected MY play on the field. I would make stupid errors that I've never made before, and I would grip the bat too tight in key situations. In the regular season we were fine. We'd relax, have fun, and just rely on our talent (which wasn't much, but we're playing in a "radio" softball league). So of course, we would coast through the regular season, but come playoff time, when the games mattered and money was on the line...dead fish. Why? Pressure bursts pipes when you care too much.
With my current team, we set the tone early-on that we were just going to play loose and have fun (as you should in a stupid rec-league softball season). I remember getting swept in a double header our second and third games of the season dropping our record to (1-2). At the bar after the game, we decided that instead of getting on each other and taking this league so seriously, we were going to take more of the "Manny" approach. There's a reason why Manny is so clutch in the playoffs. He doesn't care. I know that it bothers a lot of people when you tell them that a millionaire athlete doesn't care, but Manny Ramirez doesn't care, and that's part of the reason why he's so successful. When a player just relaxes and relies on his natural abilities, he's at his absolute best. It's the old baseball cliche' of "not thinking too much." We adapted that little philosophy to our softball team, and we haven't lost since.
I'm good friends with a lot of the players on The Score softball team, and know all of them very well. They of course were doing a lot of talking before the game about how we were just a speed bump between them and the championship game and that was fine. I have no problem with a little trash talk (even if it is about something as nerdy as a radio softball league), but even with the fact that they had an identical record as us, and had actually beaten us in the regular season, there was NO doubt in my mind that we were going to win the game. Why? Because while they were constantly talking about the game on facebook, we were doing other things like: watching TV, drinking, talking to members of the opposite sex...you know, NOT thinking about the game. We were ACTUALLY relaxed and loose, instead of just TALKING about being relaxed/loose.
We were behind 5-2 heading into the second inning of the game after a couple of un-characteristic errors by our defense. They of course started taunting us by saying that "we were nervous" and "scared." Instead of letting the pressure "burst our pipes," we produced a diamond from all of that pressure and scored five runs in the second making the score 7-5 heading into the bottom of the inning. It was then that I KNEW that their inevitable T.B.S. would set in like it had in the three previous seasons that I played with that group of individuals. They quietly went down in order 1-2-3, and we responded with seven more runs on the board in the 3rd blowing the game wide open and silencing all of the fake confidence from that side of the field in the process. The noise from all of the simultaneous heads dropping was deafening.
I'm not sure if the current Cubs/Score team will always have T.B.S. come playoff time, or if that is something that can be cured. I just know that when you don't care, and don't take things too seriously, stuff always seems to work out. Just ask Manny.
Hit me up on facebook or in the comments section of this blog. Right now I'm listening to "Midsummer Classic" by Sundowner. Drinks of choice: coffee.
Later.
Webby
Monday, August 10, 2009
One Goal!
Hello again. A bad, bad weekend for the two baseball teams around here. The White Sox lost two out of three to the hapless Indians at home, while the Cubs have lost two of the first three (of a four game wrap-around series) to Colorado out at Coors Field with game four tonight. Even worse for the Northsiders, Carlos Zambrano joined Ted Lilly on the DL due to back spasms, Aramis Ramirez had to leave Saturday's game and didn't play on Sunday because of his shoulder, and the Cardinals had two come from behind victories leading to their eventual sweep of the Pirates. Bad, bad weekend all around.
Speaking of BAD weekends, how do you think Patrick Kane's weekend went? Wow. I don't know what other people are saying about this right now, but I'm finding it EXTREMELY hard to believe that a millionaire athlete would beat up a 62 year old cab driver over $1.20 in change. Something else had to lead up to this. I think that it's obvious that Kane and his cousin were drunk. I GUARANTEE that the cab driver recognized the Blackhawks star as Buffalo's "home town hero," and either gave him a hard time or got a little too vehement for an intoxicated 20 year old to handle at 4AM. So Kane probably got mouthy back with the guy (showing off for his cousin), and when they reached their destination, Kane gave him the $15 and asked for "all of his change back" not wanting to tip this "d-bag" that he'd been jawing with the entire ride. The cab driver probably responded by saying that he didn't have any change (when everyone knows that cab drivers always have change), and so Kane and his cuz' reached for their money leading to some kind of altercation. Obviously, we don't know "exactly" what happened, but I guarantee you that the incident wasn't as the cab driver described it: (I didn't have their twenty cents change so they beat the crap out of me, then robbed me and took off). I'm sorry. I just don't think that ANY professional athlete is just going to assault somebody over twenty cents when there wasn't anything going on leading up to that point. It doesn't make any sense. Only time will tell I guess.
I AM glad, however, that the Blackhawks "honeymoon" is finally over. It got to be a bit much for me. I remember saying during their playoff run, that I almost felt bad cheering for a team that I didn't care about at all two years before (I'm not alone on this), but talk about one hell of a drop off. They went from the "can't do wrong Hawks" to the Cincinnati Bengals in the course of ONE Summer. They lost to Detroit in the Conference Finals, screwed up the signings of their batch of free agents, fired their GM Dale Tallon, signed Marian Hossa who is now out due to shoulder surgery (and is having HIS contract examined as well for wrong-doing), and now, had their all-star "face of the franchise" get arrested for assaulting and robbing a cab driver at 4AM (all the while only being 20 years old)!!! Now that's "Red FALLING!" It's getting to the point that when you open up the newspaper, you expect to see something negative when the piece is about the Hawks. Talk about a complete 180 from all of the kiss-ass stories about the Saint John McDonough! You guys wanted to be covered as "equals" in this town, be careful what you wish for.
