Washington Nationals vs. Atlanta Braves – Box Score – August 12, 2009 – ESPN
What an unusual offense by the Braves tonight — four solo homers, and two bases-loaded walks. Whatever works, I guess. Pretty much everything is working right now.
Derek Lowe got off to a bad start, allowing three hits and a walk in the first inning, though thanks to a caught stealing and a GIDP he managed to give up only one run. ACHE tied it up with the first solo homer in the second; LaRoche, two batters later, gave the Braves the lead with the second. The Braves then went into Hibernation Mode, while Lowe had a lot of innings where he gave up one baserunner but was rarely seriously threatened from innings 2 to 6.
In the seventh, with two out, and seemingly cruising, he imploded, allowing a double, a walk, a game-tying single, and then another walk to load the bases. I have no idea why Bobby left him in the game, but Lowe got a groundout to end it. Then LaRoche hit his second homer, against Jorge Sosa of all people, to make it 3-2. In the eighth, Prado hit a homer to make it 4-2. Chipper followed with a single, then McCann with a double to make it second and third, none out. ACHE popped up, then the pitcher (a lefty) walked Escobar to pitch to the guy with two homers on the night. This time, LaRoche worked it to 3-2, then drew a walk. Diaz struck out (on a pitch that was clearly low) but the pitcher then wouldn’t throw a strike to Norton, who can’t hit. Norton drew a walk to make it 6-2.
After all the warming up he’s done lately, Gonzalez got into a game. He got a lineout, then a single, then a strikeout, then a walk. He fell behind the next batter and was on the verge of making things entirely too interesting when McCann picked Nyjer Morgan — who was caught stealing for the first out of the game — off of first for the last out of the game… The Nats actually outhit the Braves, 10-9, and drew six walks to the Braves’ five, but had only one extra-base hit.
The Braves are off tomorrow, the Phillies play the Cubs again…so whe could possibly be 5 out on Friday. Do we need to sweep?
Bring on the Phillies!
Good teams find ways to win. McCann made a perfect heads-up play to first to nail Morgan.
This game felt a lot like a bad team finding a way to lose. Good by us to take the lead late though.
Sweeping the Phils would be badass.
We don’t have to sweep. We need to win two.
Who is Jorge Sosa ?
Sorry, Kim-Jong Il.
I’m coming into Atlanta for the weekend to see some family, and I’m taking in Friday’s game while I’m there. I was thinking about driving from the airport to a MARTA station and taking that to the stadium to avoid traffic; does that make sense? if so, does anyone know what MARTA station I should use? The MARTA website is terrible and unintelligible; I’ve had no luck with it.
Marta doesn’t have a train to the stadium. You have to go to the central hub and take a bus the rest of the way. There’s a station at the airport.
You get off at the Five Points Station. It drops you off at Underground, then you walk through Underground and get to the Braves shuttle. There will be a lot of Braves fans, so it’ll be easy to know if you’re going the right way.
I hear taking Marta is pretty easy. However, with all the traffic problems in Atlanta, I have never had a problem driving to the game.
The LaRoche pick is looking beter and better every day
Mac, I can only think that Bobby left Lowe in so that he might have a chance at the win (if the Braves were to score in the bottom half of the inning). Which, of course, they did. Not saying it is a good reason or that is why he chose to do it – just that it could be the reason why.
Prado sat on our bench for how long?!
I think he left Lowe in becasue he has a great sinker and Bobby loves sinkers. It worked out.
Nathan,
The airport is the last stop on MARTA’s southern line. Get on any train and take it north to Five Points Station. Five Points is the central hub (where the N/S line crosses the E/W line – MARTA only has two lines.)
Exit at Five Points and go upstairs. Follow the signs to the Braves Shuttle. You could walk (or take the East line one stop to the Georgia State University station and walk from there) but the easiest thing is to just hop the shuttle. The shuttle will drop you off in front of the station and pick you up after the game.
[Gonzalez] said he knew the ball was in his glove. “At that point, I’m like thank you Lord.”
Really? ‘Cause the replays suggested he said “God damn.”
Same diff.
Boy, this team sure is fun to watch. Hope they all have a nice relaxing day off. Eat some home cooking, play some golf, then tear up the Phils. Sounds like a plan to me.
at least we don’t have to face cliff lee
@18 – Yeah, I was checking the probables headed into this series just to see. We slipped right through there.
