Trivia Q&A: April 23

We had a nice bounce back week of Trivia on Monday night, as the weather was beautiful and 12 teams came out for the festivities. Many of the regulars returned, and it was good to see them again. We started a little bit late, as the Red Sox game was still going on. We had two teams go neck and neck to the finish: "Dougie's Pupu Platter For 3" and "Jesse and The Rippers". They tied throughout all five rounds, including the last round, so for the first time in many months, we had to go to a tie-breaker question: "What year was the Statue of Liberty first dedicated?" Dougie's got it exactly right (1886) and were declared the victors.

Also, for the first time, a team got all five IQ Trivia questions right. My buddy Alex' team (whose name decorum prevents me from writing here) got all 25 points in the final round, but came up just two points short. Nice job, bud.

Next week, I am going to bring in one and possibly two new categories to try out. I'll announce them next Monday on the Trivia preview post.

Current Events
1. This former mayor of Moscow and president of Russia died on Monday at the age of 76.
2. White House advisor Karl Rove and this pop singer got intoa heated debate on Saturday night over global warming at a black-tie Washington dinner.
3. Michael Bloomberg unveiled his "Green Plan" on Sunday for New York, and how many trees would he like planted here in the next decade?
4. This actor drew a wave of bad publicity when he left a message on his ex-wife's answering machine, calling his daughter a "rotten little pig."
5. Yankees pitcher Chase Wright accomplished something last night vs. the Red Sox that only one other pitcher, Paul Foytack in 1963, has done before. What was it?
6. Juanita Millender-McDonald, a Democratic Congresswoman, died of cancer at age of 68 on Sunday. What state did she represent?
7. A pilot with the Navy Blue Angels died in an air crash while performing on Saturday. In which state did the accident take place?
8. Nicolas Sarkozy will face Segolene Royal in a runoff election to be president of which European nation?
9. This horror film was number one at the box office for the second straight week last week.
10. This Democratic senator surprised many people last week when he declared that "the war in Iraq is lost."

Answers: 1. Boris Yeltsin; 2. Sheryl Crow; 3. one million; 4. Alec Baldwin; 5. Wright gave up four consecutive home runs; 6. California; 7. South Carolina; 8. France; 9. "Disturbia;" 10. Harry Reid.

Quantity 1-10 Trivia
1. This is the number of baseball players who have hit 700 home runs in their MLB careers.
2. This was the number of "geese-a-laying" in the Christmas song, "The 12 Days of Christmas."
3. Pearl Jam, Brian McKnight, and LL Cool J all had this number as an album title.
4. This is the atomic number of nitrogen.
5. This number was worn by baseball players Billy Martin and Mookie Wilson.
6. This number on a computer's keyboard has a dollar sign above it.
7. In Dante's "The Divine Comedy," there are this number of circles of hell, as well as spheres of heaven.
8. This is the number of basic pillars of Islam.
9. Scorpio is this number sign of the zodiac.
10. This is the number of vice-presidents Richard Nixon had during his presidency.

Answers: 1. three; 2. six; 3. ten; 4. seven; 5. one; 6. four; 7. nine; 8. five; 9. eight; 10. two.

True or False ("The Q Train")
1. The writer Ernest Hemingway was born in the 20th Century.
2. John Steinbeck's non-fiction book, "Travels With Charley," describes a cross-country journey he made with his pet poodle.
3. Tennessee was one of the original 13 colonies of the United States.
4. The Statue of Liberty is actually wearing sandals on her feet.
5. Nancy Pelosi is a Congressional representative from the city of San Diego.
6. Puma is another name for a wild cat commonly known as a mountain lion.
7. Shark's fin soup is a controversial delicacy in the country of China.
8. In biology, the "double helix" describes the specific structure of blood.
9. The Eagles were once the backup band for pop singer Linda Ronstadt.
10. The 2000 Summer Olympics were held in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Answers: 1. false, he was born in the 19th Century; 2. true; 3. false; 4. true; 5. false, she represents San Francisco; 6. true; 7. true; 8. false, it describes DNA; 9. true; 10. it was held in Sydney, Australia.

General Knowledge
1. Fictional rocker Chris Gaines was the alter ego of which country singer?
2. According to Abbott and Costello's classic rountine, "Who's On First," who plays third base?
3. In which TV series did Tom Hanks regularly appear in drag?
4. Which 15-year-old actress' Calvin Klein jeans ad in 1980 cause much controversy?
5. What was the original color of Post-It notes?
6. Who wrote the immortal Vito Corleone line, "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse?"
7. How many digits make up an official US Social Security number?
8. What is used as the logo of the Prudential Life Insurance Company?
9. "The Bloomin' Onion," a deep-fried onion sliced to look like a flower, is a popular menu item at which restaurant chain?
10. Which current US government official served as Secretary of Defense under President George H.W. Bush?

Answers: 1. Garth Brooks; 2. I Don't Know; 3. Bosom Buddies; 4. Brooke Shields; 5. yellow; 6. Mario Puzo; 7. nine; 8. The Rock of Gibraltar; 9. Outback Steakhouse; 10. Dick Cheney.

IQ Trivia
1. Queen Victoria of England was known as the empress of what country? (5 points)
2. How many children did the Von Trapp family have in the musical "The Sound of Music?" (4 points)
3. Nebraska's entire eastern border follows the path of which river? (5 points)
4. In 2005, George W. Bush became the first sitting US president to visit which Asian nation, which refers to America as its "third neighbor?" (6 points)
5. Which animal is represented by a caduceus, the medical symbol? (5 points)

Answers: 1. India; 2. seven; 3. Missouri; 4. Mongolia; 5. the snake.

Trivia's On For Tonight

Tonight is another night of Monday Night Trivia. Last Monday was a difficult transition back to Mondays, as the bad weather kept a lot of people away (and I'm sure many people may not have realized the changeover). But the weather can't be an excuse as it will be a spectacular day today. So I hope to see many of you tonight.

The Red Sox are playing the Toronto Blue Jays tonight at 7, so we may start Trivia at about 9:30. It will depend on the number of people in the bar and when the game concludes. Tonight's categories are Current Events, General Knowledge, IQ Trivia, Quantity 1-10 and True Or False (that will be the lightning round).

Here is the Sneak Peek question:

Which 15-year-old actress' Calvin Klein jeans ad in the 1980s caused much controversy?

A Couple of High School Kids?

I was watching the Red Sox game with the Yankees tonight with my dad, and when Dustin Pedroia came up for the Sox, he said, "He looks like that guy who played a medic in 'Saving Private Ryan.'"

Upon closer review, I agreed with my dad that Pedroia does bear a resemblance to Giovanni Ribisi, who eventually gets killed in that epic film. (It should have won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1999. "Shakespeare In Love?" Give me a break.)

It looks like you can barely get a whisker between both of these guys, and they both look like they belong back in high school.

At least Dustin had two hits tonight and saved the game in the eighth. Whatever happened to Mr. Ribisi?

Bombs Away, and Swept Away

It was an historic night at Fenway Park on Sunday night, as the Red Sox swept the Yankees, 7-6, in an exciting game at Fenway, which capped an exciting three-game weekend between the ancient rivals.

The history was made in the third inning, as with two outs, Manny Ramirez, J.D. Drew, Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek all hit consecutive home runs off Yankee starting pitcher Chase Wright. They were all solo shots, but all four were bombs, very hard hit homers. Wright had pitched decently for 2 2/3 until he started getting the ball up, and paid the price. It was the first time since 1964 that an AL team had hit four consecutive home runs. (It was done in the NL last year by the Dodgers, and ironically, Drew hit one of the homers.) It was also the first time the Red Sox hit four consecutive home runs in an inning in team history.

The game was a seesaw battle, as the lead kept changing hands. Lowell hit his second homer of the night to seal the deal, a three-run shot that was the difference in the seventh. Dustin Pedroia made a diving catch to keep the lead at 7-6 to end the eighth, and Jonathan Papelbon continues to be one of the game's best closers, as he shut New York down in the ninth, getting Alex Rodriguez (aka Mr. April), to ground out to third with a man on to end it. (Didn't you just know that Rodriguez would face Pap to close it out?)

Manny Ramirez had three hits and Jason Varitek had a great weekend, as he appears to be coming out of his doldrums. Daisuke Matsuzaka pitch 7+ innings, but was not as dominant as his first three starts, and allowed all six runs the Yankees scored. But he got the win, and finally got some run support. (The Sox scored only five runs in his first three starts.)

The Red Sox starters didn't have the best weekend, but the Red Sox won all three games, and came from behind to win all of them. They are finding ways to win and that is always a good thing. The Yankees clearly have bullpen problems, as Joe Torre once again used Andy Pettitte in relief for one inning. He once again used Scott Proctor, who had nothing and gave up Lowell's second homer. If the Yankees don't get better results from their pen, they won't make to October, even if they score 1000 runs this year.

But the Sox continue to get excellent results from their pen, as the starters continue to give them lots of innings, most being quality innings. The Red Sox bullpen gave up just one run in the three games, while the Yankees pen got raked over the coals. As I have continued to say until I am blue in the face: it all comes down to pitching, and the team that pitches better will have the best chance in October.

It was the first Red Sox sweep over the Yankees at Fenway Park since September 1990. It's only April, but it's always a great night to see the Red Sox congratulating themselves on the Fenway infield after a win, and a weekend, like this.

Especially when the team in other dugout has "NEW YORK" on the front of their jerseys.

Happy Birthday Ellen

I come from a very large family, both on my mother's and father's side. (My father is one of 7, and my mom is one of 11.) I grew up with tons of aunts, uncles and cousins. Some of my most treasured memories have been family gatherings at the holidays such as Christmas and Easter. On Sunday we had a gathering of many of my relatives at my cousin Ellen's 50th birthday at my aunt's house in Queens.

We all had a really enjoyable time. Many of my cousins are married, and brought their kids with them. They are the next generation of my family, and they are a beautiful group of kids. There was plenty of food, which was really good. (I indulged a little too much I think, as I felt like I gained about five pounds when the day was over!) It was also nice to talk to many of my cousins who regularly check out my blog and have them tell me how much they enjoy checking it out.

