It is official. Jonny Gomes has signed a major league contract with the Cincinnati Reds. It is very likely that Gomes will end up as the Reds starting LF for most games. He should definitely start against right handed pitchers but he also hit well against left handed pitchers as well.
I’m more excited about this season than any season I can think of in a long while.
Gomes finished the season last year with a .267 batting average with 20 HR and 51 RBI in less than 300 at bats.
Wrestlemania Moments
Wrestlemania X-Wrestlemania returned to Madison Square Garden for the 10th version of the classic event. Two classic matches took place on this card. Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart and the first Pay-Per-View ladder match between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon. I also recall that I did not watch this show live. My family and I were supposed to go to my Uncle’s house to watch the show (a bit of a tradition at the time). However, my family had to go without me because I had baseball practice.
Did You Know?
If you have 3 quarters, 4 dimes, and 4 pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.
The Jonny Gomes saga…continues!
Apparently, we’ll have to wait until today (instead of yesterday) to find out if Gomes is returning to the Reds. The market has pretty much dried up for him so I’m guessing he will end up back with the Reds. Amazingly, it might end up being a minor league deal. How a guy that hit 20 HRs last year can’t get a guaranteed deal is beyond me. I guess it is a sign of the economic times.
Tired
After our last break I felt great on the Monday that we came back. I don’t think I’ll be getting a repeat of those feelings.
On This Day In History
1980-The US hockey team defeats the Soviet team in a stunning upset. This victory helped propel them to a gold medal. Last night’s victory against Canada must have been pretty close to that feeling from 30 years ago.
Birthdays today include Hall of Fame manager from the Cincinnati Reds Sparky Anderson and Drew Barrymore. It also would have been the birthday of George Washington. I just watched Washington become President on John Adams. Amazingly, in over a year, I’m only up to part 5. It also was the birthday of Ted Kennedy.
Wrestlemania Moments
Wrestlemania VIII
The Ultimate Warrior Returns-In a surprise ending, the Ultimate Warrior returns to save Hulk Hogan from a two-man beat down. Remember, it was only 2 years earlier that Warrior beat Hulk Hogan in the main event. This was billed as one of Hogan’s last matches. 15 years later and he was still wrestling.
Programming Alert
Two of the movies on the Movie list are on television today.
The Patriot is on TNT at 1.
Dances With Wolves is on AMC at 12.
Bowling Scores for the Week
192, 134, 169
Watched a little of the curling late last night. It actually can be an enjoyable game. It is amazing how accurate they are when playing. I would watch more if (1) there were recognizable/well known athletes (2) they didn’t do all that screaming/yelling (3) all other sports disappeared from the face of the earth
This Day In History
1792-George Washington signs an act creating the Post Office. Amazingly, today the post office is losing millions and millions of dollars a year. There is even talk of reducing the number of days of deliveries to 5 to save money. I don’t do any online bill paying, so I use the post office quite frequently. Modern technology (email) has reduced the number of letter writers but that isn’t something that just started in the 1990s. I’m sure the telephone had a bigger impact on the Post Office than anything else. What do you think?
The local Cincinnati Reds newspaper is reporting that a decision will be made regarding Jonny Gomes and the Reds by Sunday. My feeling is that he will be back. There is definitely a lot of excitement in Redsland. I’ll have my season preview of the Reds in a few days.
Watched another classic movie yesterday, The Blackboard Jungle. Great movie…riveting performances by Sidney Poitier and Glenn Ford.
I even watched some of the Olympics. I was pulling for Shani Davis but he had to settle for the Silver medal. Today, USA plays Canada in hockey. That should be a good one.
Today’s (Sunday) Birthdays include Kelsey Grammar. Not too many people can say they had 2 back to back hit shows like Grammar can. Cheers and Frasier kept him on top for over 20 years. Not to mention his successful run as Sideshow Bob on The Simpsons.
Wrestlemania Moments
Wrestlemania IX
This Wrestlemania (along with Wrestlemania XI) was probably the worst of all of the shows.
As much as I enjoy my job, I’m not exactly looking forward to returning from vacation. I guess the bright side is there is only about a month or so until our next break and we’re only 4 months and a week away from the end of school.
Here’s the list I came up with. Some of these would have to be edited versions of movies. I will leave out short clips that I have.
Movies I haven’t seen that would be good
I would also use clips from John Adams, Ken Burns’ Baseball series and Roots.
I think it would be good to watch something like Pay It Forward as well.
I may never do this, but it is something I always wanted to do. I took a similar class in high school and thought it was very good. Most people would think it isn’t real teaching but I think it can be if done properly.
Only a few days left of vacation…sad but true.
Watched an American Revolution movie yesterday, April Morning. It wasn’t bad, although it got slow at the end. However, the scenes of the militia on the field at Lexington against Big Bad Britain were stunning.
I’m also working on watching the rest of the John Adams mini-series. It is absolutely riveting. If you haven’t seen it, you should. Just be sure to get your parents permission.