Whether Kane blatantly committed the crimes that he is accused of committing, or the cab driver deserves equal blame for this incident has very little importance to me. You simply just CAN'T put yourself in those kinds of situations. I'm NOT going to get on him for underage drinking. Yes, it's wrong, but we all did it. I'm not that much of a hypocrite. I also don't care that he was out until 4AM...this is America, we can be out as late as we want. It's stupid when people say that you shouldn't be out that late, yes you should...if you want to, so I'm not going to preach about that either. You just have to be a little more tactful with how you handle things Patrick (Derrick Rose, Jonathan Toews, Tyrus Thomas, Michael Phelps, all young athletes). If the cab driver is bothering you (just my opinion that the cab driver is due some blame in this), immediately tell him to pull over, pay him what he's owed, and get a new cab. It's that simple. Just avoid any possible altercation BEFORE it has a chance to escalate into something as ridiculous as this. No one wants to hear the "I'm only 20 years old" excuse anymore. It sucks, yet you hear Kane, D-Rose, etc. talk about it all of the time. Guess what, you're NOT too young for all of the perks (big contract, endorsements, fame, girls, notoriety), so you're NOT too young for all of the responsibilities that come with them as well. It's that simple. Go out, have fun, enjoy the gifts that were presented to you. You'd be stupid not too, but recognize the fact that you are a part of 1% that were given these gifts which means that 99% of us weren't. A good portion of that 99% will always try and bring you down if YOU let them. Stop letting them.
Hit me up on facebook or in the comments section of this blog. Right now I'm listening to "Jumping the Shark" by The Lawrence Arms. Chicago's finest. Drinks of Choice: Milwaukee's Finest, MHL.
Peace the F.
Webby
Speaking of BAD weekends, how do you think Patrick Kane's weekend went? Wow. I don't know what other people are saying about this right now, but I'm finding it EXTREMELY hard to believe that a millionaire athlete would beat up a 62 year old cab driver over $1.20 in change. Something else had to lead up to this. I think that it's obvious that Kane and his cousin were drunk. I GUARANTEE that the cab driver recognized the Blackhawks star as Buffalo's "home town hero," and either gave him a hard time or got a little too vehement for an intoxicated 20 year old to handle at 4AM. So Kane probably got mouthy back with the guy (showing off for his cousin), and when they reached their destination, Kane gave him the $15 and asked for "all of his change back" not wanting to tip this "d-bag" that he'd been jawing with the entire ride. The cab driver probably responded by saying that he didn't have any change (when everyone knows that cab drivers always have change), and so Kane and his cuz' reached for their money leading to some kind of altercation. Obviously, we don't know "exactly" what happened, but I guarantee you that the incident wasn't as the cab driver described it: (I didn't have their twenty cents change so they beat the crap out of me, then robbed me and took off). I'm sorry. I just don't think that ANY professional athlete is just going to assault somebody over twenty cents when there wasn't anything going on leading up to that point. It doesn't make any sense. Only time will tell I guess.
I AM glad, however, that the Blackhawks "honeymoon" is finally over. It got to be a bit much for me. I remember saying during their playoff run, that I almost felt bad cheering for a team that I didn't care about at all two years before (I'm not alone on this), but talk about one hell of a drop off. They went from the "can't do wrong Hawks" to the Cincinnati Bengals in the course of ONE Summer. They lost to Detroit in the Conference Finals, screwed up the signings of their batch of free agents, fired their GM Dale Tallon, signed Marian Hossa who is now out due to shoulder surgery (and is having HIS contract examined as well for wrong-doing), and now, had their all-star "face of the franchise" get arrested for assaulting and robbing a cab driver at 4AM (all the while only being 20 years old)!!! Now that's "Red FALLING!" It's getting to the point that when you open up the newspaper, you expect to see something negative when the piece is about the Hawks. Talk about a complete 180 from all of the kiss-ass stories about the Saint John McDonough! You guys wanted to be covered as "equals" in this town, be careful what you wish for.
Whether Kane blatantly committed the crimes that he is accused of committing, or the cab driver deserves equal blame for this incident has very little importance to me. You simply just CAN'T put yourself in those kinds of situations. I'm NOT going to get on him for underage drinking. Yes, it's wrong, but we all did it. I'm not that much of a hypocrite. I also don't care that he was out until 4AM...this is America, we can be out as late as we want. It's stupid when people say that you shouldn't be out that late, yes you should...if you want to, so I'm not going to preach about that either. You just have to be a little more tactful with how you handle things Patrick (Derrick Rose, Jonathan Toews, Tyrus Thomas, Michael Phelps, all young athletes). If the cab driver is bothering you (just my opinion that the cab driver is due some blame in this), immediately tell him to pull over, pay him what he's owed, and get a new cab. It's that simple. Just avoid any possible altercation BEFORE it has a chance to escalate into something as ridiculous as this. No one wants to hear the "I'm only 20 years old" excuse anymore. It sucks, yet you hear Kane, D-Rose, etc. talk about it all of the time. Guess what, you're NOT too young for all of the perks (big contract, endorsements, fame, girls, notoriety), so you're NOT too young for all of the responsibilities that come with them as well. It's that simple. Go out, have fun, enjoy the gifts that were presented to you. You'd be stupid not too, but recognize the fact that you are a part of 1% that were given these gifts which means that 99% of us weren't. A good portion of that 99% will always try and bring you down if YOU let them. Stop letting them.
Hit me up on facebook or in the comments section of this blog. Right now I'm listening to "Jumping the Shark" by The Lawrence Arms. Chicago's finest. Drinks of Choice: Milwaukee's Finest, MHL.
Peace the F.