My cousin Eileen, who is my oldest cousin and Ellen's sister, lives in Hawaii and joined us by cell phone a number of times during the afternoon. During the day, we had a contest about how well we all know Ellen's life. It was about 40 questions on all various parts of her life. I was chosen as a judge (along with our family friend Mildred) on the questions' answers, as my reputation as a Trivia Maven got me the position. My family was divided into four groups, and we all had fun guessing at the answers. (I did make a ruling on one question, and tossed it out because it was not worded properly. I felt like I was back at Professor Thom's.)

We also did a game called "Rock, Paper, Scissors" which matched all of us up against each other in a knockout tournament to determine the winner. It was the standard game where two people put out either a fist, two fingers or their whole hand at each other. My brother-in-law Jack was the winner, albeit a reluctant one as he really didn't want to play when it started. But it was still fun.

There was also a very nice retrospective on Ellen's life on a computer disc, which we all watched on my aunt's computer. It was really nicely done, with many old pictures of Ellen, her immediate and extended family. (I even saw myself as youngster in pictures I never saw before.)

We all enjoyed ourselves today (although watching the Mets lose to the Braves today on TV wasn't fun), and it was really nice to be with my relatives today. I am really blessed to have such a warm and loving family, and I thank God every night for it.

I really hope you enjoyed the day, Ellen. We all certainly did.

Comments Section Change

I've had to make a change in the way my readers can leave comments. Some jackass spammer has been leaving his crap on my blog the last few days, so I have now changed the way you can leave comments. You now have to put in word confirmation in the box to leave a comment. Sorry I had to make this change but I was tired of this nonsense.

Spam (at least the email variety) is not "lovely", or "wonderful" (as the Monty Python "Spam" song suggests), so knock it off, or I'll track you down out there, and force you to eat "Spam" and I ain't talkin' about the crap you're sending through email either!!

"We Beat Him Before, and We Can Beat Him Again"

God, was that eighth inning beautiful.

I was at Professor Thom's last night, and there was a depression for a good part of last night's Red Sox-Yankees game, with Alex Rodriguez hitting two home runs off Curt Schilling. The offense looked rather sluggish most of the night, as they couldn't seem to get a clutch hit when they needed it most.

The Red Sox finally got it going in the 8th when David Ortiz doubled, Manny Ramirez walked, and Mike Lowell singled. It was 6-3, and Joe Torre brought in Mariano Rivera to try and get a five-out save. When Rivera was coming in, my buddy Eric reminded me of an immortal moment that none of us who were there will ever forget.

It was September 17, 2004, and Eric and I were at a packed Riviera Cafe watching the Red Sox and Yankees. It was 2-1 going into the ninth, and I remember Eric was depressed thinking the game was over because Rivera was coming in. I reminded Eric that the Sox beat Rivera the previous July 24 on Bill Mueller's homer. "He's not infallible," I said. "We beat him before, and we can beat him again."

And sure enough that night, the Sox scored two runs in the ninth and beat Rivera, 3-2. (That was the famous "catch the ball" line that Rivera called out to Kenny Lofton as he couldn't catch a Johnny Damon fly ball that brought in the winning run.) The Riviera went totally bananas that night, and it made me wonder , "God, what would this place be like if the Red Sox win the World Series?" (I would find out the answer exactly 40 days later.)

Rivera had nothing last night, as Jason Varitek singled, Coco Crisp tripled (why wasn't Doug Mientkiewicz guarding the line?) and Alex Cora singled over a drawn in infield (ah, the memories of Luis Gonzalez in November 2001 came flooding back) to put the Red Sox up 7-6, and Professor Thom's went into a total frenzy. It seemed like the walls were literally shaking.

Hideki Okajima came in for Jonathan Papelbon, who pitched the last two nights, and got the save, including getting Rodriguez on a soft liner to second for the second out. (I love the way the NY Post front-page headline was just A-Rod's two HRs, but the loss was only in little print. However, the NY Daily News pointed out Rodriguez' out in the ninth in one of their headline stories today. They'll be booing A-Rod again soon in the Bronx, just wait and see.)

BTW, did anyone else notice that Johnny Damon (you remember him, the former Sox centerfielder) went 0-for-5 and two strikeouts last night?

Professor Thom's exploded in delight after the game. I was hugging and high-fiving my friends last night, and the emotion was simply incredible. Eric couldn't believe the Red Sox beat Rivera again, and that he brought back that special memory to light again. It was a huge, big-time win for the Sox, in a game the Yankees simply needed to have but let get away. Torre knew that and pulled out all the stops. But he badly managed this game. He brought in Mike Myers at the wrong time, to face Big Papi (but up by 4 runs with no one on base?), yanked Andy Pettitte too soon, and pulled Jason Giambi for a pinch-runner ill-advisedly in the eighth (he would have batted in the ninth). After the game ended, we all drank a toast to Joe Torre for his badly managed game. Thanks again, Joe.

And now you have to wonder if Mariano Rivera is hiding an injury, or worse for him, finally in decline. However, we've seen him get off to slow starts before, so you have to be careful here. But if his glory days are behind him, the Yankees are in trouble. Real trouble.

Last night was also the 95th anniversary of Fenway Park, as it opened on April 20, 1912. And on that day, the Red Sox also beat the Yankees (then known as the Highlanders) by the same score, 7-6, but in 12 innings. That season, the Red Sox celebrated their new home by winning the World Series. (The Sox also wore green jerseys last night in special remembrance of the late Red Auerbach. Yes, wearing "green" to remember "Red." You gotta love it.)

It was a difficult night for 7 1/2 innings, but the memorable finish made the night worth all the bother. It was a night no one wanted to see end, and the memories of the special nights in October 2004 back for a brief reprise.

Countdown To San Diego

I've updated my countdown clock at the top of my blog, and I've adjusted it to the weekend series when the Red Sox go out to San Diego, starting June 22. I will be going out there for that three game series, and I really can't wait to go back there.

San Diego is simply a gorgeous city. My dear friends Peggy and Ken are devoted Padres fans, and I went out to their wedding in August 2004. No trip out there would have been complete without a trip to Petco Park (pictured), so we saw the Padres play the Braves. The Braves won, 5-4, but I had a great time there.

Petco Park is simply a stunning new ballpark. It is located right in the heart of downtown San Diego, and its easy to get to. Ken gave me the complete tour of the park, and it was great to stand in the left field bleachers during batting practice waiting for a ball to be hit out there. (I didn't end up getting any however.) The coolest feature of the ballpark is the century-old warehouse, the Western Metal Supply Company, that was incorporated into the building of the park, in left-field.

My friends and I will be on opposite sides of the fence during the series, which is long sold out. There will be a large contingent of Red Sox Nation at the series, as there are thousands of expatriate New Englanders living in Southern California.

Two months until Red Sox-Padres. Should be a blast!

Don't Worry

Don't worry everyone.

The next time Alex Rodriguez boots one at third base, or makes a critical out in a clutch situation that ends up costing the Yankees a game at home, those "classy" Yankee fans will go back to their favorite spectator sport and boo Slappy.

Count on it.

And no matter what Rodriguez does the rest of the season at the plate, always keep one thing in mind:

Alex Rodriguez can't pitch.

Mirabelli Again!

Dougie went deep again.

And my Site Meter went bonkers, again.

Last Friday, Doug Mirabelli belted a home run, and immediately the number of visitors to my site went through the roof. I had 69 hits during the hour of Mirabelli's Friday home run. (I normally get from 10-15 hits on a typical night at 8 PM.) Last night, my numbers were even bigger the same hour Doug hit his second homer. (When I got the news of Doug's homer, I raised my arms in the air and yelled out, "There goes my Site Meter numbers again!")

And sure enough, they skyrocketed. I had almost 100 hits on my site right after Mirabelli's slam. It's almost as if Red Sox fans run to their computers as soon as Doug lets one fly.

In the last week, I've had over 650 hits on my site from people looking for the comic "day" in Doug Mirabelli's life. I get a lot of college kids from New England looking for it, especially from all the major universities. But last night's searchers were from a diverse number of places, such as California, Tennessee, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and even foreign lands like Canada, Ireland and Chile.

It was the second biggest day I've ever had in terms of total hits, as I had 332, which just fell short of my single best total of 338, which I did last November. And just this morning, I've already passed 100 hits for the day, and I've never done that before. (People are still looking for Dougie!)

No question Dougie should play more and hopefully hit more homers. (It will be interesting to see what my numbers will be if he doesn't hit a home run the next time Tim Wakefield pitches, which will be next Monday night.)

As for last night's game, Tim Wakefield pitched seven masterful innings, bringing his record to 2-1. He's been sensational so far, and was aided by homers from Mike Lowell, David Ortiz and Our Boy Doug, as the Red Sox beat the Blue Jays, 4-1. It was an important win to get, as Julian Tavarez goes up against Roy Halladay in the series finale in Toronto today.

Never Forget: Oklahoma City

It was 12 years ago today that one of the most horrific tragedies in American history occurred, when a truck loaded with explosives blew up at the Alfred Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, killing 168 innocent people, including 19 children. I'll never forget that day, and the numbers of people killed in that terrorist attack was simply too horrific to come to terms with at the time.

Six years later, the Oklahoma City tragedy was dwarved by the September 11 attacks, with numbers of dead that was simply so unbelievable. But in those years, families who lost loved ones in both attacks formed a common bond, and today there are many 9/11 family members at the ceremonies to lend support to those people of Oklahoma City.

I have personally met many people who lost loved ones in Oklahoma City, as they come to New York every year to support the 9/11 families each anniversary. Their caring and warmth towards us was truly inspiring, and greatly appreciated by everyone. My thoughts and prayers are with them on this grim anniversary.

There is a beautiful memorial at the site of the bombing, with 168 separate chairs, one for each victim, and they light up at night. (See the above picture.) I have never been to Oklahoma City, but I have seen film of the memorial site and it is truly special and a wonderful tribute to those innocents who perished that day.

Back in September 2002, a man who lost a loved one in the Oklahoma City attack told me that it gets harder with each anniversary that his loved one is gone, and taken away so brutally. He is absolutely correct. It never gets easier.

Please say a prayer today for all those whose lives were altered forever by the terrible tragedy in Oklahoma City 12 years ago today.

They will forever be in my prayers.

My Favorite Number 18: Brook Berringer

Yesterday I received a really nice email from John Fahrer, who is a big Red Sox fan from Omaha, Nebraska. John has followed my writings here at The Mighty Quinn Media Machine, and also at Bornintoit.com for some time. He drops me a line from time to time with his thoughts on some of my columns and about the Red Sox. John is also a huge Nebraska Cornhuskers fan.