@5,
nah, we need to sweep. If we’re 5 games out to begin the series, winning 2 out of 3 leaves us 4 back. Sweeping puts us 2 games back. We need to sweep.
JoeCraigMcMurtry
im sure your having an acid flashback and remembering your stoner days back in the 60s and 70s but heres a news flash for you… anyone who has an ear for tone can hear that bob dylan has one of the worst voices of all time. Like I said, im sure he sounds great when your stoned but I like to live a sober life
Going into a series thinking you need a sweep is just not a good idea. There’s 48 games left, 45 of which will be played after the Phillies leave town. If the Mets can blow a 7-game lead with 18 left, the Braves can certainly overcome a 3 or 4 game lead with 45 left. If the starters keep pitching well and the lineup keeps being solid top to bottom, this team can make the playoffs.
Seriously, how exciting is a 5-game winning streak!
Listening to the radio tonight I heard that over the last 40 games the Braves have the best record in baseball.
Who would have thunk it?
I do know that we’re 19-10 since the Francoeur/Church trade.
just to keep the fight going…………….if Dylan murdered Axel Rose for the butchery of that song, any court in the world would rule it a justifiable homicide.
Nathan,
Sam had good directions. In case it wasn’t clear, the MARTA stop is INSIDE the airport terminal (on lower level below baggage pick up).
Come on, a sweep would be fantastic but more realistically, 2 out of 3 would be great. Let’s stay down to earth.
What a great win last night. Kept wtaching the Ginzo catch in the 9th… scary!!
Well, that whole “post as my usual ID for CharlesP” idea didn’t work… still getting spam filtered.
I watched a good bit of the game last night, but missed the first inning and while I was watching Lowe looked more “comfortable” than he has recently. I don’t mean he’s looked “lost” when pitching, but most of the recent games I’ve watched he looks like “a big guy with the heat getting to him” almost from the start.
#16 – inappropriate
#24 – exactly, I just wish the Braves had thought about moving him before the season started. If we dont make the playoffs I blame Francoeur, and of course Andruw
As if our old friend Francoeur needed any more help looking like a clown on the baseball field…this from a NY Times article about a new batting helmet that, while bulkier, provides much more protection against head injuries (see URL at bottom):
“No, I am absolutely not wearing that,” Mets right fielder Jeff Francoeur said with a laugh after seeing a prototype, as if he were being asked to put a pumpkin on his head. “I could care less what they say, I’m not wearing it. There’s got to be a way to have a more protective helmet without all that padding. It’s brutal. We’re going to look like a bunch of clowns out there.”
(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/sports/baseball/13helmet.html?_r=1)
Jon K,
With all the time you spent wading through an old thread to find a response to your nonsense you could have taken my original advice and found a quiet space to listen to the remastered Blonde on Blonde. And then, rather than being just another redneck prick with an ignorant bias against Dylan and his fans, you would now be a slightly less ignorant redneck prick.
Jerry Manuel should get Mark Kelso in there to have a chat with Frenchy. If anyone needs more padding, it’s him.
If Bob Dylan was a college football conference, what conference would he be?
I have an odd question for the board-
Does anyone know where I might be able to get an audio clip of the old Braves on TBS theme music…it was the one used by TBS from, roughly 1996-2004 or so, if you know what i’m talking about.
i’ve scoured the internet, including youtube, and cannot find it anywhere. i didn’t know if anyone here might have some insight for me…
thanks!
-andrew
I can’t help you Andrew, but I’m really curious why you want it.
@34
The Big Ten. Was huge in the 60’s. Loyal fan support, even to the point when they aren’t on top of the mountain, fans still argue they are.
@25:
If Axl could take out Dylan’s vocal cords (such as they are), I think I’d call it a win all around.
JoeCraigMcMurtry
First off I wouldn’t spend a nickel on Dylan’s whiney cat voice. Secondly, I actually did listen to a couple of those songs from blonde on blonde online and after about 10 min I felt like drinking drano. Having an ignorant biased has nothing to do with this; my sense of audition is working perfectly and when it hears something that sounds like nails on a chalk board it tells my brain to turn it off. IT has nothing to do with some sort of biased like you state. It sounds like your still holding on to your LSD days listenin to Dylan protesting Nam?? As I said before, his song writing was great but he should have left the performance to someone who actually had some semblance of vocal talent.