Webby
Friday, August 7, 2009
Don't Nobody go in the Bathroom for about 35, 45 Minutes. Somebody Open up a Window.
I know that you don't smoke weed, I know this; but I'm gonna get you high today, 'cause it's Friday; you ain't got no job...and you ain't got shit to do.
Friends, happy Friday. It's raining in Chicago, and it seems like this is the first gloomy day that we've had in a month, so I guess we can't complain. People DO seem to complain about the weather all of the time. How pointless. Obviously it is something that we can't control, so why waste your breath? One of the worst things that people do is complain when it's super cold outside in the winter, but then when it warms up in the summer time, they bitch and moan about how hot it is. You can't have it both ways. If you like it cooler, don't bitch about it being cold out. I've always enjoyed hot weather myself. It can't be hot enough. Which makes one wonder why I've stayed in the midwest all of my life. Family I guess, but it sure doesn't make a lot of sense to live somewhere that is completely miserable for about four months out of the year (six if you're in Chicago), when we could easily move to a place such as San Diego where it's consistently in the mid-seventies year 'round. Why do we put ourselves through this? I don't know either? I DO know that I've just written an entire paragraph about the weather. Wow. I'm willing to bet that this is an all-time low, even for "Webby Files."
Now we need a topic that is the COMPLETE opposite of "talking about the weather." How about race/sexual orientation relations? Too edgy for you? That would definitely "pick it up a notch" around here. I do find it hilarious how talking about race in this country makes people SO uncomfortable. Obviously, being a strait white male, I've never experienced the negativity of racism/sexism/homophobia that others have, so naturally it's twice as difficult for me to grasp the magnitude that this topic carries with many individuals, but I do know that in order for strides to be made, people are going to have to stop sweeping this conversation under the rug and start attacking it head on.
The fact that homosexuals STILL don't have equal rights because of the ideologies of crusty, old, religious white dudes is beyond me. For some reason, the idea of Adam and Steve sharing the same rights as Adam and Eve just consumes the thoughts of these cats. They can't get away from it. How about this: Stop having affairs on your wives, or worrying about your guns being taken away, or forcing YOUR religion into schools where not all people share YOUR ideas, or stealing from your employees, or trying to "shoot down" the efforts of preserving our environment, or trying to KEEP health care as expensive as you possibly can, or trying to preserve the "war on drugs." Stop! These are REAL issues. Leave the gays alone! Just let them have equal rights so we can ALL pull together to solve the REAL problems of our country. That would be a good start.
Speaking of REAL issues...I believe that we should legalize all drugs. Yes. ALL DRUGS. Now I know that we're not all going to agree on this, but hear me out. I've never done drugs in my entire life (marijuana doesn't count, and I've barely done that.) This is NOT one of those stoner presentations that we all sat through in High School where the class pot-head shows off his psychedelic poster board on why marijuana should be legal so he can go smoke it during study hall. This is an important issue and I'll tell you why. I believe that legalizing drugs will solve a ton of the major problems that this country faces every single day.
First of all, if we legalize drugs today and release all of the NON-violent drug offenders that over populate our prisons, we'll save trillions of dollars every year from here on out. Trillions, all while decreasing the over-population problems that we're currently dealing with, and ending the constant need for tax payers to fund the opening of new facilities. That's a good start, huh?
How about this? If we legalize drugs today, the recession ends...TODAY. Instead of being a black market product like drugs currently are, with their legalization, American farms would immediately begin to grow everything from marijuana to cocaine and everything else in between...LEGALLY. Next to all of your corner liquor stores, there would be weed stores. This may sound weird to you, but you're taking a multi-trillion dollar economy that already exists, and simply making it legitimate (and everybody knows that alcohol/tobacco is just as/more harmful than drugs...and we've got NO problem with drinking our booze and smoking our cigarettes). All while creating billions of jobs in the process. Farmers, wholesalers, distributors, stores, etc., etc...the possibilities are endless. All on American soil, instead of illegally smuggling it in from Mexico, South America, and so on. We'd be back as an economic world power instantly.
Still not convinced? How about this one? Legalizing drugs will dramatically decrease the violence in our inner-cities. FACT. Remember Al Capone? During prohibition, ol' Al used to illegally smuggle alcohol into the speakeasies. That was one of his biggest products. He'd kill whoever was in the way of him making the money that he wanted to make by illegally distributing alcohol. Well guess what? You don't hear of people shooting each other over alcohol anymore do you? You know why? Because it is LEGAL. If you legalize drugs, and take them off of the black market by legitimately selling them in stores just like you do alcohol and cigarettes, all of the violence that comes with them will immediately fade away. 99% of gang violence IS drug related. Now I'm not saying that all of the violence will go away. These people will still find products to sell on the black market such as guns and other illegal things, but if you take drugs out of the equation (which legalizing them will do), you're taking a lot of ammunition from the hands of our American gangs. A good thing, me thinks.
So let's see here...we've effectively ended the recession by creating billions of jobs and creating an entire new economy, found the answer to our over-populated prisons (while saving tax payers billions), and essentially ended gang violence in our inner-cities. Not enough for you? Well, we're going to get this nation out of it's little debt that it's accrued by taxing the HELL out of these drugs as well. There's NO reason why our deficit should continue to climb when there's a product being sold on our streets every single day that we're not able to tax because it is illegal. It just doesn't make any sense. Tax the hell out of this stuff, and make money on both ends like the government does with everything else. Also, we'll have to regulate this just like we do alcohol. You must be 21 to purchase it, and you obviously can't drive while under the influence.