John's email yesterday was about his favorite all-time player who wore number 18: Brook Berringer, the Cornhuskers quarterback from the mid-1990s. Berringer came out of nowhere in 1994 to lead Nebraska to the Orange Bowl against Miami that year and the national championship. Berringer typified that "everyman" quality, and won a place in the hearts of Cornhuskers fans everywhere.

He was looked upon as a pro prospect, but two days before the NFL Draft in 1996, he was tragically killed in a light plane crash in Nebraska. It was 11 years ago today that the crash occurred. John sent me an email about it, so I thought I would turn this post over to John, about his "Favorite Number 18: Brook Berringer."

My Favorite Number 18
by John Fahrer

A little while back, you wrote about the number that was issued to new pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka: 18. That number of course was also worn by notable Red Sox outfielder Dustan Mohr as well as that Damon guy. In my neck of the woods, the number 18 is and always will be reserved for one man. This young man experienced many highs and lows in his college career. He spent his junior season filling in for the injured quarterback ahead of him, getting hurt himself, and ultimately played a major contribution in winning a National Championship. His senior season saw little playing time. But despite that, he remained a very popular player and was thought to be drafted by the NFL in the early rounds. Unfortunately, this young man was taken from us just days before the draft. I'm not sure if this guy is all but forgotted outside of Nebraska (much like Tony Conigliaro seems to be forgotten outside of Boston), but it's been nearly eleven years since that heartbreaking day and I'd very much like to share with you my memories of my favorite number 18: Brook Berringer.

Brook Warren Berringer was born in Goodland, Kansas in 1973. He grew up watching Nebraska football and it was his life-long dream to one day play for coach Tom Osborne. That dream came true when he arrived in Lincoln in the early 1990's. It was a bittersweet fulfillment (at the time) however. Also arriving that fall was option-wiz Tommie Frazier of Bradenton, Florida. Brook would be number 2 on the depth charts for most of his career.

In 1994, Frazier was sidelined early in the season due to blood clots in his knee. It was now Brook's time to shine. Berringer kept his team undefeated and even suffered an injury of his own along the way. After taking a devastating blow from the previous week's game, Berringer was pulled from the Oklahoma State game and would miss the following week's game against Kansas State. After that short haitus, Berringer remained durable for the remainder of the season.

Tommie Frazier was clear to play in the 1994 Orange Bowl against Miami, which meant back to the bench for Brook. After trailing in the first half, Osborne put Berringer back on the field for the second half. With Berringer back in the game, the Huskers rallied back to tie the game. But ultimately, the winning drive included Frazier on the field (the touchdown was a 20-yard rush by current Detroit Lions fullback Corey Schlesinger). Frazier may have been on the field to taste the victory, but everybody knew that Berringer was the man who was responsible for leading the Huskers to the 1994 National Title. And the fans never forgot that the following season...and they never will.

Berringer had great size and the right tools to be a successful quarterback in the NFL. But on April 18, 1996, Berringer (who was a licensed pilot) and his girlfriend's brother were in a small aircraft above Raymond NE. The plane lost turbulance and crashed into an alfalfa field. Neither passenger survived.

Tom Osborne delivered the following statement shortly after hearing of
his former player's death: "The Brook I knew, there is nothing he could have done better. The length (of his life) was not what you would have liked. But the quality couldn't have been better."

Eleven years later, that statement seems more true than ever.

Here's a link to a nice Brook Berringer tribute video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-NRMZPFw6E

Thank you for sharing, John.

You Make Up This Picture's Caption

My friend Adam sent me another classic photo. It is a picture of everyone's favorite whipping boy, Mr. Image Conscious himself, Alex Rodriguez, getting a "massage" from The Late Show With David Letterman's own, Biff Henderson, during a recent bit for the show.

Oh, that A-Rod. What a card. He'll do anything to make people happy.

Adam also sent me some classic dialogue from "Seinfeld" to go with it. I think it is very appropriate to the above photo.

Enjoy.

George enters acting nervous.
Jerry: What's with you?
George: A...
Jerry: Yes, A...?
George: A man gave me...
Jerry: Yes, a man gave you...?
George: A man gave me... a massage.
Jerry: So?
George: So he... had his hands and, uh, he was...
Jerry: He was what?!
George: He was... touching and rubbing.
Jerry: That's a massage.
George: And then I took my pants off.
Jerry: You took your pants off?
George: For my hamstring.
Jerry: Oh.
George: He got about two inches from... there.
Jerry: Really?
George: I think it moved.
Jerry: Moved?
George: It may have moved, I don't know.
Jerry: I'm sure it didn't move.
George: It moved! It was imperceptible but I felt it.
Jerry: Maybe it just wanted to change positions? You know, shift to the otherside.
George: No, no. It wasn't a shift, I've shifted, this was a move.
Jerry: Okay, so what if it moved?
George: That's the sign! The test; if a man makes it move.
Jerry: That's not the test. Contact is the test, if it moves as a result of contact.
George: You think it's contact? It has to be touched?
Jerry: That's what a gym teacher once told me.

A Pizza and Beer Bash At Fenway

The Red Sox won handily 7-2 over the Angels on Patriots Day yesterday, with Josh Beckett pitching six solid innings and David Ortiz bashing his fourth home run of the season. But that's not what this game will be remembered for.

J.D. Drew hit a foul pop in the bottom of the seventh into the left field stands, and a Red Sox fan with a beer in his hands missed it and beer went flying from some of the other fans. But another fan behind him tossed an entire $8 slice of pizza right at him ($8 for a slice of pizza?) and it hit him, and NESN's cameras picked up the whole thing, and now it is all over the Internet. It's an absolute riot.

What a waste of good (or is that bad?) pizza.

Terry Francona had the best line about it.

"As long as they're not throwing them at me or us, that's OK."

Trivia Q&A: April 16

The conversion of Trivia Night from Monday night to Tuesday night was a tough one last night. Most of the people who came into the bar were headed upstairs to The Loft to watch "24," which the bar shows and attracts many people who make it like a party. But last night, probably because of the show and the weather, he had just five teams competing in Trivia.

It was disappointing, but I still enjoyed the game. It was won by a team called The New Times Roman. The contest was close throughout, and the winners rolled up the best score in IQ Trivia to win by eight points.

One of the questions I asked turned out to be wrong, and proof was shown to me by one of the contestants. In General Knowledge there was a question about Infiniti and the company in Japan that started it. As it turned out, my source for the question was wrong (they said "Honda" and it was in fact, "Nissan"), and I corrected it during the game and adjusted the teams scores.

I hope we can get a better turnout next Monday. The Red Sox have a game that night against Toronto, and hopefully a few Sox fans will join in after it is completed.

Current Events
1. This author of "Slaughterhouse Five" and "Cat's Cradle" died last week at the age of 84.
2. This presidential candidate now has raised more money than any other presidential candidate for 2008 so far, with $31 million.
3. This thriller, which was released last Friday, grossed $23 million and was the number one film in America last week.
4. This legendary singer, best known for his version of "Tiny Bubbles," died over the weekend at age 76.
5. This company knocked Exxon Mobil out of the number one slot on the Forbes 500 list of the largest companies in the US for 2006.
6. Barry Nelson, the first actor to play this legendary movie character on TV, died last week at the age of 89.
7. This African nation approved the deployment of 3000 UN troops into Darfur on Monday.
8. This NFL QB, who threw for over 44,000 yards in a 14-year NFL career, retired last week.
9. Johnson and Johnson is recalling over 4 million bottles of this product after determining they might be contaminated by bacteria.
10. Protestors in India burned effegies of this Hollywood actor after he kissed an Indian actress on the cheek and hugged her at an AIDS awareness event in New Delhi last weekend.

Answers: 1. Kurt Vonnegut; 2. Hillary Clinton; 3. "Disturbia;" 4. Don Ho; 5. WalMart; 6. James Bond; 7. Sudan; 8. Drew Bledsoe; 9. Listerine; 10. Richard Gere.

Quantity 1-10
1. This is the number of wings that both butterflies and dragonflies have.
2. This is the number NYC subway train that runs from Times Square to Shea Stadium in Queens.
3. This is the atomic number of oxygen.
4. This is the number the great soccer star Pele wore in both the US and Brazil.
5. Aries is this number sign of the zodiac.
6. This is the number of leaves that shamrocks usually have.
7. In Judaism, The Torah is divided into this number of books.
8. The catcher's position in baseball is referred to by this number.
9. In American and Canadian Football, the number of points received automatically for a touchdown.
10. William Henry Harrison was this numbered US president.

Answers: 1. four; 2. seven; 3. eight; 4. ten; 5. one; 6. three; 7. five; 8. two; 9. six; 10. nine.

Noreaster Trivia (The Q Train)
1. What is the capital of Vermont?
2. Which Great Lake borders Buffalo, NY?
3. How many states make up New England?
4. Which state does Senator Robert Menendez represent?
5. Which university's nickname is The Nittany Lions?
6. Which northeastern state was founded by Roger Williams?
7. What state's nickname is The Nutmeg State?
8. Which holiday is celebrated every third Monday in April in Massachusetts?
9. In which state is the Naval Academy located?
10. In which Connecticut city is Yale University located?

Answers: 1. Montpelier; 2. Erie; 3. six; 4. New Jersey; 5. Penn State; 6. Rhode Island; 7. Connecticut; 8. Patriots Day; 9. Maryland; 10. New Haven.

General Knowledge
1. During which decade did the rebellious "Beat Generation" writers flourish?
2. "K" is the chemical symbol for what element?
3. Since 2003, Entertainment Weekly has published a column called "The Pop of King," written by an author from which book genre?
4. The catch phrase, "Save the cheerleader, save the world," was popularized by which TV show in 2006?
5. A small statue of which saint figures prominently in a scene in the 2005 movie, "Crash?"
6. In 1975, Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in which US city?
7. A meterologist uses a hygrometer to measure what atmospheric condition?
8. Infiniti is the luxury car division launched by which Japanese car manufacturer?
9. The city of Kuala Lumpur is located in which Asian country?
10. Created between 1501 and 1504, Michaelangelo's "David" is made from what material?

Answers: 1. The 1950s; 2. potassium; 3. horror; 4. "Heroes;" 5. St. Christopher; 6. Albuquerque, NM; 7. humidity; 8. Nissan; 9. Malaysia; 10. marble.

