A Favorite

Outside of pictures of my family and friends this is my favorite picture of all time. My boyhood hero, Bill Mazeroski, bringing home a world championship to the 'Burgh. And it was against the hated Yankees. Want to really annoy a Yankee fan? Ask them how is it possible to score more runs than the other team by a significant margin(55-27),out hit them (91-60), out homer them(10-4), hit for a higher batting average than them(.338 - .256), get two complete game shut outs from your ace (Whitey Ford) and still lose the World Series? Then point them to the 1960 Series.

And for extra points - to annoy Chicago Cubs fans point out that since 1945 only two teams with three even EX-Cubs have ever won a World Series (Pirates - 1960, Diamondbacks 2001). No team with more than 3 players tainted by the curse of the billy goat have ever done it. Now THAT's a curse!

My Life in Sports

Call me a naive.
Call me a wild eyed optimist.
Tell me that I've lost my mind, my common sense and any sense of proportion.
I don't care.

This picture by Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette perfectly expresses my feelings about my beloved Pirates. (If you're a Pirates fan you should be reading Dejan. Good writer, loves the 'Burgh and is a straight shooter about the ball club)



Yeah the skies have been dark for the Buccos. Better times are coming. I BELIEVE!

In other sports news:

I played what is assuredly my last round of golf for the summer. (For the record I believe it was my THIRD round of the summer. Sigh). I lost 3 balls and shot +14.

And was thoroughly satisfied.

Since my goal is to shoot bogey golf (+9) on a regular basis, a 14 over with as little play as I've had was pretty good (and yes the scorer was slightly generous, but only slightly). I was working on a new twist for my swing and it showed marked improvement. If I can only get out and play a bit more I might not be too far away from where I want to be. And it was a GLORIOUS fall day to play.

Volleyball season has begun. Lots of new team mates and I am arguably one of the best players on the team. Yeah, that's not good. We lost our first match 0-3 came back the next week to lose 1-2. You gotta like the trend. It's a fun group and we can laugh at ourselves. So we end up laughing a lot. Good exercise too. I'm happy.

Football pool time. I do a "for fun" pool with an Episcopal youth group in Minnesota, all done online. Last week I missed only the Bills game (never fill out your pool with your heart) and thereby was only down 5 points for the week. And finished THIRD!! That's pretty good but still, you miss one game you figure you might finish first. Hasn't happened in three years yet. I'm currently 22 overall for the season out of about 90 players. Still pretty good, only missing on one game.

Peace

From the sublime to the ridiculous

This is from Lark News:

Inner-city ministry trip confirms youths’ worst impressions

CHESTERFIELD — A youth group from a suburban mega-church traveled to inner-city St. Louis for a ministry trip which confirmed their preconceptions about urban poverty.

Full Story

Before anyone has a coronary Lark News is a parody news site.

And don't miss THIS:

Episcopal Church named official denomination of Major League Baseball

Here's some exciting news that's breaking this first day in April:
baseball

(by email)

As a part of opening week festivities, Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig and Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori announced today that the Episcopal Church has been designated the Official Denomination of Major League Baseball. The move was announced today in a teleconference with reporters.

Full Story from Episcopal Cafe

What day is it again?