Of course, with an argument like this, there are always going to be those who say that if we legalize drugs, then there will be anarchy on our streets. It's simply not true. If heroin was legal tomorrow, I can guarantee you that I'm not going to go buy heroin. I'm just not. I'm smart enough to know how dangerous the stuff can be, so I'm not going to try it. I imagine that you reading this are in that same boat. It's no different than cigarettes. Cigarettes are legal, but now that our country knows how harmful they are, the percentage of smokers is going down every single year, but we still keep them legal. Why? Because we make a ton of money off of those who choose to lead a harmful life of smoking by continuing to grow/produce and tax them. We also have NO problem with gambling. There are casinos everywhere, yet I don't see anarchy on the streets (some would argue that that is what Vegas is...but I digress). The people who are doing drugs now will continue to do them...the people who aren't, will continue to be drug-free. The difference is that instead of drug lords/dealers/gangs/etc. reaping the benefits, the American people will be the benefactors. I've also heard that some people believe that if drugs were legal, the consumption would actually go DOWN. It's the whole "people won't be enticed to do them anymore because they won't get the rush of doing something that is illegal" (kind of like drinking/smoking not being anywhere near as cool when you're actually over 21.) As great as this theory sounds, I'm not sure that I buy it, but hey, if it IS true in some sense...then I guess it's a bonus.
We sure came a LONG way from talking about the weather didn't we?
Hit me up on facebook or in the comments section of this blog. Right now I'm listening to "Blood Brothers" by Bruce Springsteen. Drinks of choice: Livin' the High-Life. Make it a great weekend y'alls.
Peace the F.
Webby
Friends, happy Friday. It's raining in Chicago, and it seems like this is the first gloomy day that we've had in a month, so I guess we can't complain. People DO seem to complain about the weather all of the time. How pointless. Obviously it is something that we can't control, so why waste your breath? One of the worst things that people do is complain when it's super cold outside in the winter, but then when it warms up in the summer time, they bitch and moan about how hot it is. You can't have it both ways. If you like it cooler, don't bitch about it being cold out. I've always enjoyed hot weather myself. It can't be hot enough. Which makes one wonder why I've stayed in the midwest all of my life. Family I guess, but it sure doesn't make a lot of sense to live somewhere that is completely miserable for about four months out of the year (six if you're in Chicago), when we could easily move to a place such as San Diego where it's consistently in the mid-seventies year 'round. Why do we put ourselves through this? I don't know either? I DO know that I've just written an entire paragraph about the weather. Wow. I'm willing to bet that this is an all-time low, even for "Webby Files."
Now we need a topic that is the COMPLETE opposite of "talking about the weather." How about race/sexual orientation relations? Too edgy for you? That would definitely "pick it up a notch" around here. I do find it hilarious how talking about race in this country makes people SO uncomfortable. Obviously, being a strait white male, I've never experienced the negativity of racism/sexism/homophobia that others have, so naturally it's twice as difficult for me to grasp the magnitude that this topic carries with many individuals, but I do know that in order for strides to be made, people are going to have to stop sweeping this conversation under the rug and start attacking it head on.
The fact that homosexuals STILL don't have equal rights because of the ideologies of crusty, old, religious white dudes is beyond me. For some reason, the idea of Adam and Steve sharing the same rights as Adam and Eve just consumes the thoughts of these cats. They can't get away from it. How about this: Stop having affairs on your wives, or worrying about your guns being taken away, or forcing YOUR religion into schools where not all people share YOUR ideas, or stealing from your employees, or trying to "shoot down" the efforts of preserving our environment, or trying to KEEP health care as expensive as you possibly can, or trying to preserve the "war on drugs." Stop! These are REAL issues. Leave the gays alone! Just let them have equal rights so we can ALL pull together to solve the REAL problems of our country. That would be a good start.
Speaking of REAL issues...I believe that we should legalize all drugs. Yes. ALL DRUGS. Now I know that we're not all going to agree on this, but hear me out. I've never done drugs in my entire life (marijuana doesn't count, and I've barely done that.) This is NOT one of those stoner presentations that we all sat through in High School where the class pot-head shows off his psychedelic poster board on why marijuana should be legal so he can go smoke it during study hall. This is an important issue and I'll tell you why. I believe that legalizing drugs will solve a ton of the major problems that this country faces every single day.
First of all, if we legalize drugs today and release all of the NON-violent drug offenders that over populate our prisons, we'll save trillions of dollars every year from here on out. Trillions, all while decreasing the over-population problems that we're currently dealing with, and ending the constant need for tax payers to fund the opening of new facilities. That's a good start, huh?
How about this? If we legalize drugs today, the recession ends...TODAY. Instead of being a black market product like drugs currently are, with their legalization, American farms would immediately begin to grow everything from marijuana to cocaine and everything else in between...LEGALLY. Next to all of your corner liquor stores, there would be weed stores. This may sound weird to you, but you're taking a multi-trillion dollar economy that already exists, and simply making it legitimate (and everybody knows that alcohol/tobacco is just as/more harmful than drugs...and we've got NO problem with drinking our booze and smoking our cigarettes). All while creating billions of jobs in the process. Farmers, wholesalers, distributors, stores, etc., etc...the possibilities are endless. All on American soil, instead of illegally smuggling it in from Mexico, South America, and so on. We'd be back as an economic world power instantly.