It got me to thinking…I’d love to make Core Extension a “History Through the Media” course. Basically we would watch and discuss movies that are historically based. Question of the Day: What movies would you recommend if such a course existed? The movies would have to be from the time period that we are learning (basically Native Americans to the Civil War). Another restriction would be that it would have to be appropriate for school. Keep in mind, we do watch Odd Girl Out in school.
Spring Training
This is Cincinnati’s first season in Arizona. I don’t think I’ll ever have the time to go to Spring Training but Arizona looks beautiful. Maybe I’ll go the year I retire, which won’t be for a loooooooong time. Who knows, by then the Reds might be back in Florida.
Baseball Cards
Million Card Giveaway
Apparently, Topps is holding a contest for “older cards your mom threw away”. There are hundreds, thousands, perhaps even millions of baseball card collectors who have stories of cards thrown away by mom that would be worth a fortune today. Fortunately, I don’t have a story like that…yet. I didn’t bring my baseball cards with me when I moved into my house so who knows what Mom will do with them over the next few years.
I think the contest will likely get people back into collecting baseball cards. It was a major part of getting me involved in baseball. Two things got me out of collecting: there were so many baseball card companies (now there is basically one) and the price of cards. To me it was a rip off to pay 2.50 for a pack that included 4 to 5 cards. When I was a youngster, you would get about 8 or 9 cards and a stick of gum!…ahhh those were the days!
This Day In History
1942-FDR signs an executive order allowing the internment of Japanese-Americans. Basically, Japanese-Americans were removed from their homes and put into camps during World War II. Hopefully today we see the unfairness of this. However, at the time, many people were for this as there was definitely a fear of foreigners in the US, especially during war times and after the attack by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor.
Wrestlemania Moments
Wrestlemania 7-The beginning of the streak
Wrestlemania VII was headlined by a US vs. Iraq confrontation. During the first Iraq conflict, a Patriot wrestler, Sgt. Slaughter “defected” and became an Iraqi sympathizer. It was at Wrestlemania VII that Hulk Hogan defeated Slaughter for the WWF title. However, to me, Wrestlemania VII will be known as the beginning of the streak.
It was the Undertaker’s first appearance at Wrestlemania. He defeated a future hall of famer, Jimmy Snuka. It was the beginning of an ongoing undefeated streak for the Undertaker, now at 17-0.
Tests/Quizzes are graded! What a relief! I’m sure I’ll find other things to do over the weekend.
Saw the movie Valentine’s Day the other day. It was ok.
Just finished watching Casablanca. What a great movie! This entire month TCM (Turner Classic Movies) is showing movies that have won Oscars or have an actor/actress who won for the role in the movie. The following movie then includes someone from the previous movie. Check it out if you like old-time/classic movies.
This was my first time watching Casablanca and I shouldn’t have waited so long. Unfortunately, the movie would probably be lost on today’s audience. Nothing blew up or morphed into a half man half hobbit. The dialogue was excellent. There aren’t many actors better than Humphrey Bogart.
Another interesting part of the movie (from 1942) is the amount of smoking that takes place. I felt the need to cough just watching the movie. Not surprisingly, Bogart did die of cancer at a relatively young age.
I was in Port Washington yesterday. It seems that Port got more snow than I did 2 days ago. Vacation snow=wasted snow!
Today’s birthdays include John Travolta, Vanna White, George Kennedy from the Naked Gun movies and Yoko Ono.
Wrestlemania Moment
Wrestlemania VI
Wrestlemania VI was the first Wrestlemania to take place outside of the United States (Canada). It marked the Ultimate Warrior’s WWF title victory in probably his best match ever (against Hulk Hogan). In fact, the two best matched that the Warrior had were at Wrestlemania V and VI. There is something about being on the big stage that makes stars elevate their game.
“The Luge isn’t a sport, it is a dare.”-Those were the words of comedian Bill Maher last night on Larry King Live. I enjoy the luge and bobsled competitions. However, there only seems to be a limited amount of athleticism in the events.
I guess the 4 year wait for the winter Olympics helps me to forget how many events there are that don’t seem to be sports.
Example: Curling. I play this one all the time and so do 90-year-old old ladies. It is called sweeping.
Figure Skating=Ballroom Dancing on Ice
Biathlon-Ski for 15 miles and then shoot at targets??? Who made this stuff up?!?!?
Even hockey has been terrible. Women’s hockey games have ended with double digit scores for teams in 4 out of 8 games. The point margin for the Men’s hockey games haven’t been much better.
Overall, one day until Spring Training!
I found myself watching American Idol and the dog show last night. The dog show is proof that it doesn’t take us much to forget that there are people suffering in Haiti. These dogs have it better than most people. The only reason this show was worth watching was to see the 80 year old women trotting with their dogs.
This Day In History
1801-The House of Representatives chooses Thomas Jefferson as the next President of the United States after the Electoral College did not choose a clear victory. In order to become President of the United States you need a majority vote in the Electoral College. If it doesn’t happen, it is the job of the House of Representatives to choose the President. As a matter of fact, Jefferson and Burr ended up with 73 votes each.
At that time, the person who finished in 2nd place became the Vice President. This changed with the 12th Amendment. Could you imagine John McCain as the VP for Obama? Or Al Gore, who nearly won in 2000 as the Vice President for George W. Bush?