IQ Trivia
1. Thought to be the deepest depression on the Earth's surface, the Mariana Trench lies closest to which Asian country? (6 points)
2. Thabo Mbeki has been president of which country since 1999? (5 points)
3. Boasting more than 70% of the state's population, which of the Hawaiian Islands is the most populated? (4 points)
4. Galena ore is mined primarily to obtain which metal? (5 points)
5. The Civil War battles of Bull Run are also known by which other name? (5 points)

Answers: 1. The Philippines; 2. South Africa; 3. Oahu; 4. lead; 5. Manassas.

Monday Night Trivia Returns

Tonight sees the return of Monday Night Trivia to Professor Thom's bar in the Village. We moved it back to Monday because of the baseball season, and the fact the Red Sox will be playing every Tuesday night for the next five months, and the crowds are usually pretty good for those nights, especially when playing big games against teams like the Yankees.

Monday night's are more convenient, as they have a good number of off days on Mondays. There will be some conflicts, like when they play late night games out West we will start Trivia Night earlier, at 8 PM. (That won't happen until June 4th.) Until then, Trivia Night will begin at its usual time, 9 PM. Trivia Night will move back to Tuesday night in September, when Monday Night Football returns.

I've also decided to give you a "sneak peek" every Monday at what to expect on Monday Night Trivia. The special category tonight will be "Noreaster Trivia," in honor of the terrible weather we've had over the past few days. However, the questions will be about Northeast trivia (not the weather), and it will be "The Q Train" lightning round. The other four categories, Current Events, General Knowledge, Quantity 1-10 and IQ Trivia, will be on hand.

Now the sneak peek question: "A small statue of which saint figures prominently in a scene from the 2005 movie, 'Crash?'"

Hope to see many of you for Trivia tonight, despite the weather.

A Trailblazer Remembered

Today in Major League baseball, it is Jackie Robinson Day. The baseball pioneer is being remembered in all fifteen ballparks today, as it was 60 years ago today that he made his debut as a first baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers in their Opening Day game against the Boston Braves at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn.

It was a momentous day, as it was the first time a black player played in a major league game in the 20th Century. (It is mistakenly thought that Robinson was the first black player ever in the majors. That is not true, as there were black players playing in the majors as late as 1884. They were unofficially banned from the game to please many Southerners who simply wouldn't play with black players. It is unfortunate that many of those black players are all but forgotten.)

MLB has done a nice job remembering Robinson, who was simply a trailblazer. Earlier this year, Ken Griffey Jr. asked baseball if he could wear number 42, which has been retired throughout the game, on the anniversary. His idea blossomed among many other players, and today, Coco Crisp, David Ortiz and DeMarlo Hale will wear the number for the Red Sox, as well as Willie Randolph will for the Mets.

But I found something very curious. The entire Los Angeles Dodgers team will wear 42, as that was the franchise Robinson played his entire career for. But why is EVERY player on the St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Astros, and Philadelphia Phillies wearing it? It is especially ironic that all the Cardinals and Phillies are wearing 42, as when Robinson came up in 1947, those were two of the teams that gave Robinson the hardest time, hurling racial abuse at him when they played the Dodgers. MLB should have just let a select number of players or coaches wear it. Letting an entire team wear it (besides the Dodgers) somehow cheapens the special nature of it.

It is well-known that Jackie Robinson had an extremely difficult time in his first years in the majors. He faced death threats, abuse from other players and fans, teammates that resented his presence, and hotels that wouldn't serve him. His career was unlike any other player, before or since. He had not just all of Black America watching his every move, but that of White America as well. Every black player should thank him every night for what he went through to integrate the game. They have reaped the benefits of his sacrifice.

I saw Jackie Robinson once in person. I was 10 in 1972, and Gil Hodges died suddenly that April of a heart attack. His funeral was held in a Catholic church near my home in Brooklyn, just 11 blocks away, and my father, my sisters and I viewed the proceedings from across the street, with hundreds of others. A whole bunch of players from past and present came, and I'll never forget seeing what appeared to be an elderly black man with white hair get out of a car. A man near me said, "That's Jackie Robinson." And it was. The late Dodgers announcer Red Barber once said that everything Robinson went through probably took many years off his life, and in 1972, he was just 53 years old, but he looked much older. He died six months later, of complications from diabetes.

The bad weather in the East will prevent some players from wearing 42 today, and that is a shame. But MLB is to be commended for remembering a brave man who 60 years ago today took the baseball field and changed the game forever.

Another Strong Outing From Schilling

Curt Schilling pitched eight scoreless innings on Saturday as the Red Sox blasted the LA Angels for the second straight day, 8-0 at Fenway.

Schilling was in command all day, and was never in any serious trouble. He struck out four and allowed just four hits. He has now not allowed an earned run over his last fourteen innings, since he gave up five runs to Kansas City in four innings on Opening Day. No runner even reached third base against Curt, whose ERA is now 2.84.

David Ortiz hit his third homer of the year, a three-run shot in the eighth to cap the scoring. At first, the runs were tough to come by for the Red Sox. They scored their first two runs on a ball hit by Jason Varitek that Gary Matthews misjudged and was charged with an error. They scored their next run on a wild pitch. They left the bases loaded in the second inning, and it looked like they would again in the third until Matthews made the error.

The noreaster that hit has threatened both final games of the series (as well as the Mets game here in New York, and games in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Atlanta), and tomorrow's game is the Patriot's Day 10 AM start. Fortunately the Angels return to Fenway in mid-August, so both games can be made up then.

But if both games are rained out this weekend, it will mean that Josh Beckett will get the start in Toronto Tuesday night, and Daisuke Matsuzaka will be pushed back to Wednesday, and he will not start against the Yankees this weekend. A very interesting scenario indeed.

Dougie Goes Deep, and My Site Meter Goes Wild

Tim Wakefield finally got some run support last night, but it didn't come until the fifth inning, and courtesy of his personal batterymate, Doug Mirabelli (pictured, with Dustin Pedroia). He blasted a John Lackey pitch into the Red Sox bullpen for his first home run of 2007 to tie the game with the Angels at 1. Mirabelli would also drive in another important run to give the Red Sox a 3-1 lead in the sixth.

As soon as he hit the home run, I said to a friend of mine I was watching the game with, "My Site Meter numbers are going to go crazy after this." That was in reference to the funny Doug Mirabelli "Day in the Life" article I have on my blog that I posted last July. Red Sox fans seem to find it all the time, but since the season began, the number of people finding has gone up dramatically. For those of you who may never have seen it:
http://quinnmedia.blogspot.com/2006/07/day-in-life-of-doug-mirabelli.html

And boy, did the Site Meter ever go wild last night. I had about 100 hits on my blog at about 5 PM yesterday for the day, but when I got home just before midnight, I had 175 hits from 5 PM on. And I checked to see where they came from, and about 90% where people looking for the Mirabelli post, and 95% of them were from New England. The numbers seemed to be the highest right after Doug hit the home run. (I guess it made many Red Sox fans run to their computers!) I had an amazing 275 hits yesterday. (My Site Meter numbers also spiked when Doug caught Tim Wakefield for the first time last week.)

Makes me wish Dougie played (and hit homers) more often.

As for the game, Tim Wakefield gave another sterling performance, pitching seven innings and allowing just one earned run. This time he got a well-deserved win, as Brendan Donnelly and Jonathan Papelbon shut down the Angels rally in the eighth, and the Sox added six runs in the bottom of the inning to ice a 10-1 win. Mike Timlin finished up in the ninth to finish it off. David Ortiz, J.D. Drew and Mike Lowell had two RBIs each in the eighth as the Red Sox busted out again after being shut down Wednesday night.

She Can't Handle The Math?

I'm a big fan of the show, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," both the reruns on the Game Show Network and the daytime version on ABC. I check it out every once in a while, and I was watching it today, and I saw something truly amazing, and it left me shaking my head.

A woman was on the show and had just gotten through the first five questions ("The Idiot Questions" as I call them) and reached the $1000 plateau. The $2000 question was a real gimme question, and anybody who graduated from grammar school could have gotten this one right.

"If the sun rises at 7:14 in the morning and sets at 5:11 in the afternoon, how much sunlight will have there been during the day?"

Quick addition would bring the answer, "9 hours and 57 minutes" which was one of the choices. But this woman was so flustered by the question (rarely have I seen anyone react to a question like this on the show), and said to host Meredith Vieira, "I was hoping there would be no math questions." She didn't even resort to using a lifeline, which were still available to her. She didn't attempt to try to do it in her head, she just took a wild stab at it and got it wrong.

I've noticed over the years that game shows (especially "Jeopardy") may get some really intelligent people on it, but they also get some really strange ones as well. I can't say this woman was strange, but I've never seen someone almost fall apart like that over a simple math question. She didn't seem nervous about being on TV. I guess math isn't her forte.

But I am truly amazed that a woman like this got on the show. I tried out for the daytime edition of the show a number of years ago when it first debuted in syndication, and the test to get on was extremely difficult, and I didn't make the first cut. (They didn't tell you the score of your test, just whether you reached the passing grade. And they didn't even tell us what the passing grade was.) They asked questions on subjects all across the board, like science, politics, history, sports, literature, and yes, even math.

I think it might be time to take another stab at getting on the show. Maybe they've eased up on the test a bit, and I can get on. If this woman can get on...

UPDATE: I've since checked the "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire" web site, and they will be holding contestant auditions for next season's shows in mid-April (which is right around now). I want to thank that lady for inspiring me today, as I'm going to try to get on.

Imus Gets Shown The Door

Well, everyone has an opinion on this subject, so it's time for me to add my two cents to it.

Don Imus was fired by CBS Radio and WFAN on Thursday, one day after MSNBC dumped his TV simulcast of his morning program after last week he referred to the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos." It wasn't hard to see this coming, as the negative publicity over this has been snowballing as the week has gone on. It's been the number one story on TV today, and it's even been ahead of the bombing of the Iraqi parliament that killed eight people on some news shows.

Of course it's because the Imus story is such a more important story. Good God.