Still not convinced? How about this one? Legalizing drugs will dramatically decrease the violence in our inner-cities. FACT. Remember Al Capone? During prohibition, ol' Al used to illegally smuggle alcohol into the speakeasies. That was one of his biggest products. He'd kill whoever was in the way of him making the money that he wanted to make by illegally distributing alcohol. Well guess what? You don't hear of people shooting each other over alcohol anymore do you? You know why? Because it is LEGAL. If you legalize drugs, and take them off of the black market by legitimately selling them in stores just like you do alcohol and cigarettes, all of the violence that comes with them will immediately fade away. 99% of gang violence IS drug related. Now I'm not saying that all of the violence will go away. These people will still find products to sell on the black market such as guns and other illegal things, but if you take drugs out of the equation (which legalizing them will do), you're taking a lot of ammunition from the hands of our American gangs. A good thing, me thinks.
So let's see here...we've effectively ended the recession by creating billions of jobs and creating an entire new economy, found the answer to our over-populated prisons (while saving tax payers billions), and essentially ended gang violence in our inner-cities. Not enough for you? Well, we're going to get this nation out of it's little debt that it's accrued by taxing the HELL out of these drugs as well. There's NO reason why our deficit should continue to climb when there's a product being sold on our streets every single day that we're not able to tax because it is illegal. It just doesn't make any sense. Tax the hell out of this stuff, and make money on both ends like the government does with everything else. Also, we'll have to regulate this just like we do alcohol. You must be 21 to purchase it, and you obviously can't drive while under the influence.
Of course, with an argument like this, there are always going to be those who say that if we legalize drugs, then there will be anarchy on our streets. It's simply not true. If heroin was legal tomorrow, I can guarantee you that I'm not going to go buy heroin. I'm just not. I'm smart enough to know how dangerous the stuff can be, so I'm not going to try it. I imagine that you reading this are in that same boat. It's no different than cigarettes. Cigarettes are legal, but now that our country knows how harmful they are, the percentage of smokers is going down every single year, but we still keep them legal. Why? Because we make a ton of money off of those who choose to lead a harmful life of smoking by continuing to grow/produce and tax them. We also have NO problem with gambling. There are casinos everywhere, yet I don't see anarchy on the streets (some would argue that that is what Vegas is...but I digress). The people who are doing drugs now will continue to do them...the people who aren't, will continue to be drug-free. The difference is that instead of drug lords/dealers/gangs/etc. reaping the benefits, the American people will be the benefactors. I've also heard that some people believe that if drugs were legal, the consumption would actually go DOWN. It's the whole "people won't be enticed to do them anymore because they won't get the rush of doing something that is illegal" (kind of like drinking/smoking not being anywhere near as cool when you're actually over 21.) As great as this theory sounds, I'm not sure that I buy it, but hey, if it IS true in some sense...then I guess it's a bonus.
We sure came a LONG way from talking about the weather didn't we?
Hit me up on facebook or in the comments section of this blog. Right now I'm listening to "Blood Brothers" by Bruce Springsteen. Drinks of choice: Livin' the High-Life. Make it a great weekend y'alls.
Peace the F.
Webby
Thursday, August 6, 2009
I Drive a Ferrari, 355 Cabriolet, What's Up? I have a Ridiculous House in the South Fork. I have Every Toy You Could Imagine. Best of all, I'm Liquid!
Friends, enemies, acquaintances, it's good to see you again. Sorry for posting so late in the day today. You can always tell how much I've drank the night before by how late in the day I write this stupid thing. I guess I don't really have a lot to say to you. I mean, what's really going on? The Cubs had a GREAT opportunity last night with the Cardinals and Astros already in the loss column from earlier in the day, and Rich Harden on the mound against Reds' no-namer Justin Lehr who was making just his second career start...and what happened? Of course, the guy throws a complete game shut out and Cincinnati beats the Northsiders 4-0 in one of the most un-eventful games of the season. The Sox had a nice win last night, but as I'm writing this they trail the Angels 9-4 in the top of the 9th inning at The Cell. A loss I presume. I'm still waiting to get some mixed copies of my EP that I recorded over the weekend. Hopefully that will give me something to talk about and they'll turn out to be decent enough to where I'll want to start playing some shows again...Seen any good movies lately? Me neither. I'm really looking forward to Tarantino's new flick that is coming out in a couple of weeks "Inglorious Bastards." From what I've read, it's about American soldiers who interrogate Nazi's back in World War II with very convincing methods. It stars Brad Pitt and I'm not sure who else. Knowing Tarantino's history, I'm sure that Samuel L. Jackson is in there somewhere yelling at the top of his lungs.
What a funny thing being an actor/actress must be. I can't imagine that it's very difficult, but with that being said, it's really easy to recognize the BAD ones. My goodness. There's nothing funnier than watching some really terrible acting. Whenever somebody asks me who my favorite actor is, I find it very difficult to answer. I have no problem answering who my favorite band is (The Smiths), or my favorite food (pizza), or my favorite color (navy blue), but there's something about those actors/actresses that makes it hard to give an immediate answer.
I guess maybe it's jealousy/envy, but it bothers me that dickholes like Ashton Kutcher and Vin Diesel make a ton of money doing movies when they don't display a particular talent of any kind. I'm never mad about athletes making it big, they're able to do something that no one else can. Musicians (whether I like their music or not), tend to have some talent as well, so I guess I have nothing negative to say about them either, what stand-up comedians do (even the bad ones) has to be one of the most difficult things of all of the performers, so they're safe in my book, but what does an actor/actress actually do?
Let's see here, I want you to act like you're doing something (something that real people do every single day), and we're going to give you as many takes as you need to get this scene right, and how about this? We'll even sub a stunt man for all of the difficult stuff because we don't want you to actually work...oh yeah, and we're going to pay you millions to do this. How does that sound Mr. Affleck? WHAT???!!! How did WE miss out on this? We all should have wanted to be actors/actresses when we were kids, NOT firemen and baseball players. We really missed the boat on this one!