Birthdays today include Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day and basketball legend Michael Jordan.
Wrestlemania Moment
Wrestlemania V: The Megapowers Explode
Hulk Hogan and Macho Man Randy Savage collide for the WWF championship. It all started over jealousy over Elizabeth, Savage’s manager. I guess that is why wrestling is often referred to as a male soap opera.
This marks Hulk Hogan’s 2nd title victory. It is also his 4th appearance in a Wrestlemania main event.
Nothing generates more sadness and outrage than animal cruelty. It made me so sad that people are actually doing this to dogs.
Birthdays today include tennis star John McEnroe and LeVar Burton. Burton, as mentioned previously, was the host of a children’s program called Reading Rainbow when I was a kid. He was also in Roots, a wildly popular mini-series about the injustices of slavery. I think he was also in the Star Trek shows.
Wrestlemania Moment
Wrestlemania IV included a tournament to crown a new WWF champion. However, it also included celebrity appearances by Vanna White and Bob Uecker. Uecker was a former baseball player who had a basically mediocre career but ended up a household name because of his gift of humor. He became a great play-by-play man, appeared in commercials and even had his own TV show (Mr. Belvedere).
At Wrestlemania IV, the running story was that Uecker wanted to meet Vanna White which leads to his confrontation with Andre the Giant, a man over 7 feet tall and over 500 lbs.
Today is Susan B. Anthony’s birthday. Anthony, of course, was instrumental in the women’s suffrage movement. Suffrage sounds like a bad thing (sounds to similar to “suffer”) but it actually is a good thing. Suffrage is the right to vote.
It is also the birthday of Simpsons creator Matt Groening.
I’ve been watching The Simpsons since I was a little kid. It truly is the classic of this generation. The only show that would have more staying power in reruns is Seinfeld and that is debatable.
Today is also a great day for painting, which is what I’ll be doing.
Wrestlemania III-
There were other great matches, but the 90,000+ were there because of the buildup between Hogan and Andre. The place erupted when Hogan slammed the 500+ pound Andre the Giant. This was probably the peak of wrestling popularity in the 1980s.
Early Morning Rant
I am sick and tired of the media or celebrities making up words by combining two other words. This week on the news I heard snowmageddon and snowpocalypse. Then there are words like bro-mance and mantrum. Why do we need a word like mantrum? A tantrum is gender neutral! It is time to retire these silly phrases. While we are at it, perhaps people can stop making nicknames by taking the first letter of their first name and the first 2 or 3 letters of their last name ala J-Lo and A-Rod. It has been done for 12 years now. Same for celebrity couples (Brangelina). Enough, Enough, Enough!
Any other goofy “blended” words that we need to retire?
Word Puzzle:
Answer: Missing You
Bowling Scores for the Week: 181, 165, 167 but yet another loss in the 10th frame. I used to be clutch in those spots but two weeks in a row I choked at the end. Hopefully next week I can change my luck.
Birthdays Today Include Julia Louis-Dreyfus from Seinfeld and Orlando Bloom. It also would have been the birthday of Horatio Alger. Alger was known for his “rags to riches” stories that were very popular during his time (mid to late 1800s). Most of the stories would begin with a poor youngster begging for money or working for a wealthy man only to end up working hard and ending up living a life of luxury and comfort. Obviously during a time when very few were living comfortably these were stories that would inspire youngsters to work hard and eventually move up on the social-class ladder.
In Honor of the upcoming Wrestlemania, highlights of Wrestlemania I. Wrestlemania I took place in 1985, I was just a little wrestling fan at the time but was instantly hooked by wrestling. If you aren’t a wrestling fan, you may want to skip this feature.
Every few days I’ll add a clip or highlight from youtube in preparation for Wrestlemania 26.
Despite Luge Death, Opening Ceremonies Open
This was quite a sad story. I happen to enjoy the luge and bobsled competitions more than any of the other sports in the Winter Olympics. I think this will likely put a damper on the games this year.
It really has gotten to the point that a lot of athletes put themselves at risk to get even better than the competitors of the past. That is why we have swimmers that wear those fancy suits and athletes that take steroids. These tracks that the lugers (is that a word?) use are extremely fast and dangerous.
Wrestlemania II
Wrestlemania 2 took place in 3 different arenas including the Nassau Coliseum. While there was a lot of classic wrestling (including a boxing match between Roddy Piper and Mr. T and a great battle royal including legends such as Bruno Sammartino and Andre the Giant) one of the great moments was Ray Charles singing America the Beautiful. I could not find a clip of it from Wrestlemania but below is a clip from a few years later.
Ray Charles is definitely one of a kind and his rendition of America the Beautiful could/should easily replace the Star Spangled banner as our national anthem.
This Date In History (February 14)
1920-The League of Women Voters was created
Celebrity Birthdays include Florence Henderson aka Mrs. Brady, Drew Bledsoe and Rob Thomas.
Mrs. Brady has to be included as one of the all-time TV moms. My question of the day, what TV mom do you think is the all time best mom?
I’m going to start off by nominating Marge Simpson, Jill Taylor from Home Improvement and Claire Huxtable from The Cosby Show.