I'm no fan of Don Imus; never have been. (I was a big Howard Stern fan in the days of their very public feuding on their radio shows, before Howard disappeared into the black hole of satellite radio.) Make no mistake about it, Imus has a long history of saying outrageous things about people of all races and backgrounds. His past on-air offenses are long and well-known so I won't list them here. What he said about the Rutgers team touched a raw nerve because they were a feel-good sports story, an underdog (as well as local to New York team) that fought their way to the NCAA women's final against Tennessee against some long odds, but which they ultimately ended up losing. They were a nice story, but Imus had to find some way to ridicule them, as he does to most things of this nature.

And since race played a big factor here, it made it all the more incendiary. I believe that Imus had thought himself bulletproof when it comes to controversies like this, and in his mind he figured it would all blow over. I'm sure he figured with his standing with Washington's elite politicians who come on his show to take his abuse, "The I-Man" had nothing to fear.

But the fact he went after young college girls like this really pissed too many people off. And also the fact he didn't apologize for 48 hours after he said what he said didn't help matters any either. And of course the fact that all but two of the women on the team are black made it a real firestorm.

Imus made an absolutely fatal mistake by going to the altar of that "paragon of virtue" and notorious racist hustler, Al Sharpton, and basically grovelled at his feet and apologized to him, thus starting "The Imus Apology Tour." (I refuse to refer to Sharpton as "Reverend," as that is an insult to all decent men of the cloth everywhere.) It was a pathetic attempt by Imus to salvage his career by going to Sharpton and trying to convince him and his radio audience that he's not at all a racist. Sharpton refused to accept his apology, as he thought Imus wasn't "sincere enough." (How ironic in that Sharpton was behind the Tawana Brawley hoax, and ten years after it ended was found guilty in court of defaming Steven Pagones, an upstate DA who he accused of raping the woman. Sharpton never once apologized to Pagones, or paid a dime to him as ordered by the court. His buddies paid the tab for it.)

But make no mistake about it. Imus might have survived, but when his sponsors at CBS Radio started bailing out on his show (the number was rumored to be close to 100 by Thursday), he was done. Don Imus began costing his company money. That's the bottom line, and when that happens, he's got to go. Forget all the self-serving nonsense from CBS and MSNBC with their reasons why they let him go. When they start losing money, there's a problem and heads have to roll.

I'm not crying over Imus' firing. He crossed the line of common decency, picked on a target he absolutely should never have, and now pays the price. Now Imus gets to go back to his ranch in New Mexico and count his millions. He could possibly pop up back on satellite radio, which is outside of FCC control and rant all he wants to. I bet he disappears for a while until all of this dies out. Imus has been down and out many times before and come back stronger. But he is 67 now, and maybe his time has come and gone. We'll see.

He's out of radio for now. I guess the world's a much better place now, right?

Dice-K vs. Pat Metheny

Back in early March, I was able to land a ticket to see Pat Metheny at Carnegie Hall on April 11. When I first got it, I went to my Red Sox schedule, as I wanted to see who they were playing and at what time that day. It was the Seattle Mariners at 7:05 that night. I figured it was one night I'd pass on the Red Sox to see the show, and I hoped it wouldn't be an important game. It being an early season contest, I hoped for the best.

Oh well.

Last night turned out to be the Fenway Park debut of Daisuke Matsuzaka. I made a decision earlier this week that I would go into Professor Thom's for the first inning to check out Dice-K's start, and then head up to Carnegie Hall to see the Pat Metheny show, which fortunately didn't start until 8 PM.

The bar was jammed by game time. The game had the feel of a postseason game or a game against the Yankees, as so many people wanted to be together to the see Dice start. And of course, the first hitter to the plate for Seattle was Ichiro Suzuki. The flashbulbs were a-poppin' when Suzuki took the first pitch for a strike. He would ground back to the mound, the most popular ground ball back to the mound since Edgar Renteria hit one back to Keith Foulke on a memorable October night in 2004. Jose Vidro singled with two outs, and I thought, "Well, he won't pitch a no-hitter tonight."

After the top of the first I took off for Carnegie Hall by subway. I made it with plenty of time to spare. I had a tremendous seat, in the 11th row off the stage on the main floor. I've been to Carnegie Hall once before, to see Eric Idle do a one-man show in 2000. Before the show began, I checked my cell for the Sox game score, and it was 1-0 Seattle in the third. "It's early" I thought.

Pat Metheny is a world-class jazz guitarist whose been making great music since 1975. He's probably best known to many for his work on "The Falcon and The Snowman" soundtrack with longtime friend and keyboard player Lyle Mays, and the song, "This Is Not America" that he did with David Bowie, and was actually a hit song in 1985. (He's also well-known for the shaggy hairstyle he's always had as well.) He opened the concert with pianist Brad Mehldau, and they did a 35-minute, three song acoustic opening. Then their bassist, Larry Grenadier and drummer, Jeff Ballard, came on stage. They then did four songs, mostly from the last two Pat Metheny albums.

The band was very tight, and I was especially impressed with Jeff Ballard on drums. There was almost no chat with the audience until that set concluded, and Mehldau introduced the band. Then, Metheny brought out one of the most unusual instruments I have ever seen: a "Pikasso guitar." It has 42 strings on it, and it looks like (as well as sounds like) a cross between a guitar and a harp. (See the photo above, as it is Pat playing the Pikasso.) Metheny played a solo tune on it, and Mehldau explained that the guitar was especially made for Metheny.

The band came back on afterward and they played two more songs. I had my cell off during the concert, as there were parts of it (especially during the acoustic set) that if it went off, the whole concert hall would have heard it. Just before the encore started, my friend Steve sent me a text message: SEA 3, BOS 0. FINAL. Dammit, the offense went south again.

In all, the concert went two hours and fifteen minutes. I really enjoyed it, as Pat Metheny was in fine form, playing all types of guitars, and giving his fans their money's worth. He has always been a bridge between contemporary and traditional jazz, and his band was in great form as well. (For more, Pat's official web site is at: www.patmetheny.com)

When I got home, I discovered the Red Sox got only one hit the entire game, a single by J.D. Drew in the eighth. ("What, one goddamn hit?" as Bob Uecker famously asked in "Major League.") Felix Hernandez simply stymied the Sox all night long, and bested Daisuke in his Boston debut. Very frustrating to see the Red Sox bust out with 14 runs one day, and offense barely gets one hit the next. The Red Sox have now been shutout twice in eight games, and scored one run or less three times. I know it's very early in the season, but let's hope this isn't a trend. But the pitching continues to be very, very good.

As far as last night goes, I think I made the right choice to see Pat Metheny.

Two Touchdowns

It couldn't have been a more perfect day for the Red Sox on Tuesday afternoon.

The 1967 AL Champions were honored before the game, on the 40th anniversary of that incredible season, and they collectively threw out the first game balls. Nice to see so many of them together again. Robert Goulet was even there to sing, "The Impossible Dream," to honor the team and he did a nice job with it.

On a 43 degree day that would have been a better fit for the Patriots, the Red Sox scored early and often against Jeff Weaver, and the game was laugher after just two innings. Weaver couldn't find home plate, threw 70 pitches in two innings and was gone. It was 7-0, and it just got better for the Red Sox, and they coasted to a 14-3 win.

Julio Lugo reached four times in the first four innings, and J.D. Drew hit a home run to dead center that was simply amazing, the distance he hit with what looked like simple swing (the look on Weaver's face was simply priceless when he saw it go out).

Jason Varitek busted out with three hits, and Josh Beckett was masterful. In seven innings he allowed just one run on two hits. He threw just 84 pitches in dominating the Mariners, including striking out Ichiro Suzuki three times.

As the game was ending, there was some fireworks. After Brendan Donnelly struck out Jose Guillen to start the eighth, they started jawing at each other, and Guillen pointed the bat at him and made a move toward the mound. Cooler heads prevailed as Guillen was tossed from the game. Donnelly and Guillen have a bad history between them. Guillen, a known hothead and troublemaker, and Donnelly were teammates on the Angels in 2004 and didn't get along at all. That was also the year Guillen was sent home in September by Mike Scioscia in the middle of the pennant race for conduct detrimental to the club, despite having a fine year at the plate. He never returned to the Angels that year and was later traded. In 2005, while with Washington, Guillen had the umpires check Donnelly's glove in a game against the Angels that led to a an onfield confrontation between Scioscia and Frank Robinson that nearly got really ugly.

Donnelly then hit Kenji Johjima, the next batter, with a pitch and he was ejected. Donnelly later said that he didn't intentionally hit him. Well, no matter who you believe, don't invite Guillen and Donnelly to the same party.

Mike Timlin made his first appearance and wasn't sharp, gave up two runs to end the game at 14-3. It was a memorable Opening Day at Fenway, as it usually is.

And now the hype really gets going, as Daisuke Matsuzaka makes his Fenway debut tonight.

Trivia Q&A: April 10

We had 17 teams competing in the final Tuesday Night Trivia contest, as it will be moving to Monday beginning next week. I made the announcement of the switch before we got going, and there were some noticeable groans in the bar. There was a good crowd in the bar. I spent almost the entire day at Professor Thom's, as I spent the afternoon watching the Red Sox 14-3 mauling of the Seattle Mariners on Fenway's Opening Day. We had another fine night of Trivia, with the team known as Don Imus Fan Club pulling out a two-point victory.

The scores were a little higher than usual this week, as most teams seemed to do very well in The Q Train and General Knowledge (I guess I'll have to make them harder next week). Most teams got two of the five IQ Trivia questions right, and only one got "The Rubaiyat" question correct.

It was good seeing many of the regulars last night, but others were noticeably absent. I hope many of you can make it on Mondays from now until September (when Trivia Night will go back to Tuesday). I did hear from a few people that Monday isn't good for them, but with the Red Sox playing just about every Tuesday night, and the big crowds that they draw to Professor Thom's, a switch to Monday was inevitable.

Current Events
1. This prominent Republican said on Fox News Sunday this past weekend that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should resign over the firings of the US attorneys.
2. Radio talk show host Don Imus made controversial comments about this group last week, causing his two week suspension by CBS Radio on Monday.
3. This film was number one for the second straight week, taking in $23 million last week.
4. Johnny Hart, creator of this classic comic strip, died at his upstate New York home last Saturday.
5. Zach Johnson defeated Tiger Woods by two strokes to win this major golf tournament last Sunday.
6. Researchers say that tai chi may actually help prevent this painful skin condition in older people.
7. A nurse was arrested on Monday, accused of setting a fire that killed three people in a high-rise building in this city on March 28.
8. Four consecutive days of cold and snow wiped out an entire series of baseball games in this midwestern city over the weekend.
9. A cruise ship sank last week off the coast of this country, and two people are missing and presumed drowned.
10. A teenager and her mother were arrested in Illinois, accused of running an escort service through using an ad on this popular web site.