I haven't done a list in awhile so here goes..."THE 10 WORST ACTORS in HOLLYWOOD" by Matt Weber.
10.) Vince Vaughn - Definitely not a popular pick I'm sure, but this guy plays the same exact character in every movie that he does. He's smart, funny and engaging, but somehow he gets amazingly hot chicks with very below average looks (if you don't mind me judging a dude) and he gives you the same jokes with the same delivery in all of his roles. I'd like to see him NOT be "Trent" from "Swingers" in every movie that he's in. I don't think that that's asking too much.
9.) Seth Rogan - A VERY poor man's Vince Vaughn. Broke and under a bridge he's so poor.
8.) Nicholas Cage - He's actually done some pretty good movies ("Raising Arizona," "Leaving Las Vegas"), and I give him credit for taking some chances with certain roles, but good god! This guy is a TERRIBLE actor. I just can't handle that expression-less delivery that he brings. Does his face even move?
7.) Keanu Reeves - An easy pick. Really, he's fairly similar to Nicholas Cage in that he has been in some decent movies ("Point Break," "The Devil's Advocate"), but he has absolutely NO acting ability. He'll always be "Ted Logan" as far as I'm concerned.
6.) Ben Affleck - Getting off of Matt Damon's coat tails was the WORST thing that this guy could have done. Not only is he a terrible actor, but I'm not willing to give him credit for co-writing "Good Will Hunting." There's NO WAY that this assclown could have contributed anything to a movie of that caliber. Stick to small doses Benny, do us all a favor and think roles like "Boiler Room" as the extent of your career.
5.) Sylvester Stallone - Just watch Rocky One through Six, Rambo One through Four, Over the Top, Stop! Or My Mom will Shoot, Cliffhanger, Demolition Man, etc., etc. If you need any more convincing, watch Judge Dredd. Ol' Rocko is one of the worst of all time.
4.) Arnold Schwarzenegger - I didn't think that I would ever be happy that he's the Governor of one of our fifty states. But as long as that means that he ain't acting, California keep voting.
3.) Dane Cook - I give him credit for doing the stand-up (even though it's so bad that I'm cringing just thinking about it), but seeing that he is somehow getting consistent roles in Hollywood while our country's unemployment rate continues to skyrocket...depressing.
2.) Ashton Kutcher - I dig the fact that he's from the midwest, and that he's a huge Cubs/Bears fan, but come on. How lucky can one guy be? He did that super annoying show on MTV "Punk'd," and somehow blossomed that into Demi Moore and a string of bad movies. Seeing him try and act in a serious role "The Butterfly Effect," is STILL one of the funniest things that I've ever witnessed.
...AND THE NUMBER ONE WORST ACTOR IN HOLLYWOOD ACCORDING TO ESTEEMED MOVIE CRITIC...ME!!!...
1.) Vin Diesel - I have NO idea where this guy came from. I have NO idea what movie directors/producers find appealing about him. I couldn't tell you WHO is buying tickets to the "Fast and the Furious" movies, or playing the video games, but WE need to take Vinnie and all of his supporters and put all of them into a line of fast cars that furiously drive off an enormous cliff one by one! This needs to be done soon, and effectively. I'll be sending out the corresponding details of this mission via email within the next few days.
There you have it. The 10 worst actors in Hollywood. Honorable Mention: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Will Ferrell, Sean William Scott, Steven Seagal (he probably should be number one, but he slipped my mind until now), Woody Harrelson, Burt Reynolds, Chuck Norris, Tom Cruise, Kevin Costner (definitely should have made the list, I despise this guy), Russel Crowe (personal taste) and SO many more.
Feel free to email me your picks on facebook or in the comments section of this blog. Right now I'm listening to "Trying to find a Balance" by Atmosphere. A little hip-hop on a Thursday afternoon. Drinks of choice: A&W, always refreshing.
Peace the F.
Webby
What a funny thing being an actor/actress must be. I can't imagine that it's very difficult, but with that being said, it's really easy to recognize the BAD ones. My goodness. There's nothing funnier than watching some really terrible acting. Whenever somebody asks me who my favorite actor is, I find it very difficult to answer. I have no problem answering who my favorite band is (The Smiths), or my favorite food (pizza), or my favorite color (navy blue), but there's something about those actors/actresses that makes it hard to give an immediate answer.
I guess maybe it's jealousy/envy, but it bothers me that dickholes like Ashton Kutcher and Vin Diesel make a ton of money doing movies when they don't display a particular talent of any kind. I'm never mad about athletes making it big, they're able to do something that no one else can. Musicians (whether I like their music or not), tend to have some talent as well, so I guess I have nothing negative to say about them either, what stand-up comedians do (even the bad ones) has to be one of the most difficult things of all of the performers, so they're safe in my book, but what does an actor/actress actually do?
Let's see here, I want you to act like you're doing something (something that real people do every single day), and we're going to give you as many takes as you need to get this scene right, and how about this? We'll even sub a stunt man for all of the difficult stuff because we don't want you to actually work...oh yeah, and we're going to pay you millions to do this. How does that sound Mr. Affleck? WHAT???!!! How did WE miss out on this? We all should have wanted to be actors/actresses when we were kids, NOT firemen and baseball players. We really missed the boat on this one!
I haven't done a list in awhile so here goes..."THE 10 WORST ACTORS in HOLLYWOOD" by Matt Weber.
10.) Vince Vaughn - Definitely not a popular pick I'm sure, but this guy plays the same exact character in every movie that he does. He's smart, funny and engaging, but somehow he gets amazingly hot chicks with very below average looks (if you don't mind me judging a dude) and he gives you the same jokes with the same delivery in all of his roles. I'd like to see him NOT be "Trent" from "Swingers" in every movie that he's in. I don't think that that's asking too much.
