not sure who to cheer for in the World Series. I've got no pony in that race. Maybe TB since my sister lives in FLA.

I live in Florida, but Go Phillies!

[link] What might be the cutest kitten in the history of ever.

not sure who to cheer for in the World Series. I've got no pony in that race. Maybe TB since my sister lives in FLA.

Pro the Phillies: They're one of the original baseball franchises and have only won the World Series once in more than 100 years (back in 1980). They've won less World Series than the Cubs. They've won less World Series than the Marlins, who are an expansion team that's only about 14 years old. They have a very talented team, but that team is about to split apart by free agency. Their best players are in their prime right now. They could have another shot at it but it's not likely.

Pro the Rays: They are also an expansion team but they've never had a winning season until this year. They were the laughingstock of baseball until their current ownership group started to turn things around and draft great talent, and make smart trades. They're young, and have players with amazing potential and upside. They compete in the same division with the two richest franchises in baseball: the Yankees and Red Sox. The Yankees payroll this year was about $200 Million, Red Sox $130 million. The Rays payroll is about $40 million. Their manager is cool, and has nerdy glasses and uses words like "ubiquitous" in his interviews (very unusual for a baseball manager). He likes to ride his bike to work. Their fans nickname for the pitcher David Price (#1 draft pick in 2007 - who shut down the Red Sox) is Velociraptor Jesus. Their first baseman Carlos Pena was a highly touted prospect who kicked around and was almost out of baseball and the Rays took a chance on him, and he blossomed with them to become a team leader and home run hitter. He's well read and thoughtful.

Both teams are evenly matched, but the Rays have a slight advantage in that they have a lot of great left handed pitching which can neutralize the Phillies best hitters. Left handed pitching is Kryptonite for Ryan Howard.

I like worst-to-first underdogs. (Hey, I lived in Cleveland for ten years)

Go Rays.

(Although Joe nearly called the ump something that umps don't like to be called.)

(Hey, I lived in Cleveland for ten years)

When? Where?

I grew up on the west side, left permanently in the mid-90s.

Lewis went to Case for grad school, so we lived on the east side-- Richmond Heights for five and Hudson for close to another five from '94-03 Both of the kids were born at University Hospital.

Man, I LOVED Hudson so damned much.

Man, it's like a whole other town, that side of the city. But there is so much good stuff, I can't blame you for loving it.

I fell asleep during the game. Stupid evil chair. I gotta find the anti-sleep potion to counteract the spell that was obviosly put on the chair.

My next World Series question: when did they drop "devil" and become just The Rays? Where they not getting enough Baptists in the crowd or something?

ION: the windchimes have been playing all day. I think a slow storm front is moving thru.

Me=stupid. I had way too much caffeine today, sent my heart into overdrive. Known risk, known issues, had the energy drinks anyway. And then, of course, couldn't find my bottle of beta blockers. After a few hours of sitting on the couch watching TV, it's pretty much calmed down. (The reason for the energy drinks was that I finally had an actual idea for my research, and I kept losing my train of thought, and caffeine helps me focus.)

Note to self: before doing something stupid, make sure you know where the stuff you need to undo the stupid is. Or, possibly, try not to do stuff you know is stupid.