Answers: 1. Newt Gingrich; 2. Rutgers women's basketball team; 3. "Blades of Glory;" 4. B.C.; 5. The Masters; 6. shingles; 7. Houston; 8. Cleveland; 9. Greece; 10. Craigslist.

Quantity 1-10 Trivia
1. This amendment to the US Constitution is used to protect witnesses from being forced to incriminate themselves.
2. As of 2006, in our solar system, this is the number of bodies orbiting the Sun considered to be planets.
3. This number subway train in NYC runs from Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx to South Ferry in Manhattan.
4. This number was worn by baseball Hall of Famers Lou Gehrig and Earl Weaver.
5. In the Bible, this number day is the day God rested on after creating the world.
6. Julie Andrews starred in a 1979 film with just this number in the title.
7. Thomas Jefferson's portrait is on this numbered papered US bill.
8. This is the number of strings on a standard guitar.
9. This is the number of Beethoven's last completed symphony.
10. In astrology, Gemini is this number sign of the zodiac.

Answers: 1. five; 2. eight; 3. one; 4. four; 5. seven; 6. ten; 7. two; 8. six; 9. nine; 10. three.

True Or False ("The Q Train")
1. Rex is the Latin name for king.
2. Formica is made from plastic.
3. Miles Davis wrote the first jazz composition to win the Pulitzer Prize for music.
4. Socrates, the Greek philosopher, never wrote anything down.
5. Antarctica contains 70% of the world's fresh water.
6. Jazz musician William Basie was better known as "Duke."
7. The singer Prince's real first name is Harold.
8. The capital of Alaska is Anchorage.
9. Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president.
10. The Loop is an historical center of downtown Los Angeles.

Answers: 1. true; 2. true; 3. false, it was Wynton Marsalis; 4. true; 5. true; 6. false, it was "Count," 7. false, his real first name is Prince; 8. false, it's Juneau; 9. true; 10, false, it's in Chicago.

General Knowledge
1. What was the title of the biggest hit song by the 1980s group The Weather Girls?
2. What crop is harvested by a thresher?
3. What is the only film released with an X rating to win the Academy Award for Best Picture?
4. In February 1999, what group acquitted President Clinton on all charges in his impeachment trial?
5. The Bay of Pigs invasion was designed to overthrow which political leader?
6. What city became the capital of Germany after the country's reunification in 1990?
7. Whose newborn son was featured on the 1953 premiere issue of TV Guide?
8. In 1976, Saigon was renamed in honor of which Asian world leader?
9. The Montagues and the Capulets are two feuding families in which Shakespeare play?
10. CAFTA, modeled after NAFTA, is an international agreement regarding what topic?

Answers: 1. "It's Raining Men;" 2. wheat; 3."Midnight Cowboy;" 4. US Senate; 5. Fidel Castro; 6. Berlin; 7. Lucille Ball; 8. Ho Chi Minh; 9. Romeo and Juliet; 10. free trade.

IQ Trivia
1. The region known as Patagonia is primarily located in which South American country? (5 points)
2. What classic poem features the line, "A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread and Thou?" (6 points)
3. During the US Civil War, what was the westernmost state in the Confederacy? (4 points)
4. Who sang the Oscar-winning song, "Things Have Changed" from the 2000 film, "Wonder Boys?" (5 points)
5. Felipe Calderon was elected president in a hotly contested election in which country in 2006? (5 points)

Answers: 1. Argentina; 2. "The Rubaiyat;" 3. Texas; 4. Bob Dylan; 5. Mexico.

Countdown to Armageddon, Game 1

Today is the 96th Opening Day in the history of Fenway Park, and it's always a special day. I'll be taking it in with many of the New York City-based faithful at Professor Thom's pub. There should be a good crowd there for it.

The Seattle Mariners are in town for a three-game series, with Josh Beckett getting the ball today. And tomorrow is the Fenway debut of Daisuke Matsuzaka, and that game should have a World Series-like atmosphere, especially since the first hitter he'll be facing is fellow countryman Ichiro Suzuki. I can't imagine the number of Japanese, as well as American press that will be covering the game.

I've also updated my countdown clock today. I have put in the official countdown to the very first game against the Yankees, which begins the latest War to End All Wars, starting on April 20, with a three-game series at Fenway. I also noticed that the Sox play New York just 18, instead of 19 times, this season. I'm sure there's a reason for that.

Trivia Night Change Next Week

Attention all Trivia players at Professor Thom's: tonight will be the final night of trivia on Tuesday nights. Beginning next week, Trivia Night will move to Mondays, the day it originally was when the bar first opened. It is being moved back now that the Red Sox season has begun, and they will have games every Tuesday night (except for the All-Star break). The Red Sox also have games on Monday nights, but they have many off-days on Mondays as well, so that necessitates the move.

The starting time on Monday nights will also be at 9 PM, except on those Mondays when the Red Sox play late-night games out west (the first one isn't until June 4), and the starting times those nights will be moved up to 8 PM.

We hope that is not a major inconvenience to our regular players. We will switch back to Tuesday nights once again in September, when the NFL season starts and Monday Night Football returns.

As for tonight's Trivia, "The Q Train" lightning round will return, but there will be no multiple choice special category. "Quantity 1-10 Trivia" will return again, along with the three other regular categories.

Hope to see many of you tonight!

Papelstrong

So far, so good.

That is, keeping Jonathan Papelbon as the Red Sox closer. He saved the Red Sox bacon last night, coming into a 3-2 game in the eighth inning last night against the Texas Rangers with one out and a man on third and getting out of it, getting a pop up and a strike out. He looked very sharp in the ninth, striking out two hitters, including Brad Wilkerson looking. He threw just 15 pitches in getting his first five-out save ever, preserving the 3-2 win.

Curt Schilling rebounded nicely last night, after Opening Day's poor performance, pitching seven solid innings, allowing just a Frank Cattalonotto home run in the first. (I wish the Sox would have signed him in the off-season, as he always does something big against them.) Schilling struck out six, allowed just a walk and four hits in tossing 102 pitches, and getting his first win of 2007.

David Ortiz finally busted out, hitting two home runs to account for the entire Red Sox offense last night. (I missed both homers as I was stuck in a traffic jam on the Long Island Expressway, but heard it on the radio.) The offense continues to be rather moribund in the early going this season. It's just six games, and you know guys like Manny Ramirez and Mike Lowell will get it going soon. But the Red Sox have hit just three HRs so far, with Kevin Youkilis accounting for the other.

It seemed like Joel Pineiro single-handly was determined to put Texas in the lead in the eighth, walking two hitters and allowing a bunt single. Last night's showing is proving the Red Sox brass was right not to make this guy the closer, and to move Papelbon back to it. I'm not ready to give up on Pineiro just yet, but more lousy outings like Sunday night will make him this season's Rudy Seanez, a lousy free agent signing doomed to pitch in nothing but Garbage Time.

Johnny Hart Dies

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Johnny Hart, at his home in Endicott, NY, at the age of 76. Many of you are probably wondering, who was Johnny Hart?

He created one of my favorite cartoon strips of all-time, "B.C." I remember as a kid collecting many of the strips from the newspaper (which has long-since vanished) and also getting many of the B.C. books of the strip. He also co-created the popular strip, "The Wizard of Id."

B.C. was a group of eclectic characters, such as B.C., Thor, Peter and Clumsy Carp. It was set in prehistoric times, but it definitely had a 20th Century attitude among them. Mr. Hart was also a Christian, and was criticized at times for putting his deeply held beliefs into some of his cartoons.

Johnny Hart died on Saturday, and his wife said he suffered a stroke at his drawing table. For more on Johnny Hart: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Hart

Thanks for the great comic strip, Mr. Hart. I'll miss those great characters you created.

Godspeed.

Matsie? I Don't Think So

I saw an interesting article in today's New York Daily News by Bill Gallo, their award-winning cartoonist. He wrote in his column on Sunday that he recently talked with Bobby Valentine before he left for Japan about Daisuke Matsuzaka. Valentine basically told him that Matsuzaka was the goods and will be something special this season for the Red Sox.

But one line in the article I found to be rather strange from Gallo:

This past Wednesday in Kansas City, "Matsie" (gotta give this guy a nickname) showed America that Valentine knew what he was talking about.

Matsie? Gotta give this guy a nickname? Bill, where have you been, bud? Hiding under a rock?

Uh, Bill, Matsuzaka had been called "Dice-K," "The Dice Man" or just "Dice" since the Red Sox acquired his rights in December. (Scott Boras was calling him "D-Mat" before he signed with the Red Sox but that didn't catch on.) Even the title of the article acknowledges his new nickname:
Bobby V: Dice K will be American idol

NO ONE is going to call him "Matsie," Bill. Let that one go.

Here's the complete article:
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2007/04/08/2007-04-08_bobby_v_dice_k_will_be_american_idol-2.html

Have a Happy and blessed Easter, everyone.

Prayers For Jerry

Earlier this week, I received an email from Frank of the BLOHARDS and he informed me that Jerry Casale, the former Red Sox pitcher of the late 1950s and early 1960s, suffered a stroke at his home in New Jersey. Frank also just let me know that Jerry is doing better and in good spirits in the hospital in Ridgewood, NJ.

I had the pleasure of meeting Jerry, a fellow Brooklynite, last August at gathering of the BLOHARDS at a dinner in Manhattan. He's a great guy and still quite the raconteur, chatting with all of us and sharing stories of baseball days throughout the dinner. Jerry ran a popular Italian restaurant in midtown Manhattan for many years that featured lots of Red Sox memorabilia.

Here is Jerry's career numbers, courtesy of Baseball Reference:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/casalje01.shtml

He may soon be ready for a move to rehab. My prayers are with Jerry and his family that he will make a full recovery. Cards can be sent to Jerry at: The Valley Hospital, 223 N. Van Dien Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450.

My thanks to Frank at the BLOHARDS for all the information.

A Snoozer In Arlington

So, what exactly does the Red Sox offense have against Tim Wakefield?

Wake gave the Red Sox six strong innings, allowed only one earned run, and retired the last 10 hitters he faced, but the Red Sox offense was AWOL all day Friday as the Texas Rangers won their home opener, 2-0, over the Red Sox in Arlington.