9.) Seth Rogan - A VERY poor man's Vince Vaughn. Broke and under a bridge he's so poor.
8.) Nicholas Cage - He's actually done some pretty good movies ("Raising Arizona," "Leaving Las Vegas"), and I give him credit for taking some chances with certain roles, but good god! This guy is a TERRIBLE actor. I just can't handle that expression-less delivery that he brings. Does his face even move?
7.) Keanu Reeves - An easy pick. Really, he's fairly similar to Nicholas Cage in that he has been in some decent movies ("Point Break," "The Devil's Advocate"), but he has absolutely NO acting ability. He'll always be "Ted Logan" as far as I'm concerned.
6.) Ben Affleck - Getting off of Matt Damon's coat tails was the WORST thing that this guy could have done. Not only is he a terrible actor, but I'm not willing to give him credit for co-writing "Good Will Hunting." There's NO WAY that this assclown could have contributed anything to a movie of that caliber. Stick to small doses Benny, do us all a favor and think roles like "Boiler Room" as the extent of your career.
5.) Sylvester Stallone - Just watch Rocky One through Six, Rambo One through Four, Over the Top, Stop! Or My Mom will Shoot, Cliffhanger, Demolition Man, etc., etc. If you need any more convincing, watch Judge Dredd. Ol' Rocko is one of the worst of all time.
4.) Arnold Schwarzenegger - I didn't think that I would ever be happy that he's the Governor of one of our fifty states. But as long as that means that he ain't acting, California keep voting.
3.) Dane Cook - I give him credit for doing the stand-up (even though it's so bad that I'm cringing just thinking about it), but seeing that he is somehow getting consistent roles in Hollywood while our country's unemployment rate continues to skyrocket...depressing.
2.) Ashton Kutcher - I dig the fact that he's from the midwest, and that he's a huge Cubs/Bears fan, but come on. How lucky can one guy be? He did that super annoying show on MTV "Punk'd," and somehow blossomed that into Demi Moore and a string of bad movies. Seeing him try and act in a serious role "The Butterfly Effect," is STILL one of the funniest things that I've ever witnessed.
...AND THE NUMBER ONE WORST ACTOR IN HOLLYWOOD ACCORDING TO ESTEEMED MOVIE CRITIC...ME!!!...
1.) Vin Diesel - I have NO idea where this guy came from. I have NO idea what movie directors/producers find appealing about him. I couldn't tell you WHO is buying tickets to the "Fast and the Furious" movies, or playing the video games, but WE need to take Vinnie and all of his supporters and put all of them into a line of fast cars that furiously drive off an enormous cliff one by one! This needs to be done soon, and effectively. I'll be sending out the corresponding details of this mission via email within the next few days.
There you have it. The 10 worst actors in Hollywood. Honorable Mention: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Will Ferrell, Sean William Scott, Steven Seagal (he probably should be number one, but he slipped my mind until now), Woody Harrelson, Burt Reynolds, Chuck Norris, Tom Cruise, Kevin Costner (definitely should have made the list, I despise this guy), Russel Crowe (personal taste) and SO many more.
Feel free to email me your picks on facebook or in the comments section of this blog. Right now I'm listening to "Trying to find a Balance" by Atmosphere. A little hip-hop on a Thursday afternoon. Drinks of choice: A&W, always refreshing.
Peace the F.
Webby
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
I Lied and said Chris had tumorsyphilisitisosis. They were gonna cancel Gumbel 2 Gumbel!
Hello friends. Do you believe in miracles? Our softball team made it seven in a row last night as we defeated the defending league champions The Mix 8-5, improving our record to (8-2) heading into the playoffs. I had a TERRIBLE game offensively going 0-4 for the first time in my softball career, but made up for it in center field with a nice diving catch that saved two runs.
We're tied with The Score and Jack FM for first place, and The Mix is in fourth place with a record of (6-4) after their loss to us which ended their four game winning streak. Playoff time starts next week, not for the faint of heart.
After the game, while drinking at a bar on Division St. with some friends/teammates, CBS' Greg Gumbel walked by the open window where we were sitting. He had two very creepy bald white dudes with him, each with a very impressive Tom Sellick-esque mustache (possibly bodyguards/lovers?), and it got me thinking of some of my brushes with athletes/celebrities that I've had over the years.
Working in sports radio for three + years, I've had my share of encounters with "the famous," mostly athletes of course, and there's generally a funny story that goes along with each meeting.
I was Shaquille O'Neal's personal escort around Chicago one time (not sexually...you creeps!) and for some reason I asked him, "Shaq...Kazaam?...Come on man?!" (Obviously, EVERYONE knows that Kazaam was a terrible movie, but only a D-BAG (me) would ask the star of the bad movie why he did it). The question didn't even phase him. He just looked at me, smiled and said, "Brotha, I made 6 mill doin' Kazaam." And that was it. Those seven words were one of the coolest things that anyone has EVER said to me.
I once got to play "Golden Tee" with the voice of "Golden Tee" Jim Nantz of CBS Sports. Not only did he kick my ass at the game, but we got him to say some of his lines from it as well, such as..."Get out the putter Peter." Excellent. I remember Cal Ripken Jr. would always say "cheese" before getting his picture taken (every single time). It was as if he was a robot, and saying "cheese" was his signal to let you know that he was now programmed and ready for you to snap the photograph. I've always thought that that was kind of strange. Ryne Sandberg was really cool (not just because he was my hero growing up), but he told me that he expects to see my picture up on the wall with all of the other NBC icons at the "NBC Tower" where I used to work. I'll NEVER forget that. Susie Esman from my favorite TV show "Curb Your Enthusiasm" said that I was "hot." She wasn't too bad either for a woman of her age. Jose Canseco was pretty much the tool that you might imagine wearing sun-glasses indoors and not saying two words to anybody, and I remember being pleasantly surprised about how nice and courteous Alex Brown of the Bears was when I drove him around on a golf cart down in Bourbonnais for training camp.
It's weird that these people (the famous) are so eccentric in their own way. I've always wondered whether you act like that because you're constantly in the "lime-light" due to your immense fame/fortune/popularity? Or, if the reason that you became famous/rich/popular in the first place was because you acted in that way? Not sure?
Let's just promise each other this...if either of us ever get rich/famous/popular at whatever it is that we're striving to do, we won't EVER do ANY of the following: Wear make-up for no reason (Steve Stone, Michael Jackson), sunglasses indoors (Jose Canseco, Jesse Rogers, Michael Jackson), become ultra paranoid about everything around us (Murph, anyone in radio management, Michael Jackson), alter the color of our skin (David Kaplan, David Schuster, Michael Jackson), or simply be an assclown to those around us (too many in sports/sports media to mention, Michael Jackson).
It's funny how MJ is so similar to everyone in sports/sports media isn't it?
Enjoyed talking to you today. I just found out that through all of the tie breakers, our softball team earned the #3 seed and will take on The Score (#2 seed) in the first round of the playoffs on Tuesday. Let's go. Hit me up on facebook or in the comments section of this blog. Right now I'm listening to "Last Pale Light in the West" by Ben Nichols. I've been on a real acoustic kick lately. Drinks of choice: After Bud Lights last night (didn't have a choice, and almost chose water. I feel as strongly about anti-Bud Light drinking as most Chicagoans feel about ketchup on a hot dog). Miller Lite I guess?
Peace the F.
Webby
We're tied with The Score and Jack FM for first place, and The Mix is in fourth place with a record of (6-4) after their loss to us which ended their four game winning streak. Playoff time starts next week, not for the faint of heart.
After the game, while drinking at a bar on Division St. with some friends/teammates, CBS' Greg Gumbel walked by the open window where we were sitting. He had two very creepy bald white dudes with him, each with a very impressive Tom Sellick-esque mustache (possibly bodyguards/lovers?), and it got me thinking of some of my brushes with athletes/celebrities that I've had over the years.
Working in sports radio for three + years, I've had my share of encounters with "the famous," mostly athletes of course, and there's generally a funny story that goes along with each meeting.
I was Shaquille O'Neal's personal escort around Chicago one time (not sexually...you creeps!) and for some reason I asked him, "Shaq...Kazaam?...Come on man?!" (Obviously, EVERYONE knows that Kazaam was a terrible movie, but only a D-BAG (me) would ask the star of the bad movie why he did it). The question didn't even phase him. He just looked at me, smiled and said, "Brotha, I made 6 mill doin' Kazaam." And that was it. Those seven words were one of the coolest things that anyone has EVER said to me.
I once got to play "Golden Tee" with the voice of "Golden Tee" Jim Nantz of CBS Sports. Not only did he kick my ass at the game, but we got him to say some of his lines from it as well, such as..."Get out the putter Peter." Excellent. I remember Cal Ripken Jr. would always say "cheese" before getting his picture taken (every single time). It was as if he was a robot, and saying "cheese" was his signal to let you know that he was now programmed and ready for you to snap the photograph. I've always thought that that was kind of strange. Ryne Sandberg was really cool (not just because he was my hero growing up), but he told me that he expects to see my picture up on the wall with all of the other NBC icons at the "NBC Tower" where I used to work. I'll NEVER forget that. Susie Esman from my favorite TV show "Curb Your Enthusiasm" said that I was "hot." She wasn't too bad either for a woman of her age. Jose Canseco was pretty much the tool that you might imagine wearing sun-glasses indoors and not saying two words to anybody, and I remember being pleasantly surprised about how nice and courteous Alex Brown of the Bears was when I drove him around on a golf cart down in Bourbonnais for training camp.
It's weird that these people (the famous) are so eccentric in their own way. I've always wondered whether you act like that because you're constantly in the "lime-light" due to your immense fame/fortune/popularity? Or, if the reason that you became famous/rich/popular in the first place was because you acted in that way? Not sure?
Let's just promise each other this...if either of us ever get rich/famous/popular at whatever it is that we're striving to do, we won't EVER do ANY of the following: Wear make-up for no reason (Steve Stone, Michael Jackson), sunglasses indoors (Jose Canseco, Jesse Rogers, Michael Jackson), become ultra paranoid about everything around us (Murph, anyone in radio management, Michael Jackson), alter the color of our skin (David Kaplan, David Schuster, Michael Jackson), or simply be an assclown to those around us (too many in sports/sports media to mention, Michael Jackson).
It's funny how MJ is so similar to everyone in sports/sports media isn't it?
Enjoyed talking to you today. I just found out that through all of the tie breakers, our softball team earned the #3 seed and will take on The Score (#2 seed) in the first round of the playoffs on Tuesday. Let's go. Hit me up on facebook or in the comments section of this blog. Right now I'm listening to "Last Pale Light in the West" by Ben Nichols. I've been on a real acoustic kick lately. Drinks of choice: After Bud Lights last night (didn't have a choice, and almost chose water. I feel as strongly about anti-Bud Light drinking as most Chicagoans feel about ketchup on a hot dog). Miller Lite I guess?
Peace the F.
Webby
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