Tim is once again the Red Sox "hard luck" pitcher. Last season, in 16 starts where he did not get a victory, the Sox scored a grand total of 23 runs for him. That's less than a run and a half per game. Today's quality start by Wakefield gained him nothing but a loss, and 0.0 runs of support to begin the 2007 season.

The Red Sox could manage just two hits against Robinson Tejeda. (Who?) He pitched seven strong innings and got his first win. The Red Sox hitters looked like they were in rush to go back to the hotel, as they were swinging at a lot of first pitches. The game took barely 2 hours and 15 minutes, and almost had the feel of one of those late September games where both teams are out of it and want to get it over with as soon as possible.

The Red Sox managed just three hits all day, as did Texas. But the Sox couldn't even get a man to third the entire game. David Ortiz continues to struggle, as he went 0-for-4, and he hasn't gotten a hit since his double in his first at-bat on Opening Day.

But there wasn't anything good to say about the offense on this day. Quite a shame, especially for Tim Wakefield.

He sure has seen this act before.

Matsui: The Son of Shemp?

My friend Adam has always thought
that Hideki Matsui of the Yankees reminds him so much of Shemp Howard, the legendary member of The Three Stooges. He routinely calls the Yankee outfielder, "Shemp."

So, were they separated at birth, or was Hideki the illegitimate Japanese son of the legendary Stooge?

So, what do you think? In the immortal words of the Fox News Channel, "We report, you decide."

An Evening With Gordon Edes

On Saturday night, April 28th, a very special event will go on for Red Sox fans here in New York. "An Evening of Red Sox Baseball With Gordon Edes and Friends" will be happening at Foley's NY Pub and Restaurant on West 33rd Street. Gordon is of course, one of the writers who covers the Red Sox for the Boston Globe.

I had the pleasure of going to one with Gordon back in 2004, and I had a great time. Over 100 Red Sox fans gathered in a bar in Manhattan and we talked all night about the Red Sox and bid on all kinds of Sox paraphernalia. Gordon is a really great guy to sit and shoot the breeze with and talk baseball.

This event will benefit The Jimmy Fund, and they are $10 through The Jimmy Fund's web site, or $15 at the door of the event. For more information on the night's event, please check out this link to the Jimmy Fund (courtesy of my friend Frank of the BLOHARDS):

http://www.jimmyfund.org/eve/event/gordon-edes/default.html

Dice Rules In Kansas City

Daisuke Matsuzaka made his Major League debut today in the cold against the Kansas City Royals, and he gave the Sox seven terrific innings, striking out 10 and allowing just a sixth inning homer to David DeJesus, as the Red Sox went on to a 4-1 win. He gave up a single to DeJesus to start the game, walked one other batter, and then got a double play to end the first inning. He settled into a nice groove, ran into some trouble in the sixth, but overall was impressive in his official MLB debut.

The folks watching live back in Japan must have been awfully proud of their native son today.

David Ortiz struck out four times (twice looking), but doubled and scored the third run in the eighth, to give the Red Sox some needed insurance. Jonathan Papelbon looked like the Paps of 2006, striking out two in a 1-2-3 ninth to seal the victory. The Sox bounced back nicely with two wins in Kansas City after the lethargic loss in the opener. Now they move over to Texas for a weekend set with the Rangers.

And were the Mets pretty damn impressive or what in their opening series in St. Louis? They ran roughshod over the Cardinals three straight, outscoring them 20-2. The Mets did everything right, and the Cardinals did nothing. This series makes me wonder whether the Mets have gotten that much better or has St. Louis gotten that much worse. I think it is a combination of the two. The Mets take on the Braves in Atlanta this weekend.

Selig Blinks: MLB Agrees To In Demand Deal

Tonight, Major League Baseball announced that In Demand will now carry Extra Innings out-of-town baseball package, ending the exclusive deal that they had cut with DirecTV.

Comcast, Cox Communications and Time Warner will pick up Extra Innings immediately, and they also agreed to carry The Baseball Channel, MLB's cable station that will launch in 2009.

Good news all around, but I did not see Cablevision's name among the cable systems picking up Extra Innings yet (although the post on MLB's web site says that other cable companies will follow suit). Cablevision (which is my cable provider) has had a history of terrible negotiations getting cable stations on their systems (like with the YES Network five years ago), so my fingers are crossed it will get done with them quickly.

Here is the post from MLB.com with all the details:
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20070404&content_id=1879904&vkey=pr_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Thanks to my friend Eddie for passing along the news to me tonight.

Trivia Q&A: April 3

It was a record-setting night of Trivia at Professor Thom's on Tuesday night, as we had 22 teams take part. (So it was a long night for me keeping scores!) The bar was really crowded, and not for any particular reason outside Trivia Night. We had a fabulous game going, and two teams, The Fluffers and The Girl In The Red Shirt Is Hot both with perfect scores through the first four rounds. I really didn't think I made the questions particularly easy this week, but they both did great until the IQ Trivia round.

But that round was tough. We had only one team get as many as 4 of 5 correct, and many teams got only 1 or 2 right. The Fluffers got 3 correct in that round for 14 points and got the win by three points. The second place team, Seymour Butts, won free passes to the second "Boston Teabag Party" a night of Boston comedians that will be held on May 17 at Professor Thom's Loft.

I introduced a new category, Quantity 1-10 Trivia, and that went well, as did Baseball Trivia. Quantity 1-10 was 10 questions where all the answers are the numbers 1-10, and none are repeated. I'm thinking of bringing it back again next week. We gave The Q Train lightning round the week off, but it will be back next Tuesday.

Current Events
1. Which group of Sounth Pacific Islands were hit by a tsunami this past weekend, resulting in 28 deaths?
2. This man won "The Battle of the Billionaires" at Wrestlemania this past Sunday, and did not have to have his head shaved.
3. This former NYC police commissioner is about to be charged with tax evasion and illegal wiretapping, possibly as early as this week.
4. This comedy debuted last weekend and was number 1 at the box office for last week.
5. The NCAA basketball title was won by this team, and they became the first team to win consecutive titles since Duke in 1992.
6. This swimmer became the second swimmer ever to win 7 gold medals at a single championship, in Melbourne, Australia on Monday.
7. This New England state was crowned "the healthiest state in America" for the 6th time in 7 years this week.
8. A train in this European country broke the world speed record Tuesday for conventional rail trains at 357 MPH.
9. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited this Middle Eastern country on Tuesday, despite criticism from President Bush that it sends mixed signals to the country's president.
10. This Republican candidate for president in 2008 was revealed to have raised the most of any Republican candidate so far, with $20.6 million.

Answers: 1. Solomon Islands; 2. Donald Trump; 3. Bernard Kerik; 4. "Blades Of Glory;" 5. Florida Gators; 6. Michael Phelps; 7. Vermont; 8. France; 9. Syria; 10. Mitt Romney.

Baseball Trivia
1. In which city will you find Citizens Bank Park? a. Pittsburgh; b. Philadelphia; c. St. Louis; d. Cincinnati.
2. Who was the last man to bat .400 in an MLB season? a. Joe DiMaggio; b. Bill Terry; c. Ichiro Suzuki; d. Ted Williams.
3. How many World Series titles have the New York Mets won in their history? a. 1; b. 2; c. 3; d. 4.
4. How many teams did Babe Ruth play for in his MLB career? a. 1; b. 2; c. 3; d. 4.
5. In which city did the Braves move from when they arrived in Atlanta in 1966? a. Milwaukee; b. Baltimore; c. Kansas City; d. Washington.
6. Who did the New York Yankees defeat in 2000 to win their last World Series? a. Atlanta Braves; b. New York Mets; c. Cincinnati Reds; d. San Diego Padres.
7. How many MLB teams currently play their home games in Canada? a. 0; b. 1; c. 2; d. 3.
8. Which of the following teams has never won a World Series in their history? a. Colorado Rockies; b. Arizona Diamondbacks; c. Toronto Blue Jays; d. Kansas City Royals.
9. Which team did Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn play his entire career for? a. San Francisco Giants; b. Blatimore Orioles; c. San Diego Padres; d. Los Angeles Dodgers.
10. Who is the only team to come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a postseason series in seven games? a. Atlanta Braves; b. New York Mets; c. Chicago White Sox; d. Boston Red Sox.

Answers: 1. b; 2. d; 3. b; 4. c; 5. a; 6. b; 7. b; 8. a; 9. c; 10. d.

Quantity 1-10 Trivia
1. This is the number of the residence of the British Prime Minister, on Downing Street in London.
2. This number was the title of an album by both Foreigner and Blues Traveler.
3. Andrew Jackson was this numbered US president.
4. This is the number of oceans in the world.
5. This is the atomic number of helium.
6. This number was worn by sports immortals Gordie Howe and Ted Williams.
7. This is the number of musicians that make up an octet.
8. You find the letter "f" on a standard touch-tone phone on this number.
9. The pitcher position in baseball is represented by this number.
10. This is the number of points on a Star of David.

Answers: 1. ten; 2. four; 3. seven; 4. five; 5. two; 6. nine; 7. eight; 8. three; 9. one; 10. six.

General Knowledge
1. Which state's postal abbreviation is ME?
2. According to Medieval legend, what type of object is The Holy Grail?
3. Warren Beatty's film, "Reds" centers on a journalist covering which historic event?
4. Hosni Mubarak has been president of which Middle eastern country since 1981?
5. Whiting is a generic term used to describe several varieties of which edible animal?
6. The HBO drama "The Wire" is a police drama set in which US city?
7. Which former Beatle was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997?
8. Which historical figure is the line, "Let them eat cake" attributed to?
9. "Chilli" and "Left Eye"were members of which all-female R&B group?
10. What profession is Newman, Jerry Seinfeld's neighbor, on the classic show, "Seinfeld?"

Answers: 1. Maine; 2. cup/chalice; 3. Russian Revolution; 4. Egypt; 5. fish; 6. Baltimore; 7. Paul McCartney; 8. Marie Antoinette; 9. TLC; 10. postal worker.

IQ Trivia
1. What 1848 novel features a manipulative woman named Becky Sharp? (5 points)
2. What rock band first recorded the sports arena song, "Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)?" (5 points)
3. In 1832, in which Eastern city was the first Democratic National Convention held in? (6 points)
4. In 1939, what did Winston Churchill once describe as "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma?" (5 points)
5. Who was the original voice of Shaggy in the TV animated series, "Scooby Doo, Where Are You?" (4 points)

Answers: 1. Vanity Fair; 2. Steam; 3. Baltimore; 4. Russia; 5. Casey Kasem.

Baseball Trivia Tonight

Tonight, Trivia Night will feature a category on Baseball Trivia, in honor of the start of the 2007 season this week. Not to worry, non-sports fans, it will be the multiple choice category. I am also going to try something a little different tonight as well. The Q Train lightning round is getting the week off this week, but will return next Tuesday. I am also going to try out a category in the Quantity section, and all the answers will be the numbers 1 through 10 (and no numbers answers will be repeated).

It's always good to try out new things, and we'll see how this goes.

Hope to see many of you tonight.

20,000th Visitor And More

Yesterday was amazing day here at The Mighty Quinn Media Machine. My Site Meter numbers went crazy on Monday, and I had over 220 hits for the entire day. It's a ways off the most I've ever had for one day (that is 338, which happened last November). But what is interesting about it is that it wasn't a link from a more well-known site that brought so many visitors here (Gawker.com did that last November).

It seems to be a combination of things that brought more and more people here. The article I wrote about Rosie O'Donnell brought a few people here who found it off blog searches, but for some reason, I had many people come here through the Doug Mirabelli comic article I posted back last July yesterday. (I guess the Red Sox opener got people in that kind of mood.)

But my numbers have been steadily increasing the last couple of months because people are finding my site through Google Images. (I am now consistently getting over 100 hits per day.) I put a lot of pictures up here through Google, and visitors end up here. It's not any one thing, put many of the more famous ones I've put up. The Iwo Jima flag raising, the soccer World Cup trophy and the Ground Zero Cross seem to be most popular pictures that bring people here.

Shortly after 9 PM last night, I had the 20,000th visitor to my site, a person from Manhattan. That number goes back to last April 20th, when I first put the Site Meter up on my blog. And even yesterday while I was watching the Red Sox game, I had a few people come up to me and tell me they have been checking my blog out. That's always a boost to the ego!

I may have the mystery solved as to why I couldn't see the "Impossible To Forget" documentary last weekend here in New York. Michael from Random Fandom called NESN and asked about it and was told that since the film used certain MLB footage, it could not be seen outside the Red Sox market, New England. So I guess the documentary was blacked out everywhere but New England. I guess I'll have to keep waiting to see it, but I heard from more than one person it was very good and I appear often in it. I've been promised a copy of the DVD, so I'll see it when I get that.

It Was Just The First Game

But brother, was it butt ugly.

I was part of a huge crowd of Red Sox fans at Professor Thom's on Monday afternoon, and it was bigger than even I would have thought. The day got off to a good start, as Kevin Youkilis singled and David Ortiz doubled to put the Sox up, 1-0.

That ends the Red Sox highlights for the afternoon.

Curt Schilling clearly didn't have it today. He surrendered three singles to load the bases in the first, and then walked Ryan Shealy on a 3-2 pitch to tie the score. In the second, Kansas City took the lead, 2-1, and added three more in the fourth off of him.

Schilling was done after four innings, his shortest outing in nearly ten years. He clearly did not have good command of his pitches. He was catching too much of the middle of the plate, and wasn't fooling many Royals hitters.

The final was 7-1, but it wasn't all Schilling's fault. The Red Sox did next to nothing against Gil Meche after the first inning. Julio Lugo had a day to forget in his regular season debut with the Red Sox, striking out three times. But all the credit to Meche, as he pitched a very good game. But the Red Sox hitters looked lost today, and two runners were thrown out at second. (I like aggressive baseball, but both Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia were foolish in each attempt.)

This was one of those "garbage can" games. Toss it into the trash and get them on Wednesday night. It was just Game 1, with 161 more still to come. The Red Sox haven't fared well on Opening Day in recent years, and they've only won once on Day One since 2001.

Let's hope we see a better overall team effort on Wednesday than we did on Monday afternoon.

Another New Countdown

Now that we've reached Opening Day, it's time to start a new countdown.

The countdown clock above, which will be there premanently always counting something down, is now counting down the time to the Red Sox opener at Fenway Park, which is slated for Tuesday afternoon, April 10 at 2:05 PM.

There's always something to look forward to...

One Of My Favorite Days

Roll out the cliches today.

Rebirth.
Everyone's in first place.
The winter is NOW officially over.
This is THE YEAR.

Yes, it's Opening Day for most of the Major League teams (a few open tomorrow and the Mets and Cardinals started last night). It's always been one of my favorite days of the calendar year. For the next six months, my head will be wrapped in stats and checking the Internet 10 times a day to see how my guys on my fantasy teams are doing. And of course, rooting for my real teams and being totally obsessed it.

I only wish the weather was a little better here in New York to make it really feel like spring.

How does another Red Sox-Mets World Series (aka "Steinbrenner's Worst Nightmare") sound?

Bring on the season!

Rosie O'Donnell Is A Big Fat Idiot

I never liked this woman.

Once again, Rosie O'Donnell is part of yet another firestorm. Last week she shot off her big mouth about how, on September 11, 2001, 7 World Trade Center was destroyed on purpose. She sounded like one of those crackpot conspiracy nuts who promote this garbage on the Internet.

Yes, this is America and you can believe whatever you want to believe. But she goes on "The View" and spews this BS like it's the gospel truth and we're all supposed to believe this crap. She offers no proof, just wild-eyed conspiracy theories.

O'Donnell is an embarrassment to ABC. If they want to keep her on TV, so be it. I don't watch "The View" and never really have. She has a monumental ego, and has tried to turn that show into her own. Bill O'Reilly wants her fired off that network, but that would turn her into a martyr, especially among those of her far-left ilk. She will only be bounced off the network if the ratings of "The View" continue to plunge (they're not good right now), and viewers tune her out. When ABC loses money because of O'Donnell, she'll be gone, and not before.

Her "feud" with Donald Trump was simply stupid. She came off as a total fool, and made Trump actually look decent. (He's not one of my favorite people either.)

I lost a lot of respect for O'Donnell when back in 2000 she turned her talk show into a stumping ground for Hillary Clinton when she was running for the Senate. She basically went on about how electing George W. Bush would cause women to lose their abortion rights. (Has it happened yet Rosie?) I have always respected David Letterman and Jay Leno because they use politicians for humor (and on both sides of the political aisle), whereas O'Donnell used BS scare tactics in getting her pal elected.

I also found that episode with Kelly Ripa to be totally inane, when Ripa made an innocuous comment to Clay Aiken that O'Donnell took to be some kind of anti-gay wisecrack. (I don't think Aiken has ever said that he's gay.) She's another one who sees gay bashers under the beds.

I believe that O'Donnell is another of these types who likes people talking about them, and will say anything to accomplish it. But as someone who suffered a devastating loss on September 11, 2001, I find her running her big fat yap about BS conspiracy theories to be very offensive. And it also offends many, many others whose lives were changed forever that terrible day. But she clearly doesn't give a damn about them. All she cares about is getting her warped views out there and her ego satisfied.

She's an American and can express her opinion in any number of ways. But I don't have to read it or listen to it or like it.

"Queen of Nice" my ass.

I Want An Explanation

Once again tonight, I was at Professor Thom's awaiting to see the "Impossible To Forget" documentary about the 1967 Red Sox that I am a part of, when at both 6:30 PM and at 9, it was blacked out on NESN. The bar has DirecTV, so that's how they get most Red Sox games on NESN. But for whatever reason that none of us can figure out, they won't show it in New York area. (They also blacked it out this past Friday night.)

I don't know if this applies to the rest of the nation when it comes to NESN on satellite, but I simply don't understand why they are blacking out an entertainment program like this. I have noticed that more Red Sox games have blacked out on DirecTV in the last few years. (They always black out the games against the Yankees of course, but since the bar has the Extra Innings package, almost no games here in New York are missed.)

My friends and I were to say the least miffed at this. We all simply don't know why this show can't be seen here. I'm sending a pointed email to NESN as to why they are doing this.

Their explanation better be a good one.

Dice-K: Up Close And Personal

A group of about 40 of us travelled by bus to Philadelphia yesterday to check out the final Red Sox exhibition game, at Citizens Bank Park. The group was a mixture of mostly Red Sox fans, but also a few Phillies and Yankees ("Ersatz Phillies" fans I was calling them) fans as well.

It was a fun trip down, with lots of trash talk from the non-Sox fans who were in the back of the bus, and LOTS of beer flowing as well. (I was NOT indulging, as I can't drink alcohol in the late morning!)

The bus left professor Thom's at about 10:20 AM, and we arrived at Citizens Bank just before the first pitch was thrown. Traffic was murder, especially getting on to the New Jersey Turnpike because of construction.

We were all psyched because Daisuke Matsuzaka was making the start. We got into the park just as Julio Lugo was taking the first pitch for a called strike. Just as we got to our seats in section 302, which is in the top deck above the right field bleachers, David Ortiz hit a mammoth shot thought I thought might reach us, but it landed just below us to give the Sox the early lead. Daisuke looked shaky at the start, walked the first two, but settled in to get out of the jam with no runs scoring.

As the trash talk continued among the Ersatz Phillies fans, the Sox tacked on five more runs over the next two innings, including a blast to right by Jason Varitek. Dice-K would up pitching four innings, struck out 7, walked 4, and gave up just two hits, including a two-run shot by Pat Burrell. He was a bit shaky at times, but looked impressive striking out Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. The regulars left the game early for the Sox, starting in the second inning, and by the fifth, it was a lineup of guys with numbers in the 70s and 80s who aren't on tomorrow's Opening Day roster. The most interesting thing at the end of the game was a raging fire going on in New Jersey that we could see behind the park (as well as smell).

The Red Sox won, 7-5, to wrap up Spring Training. The trip back to Mahattan was even longer (but quieter as the Ersatz Phillie fans were exhausted from the trip and all the alcohol), as we crawled to the Holland Tunnel and through Lower Manhattan to get back to PT's.

But we all enjoyed the day and loved Citizens Bank Park, which is a tremendous ballpark. (Phillies fans should really enjoy it, after years of suffering with that toilet bowl called The Vet.) But most of all, we were glad to see The $103 Million Dollar Man pitch, live and in person.

The rehearsal is over. Time to play for real.