@37
Do you really hear Big Ten fans argue that the Big Ten is the best conference?
I know a hell of a lot of fans of Big Ten teams and can’t think of a single one (myself included) that doesn’t realize and readily admit that the SEC and Big 12 are better football conferences right now.
Query: If the Braves were to make the playoffs, who would open the first series? I’m thinking Lowe even though he is probably the third or fourth best pitcher in the rotation. (Not advocating this, just saying I think this is what happens.) His near meltdown in the 7th was disturbing and he was damn lucky that Morgan hit the ball right at LaRoche.
Smitty
The funny part is I’m a big ten alumi (Penn State) haha kinda foils your joke there since I dislike Dylan. And no smitty, the Big Ten is not on top of the conference mountain at this point so please don’t respond saying that I think Penn state should be number 1 or anything relating to me thinking the big ten is better than they are which is 3rd or 4th best conference top to bottom
The SEC is the most overrated conference, due to typical overhype by the WWL, but it’s definitely superior to all other football conferences right now.
#34—-This is easy, Dylan would be the Ivy League. Think Dartmouth, whose motto is actually ‘A voice crying in the wilderness.’
We’re not really going to talk about Bob Dylan throughout the off day, are we?
Big Ten fans did finally back off some after Ohio State kept getting killed in BCS games by SEC schools. I would say up until the last two or three years Big Ten fans were delusional.
#44
haha that’s hilarious dude. “a voice crying in the wilderness”. The only people that care or hear that voice are the trees and the tree huggers
The Big 10 was the best conference in the fifties and early sixties because they were recruiting African-American kids that couldn’t go to SEC schools.
I’ll even digress a bit here… apparently you guys aren’t GNR fans and that’s perfectly fine. I personally love GNR with the combination energy and musical talent they brought to the table. Has anyone thrown out Eric Clapton’s version of the song? Just another version clearly better than Dylan’s rendition of it
Well, I’ll chime in and say that the best version of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” I’ve heard recently was the one by Warren Zevon.
I don’t know, did Tori Amos record a version?
Smitty
I’ll say this… the BCS is a horrible horrible system. It’s putting our big ten teams in games they don’t deserve to be in, and it’s crowning national champions based on opinions and computers. The SEC is in fact the best or 2nd best conference but they are grossly overrated. OU should have beaten florida in that game last year if Stoopes had half a brain as a coach. Secondly, this may sound like biased but that penn state team last year was great and it ran into a juggernaut in USC. It’s my opinion that USC’s football team last year would have beaten florida if it was given a chance to play for the NC. The only way to crown a true champion is to have a playoff system, and until then bloggers like you and I are going to argue at whose the best conference. The fact that florida beat OU doesn’t prove UF or the SEC is the best conference. The fates of Texas, Utah and USC were pre-determined by the BCS fat cats who stuff their pockets and couldn’t care less about a fair system as long as they are cleaning up.
@41
I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if they went with Lowe to pitch the first game of the playoffs. Though if it were up to me I’d probably go with Vazquez, Lowe, Jurrjens, Hanson. I’d actually prefer to go with Hudson and stick Hanson in the pen. Though that would all depend on how well Hudson pitched from here on out.
What criteria do you use to evaluate conferences? It’s pretty easy to determine who has the best team: let them play a game and see who wins.
there’s been tons of good Dylan covers, but nobody except possibly Hendrix,has ever improved a Dylan song. and Jon K fingernails on a chalkboard? i think you described A Rose perfectly.
I’d definately go with Vazquez as the first starter after that Jurrjens then Lowe.
Len Kasper and Bob Brenley tried to act holy and righteous and stuck up for Victorino and lambasted that fan, but c’mon… we all know Victorino deserved that beer shower.
http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=6072625
Zevon’s version has the advantage of him actually knocking on heaven’s door.
barrycuda – I thought Manfred Mann’s version of Quinn the Eskimo was better than Dylan’s.
Well Rose has many ranges in his voice… If your saying Bob dylan is more vocally talented than axl rose?? you sir are without a doubt delusional
@55:
I think Axl and Dylan are the Yin and Yang of bad vocals.
Dylan is no more vocally talented than a stray Siamese cat.
Songwriter? Among the best.
on the SEC topic of convo… any florida fans in here?
@36- no real reason other than i think it’d make an awesome ringtone on my cell phone…
I get tired of the SEC hype but I don’t see how you can say it’s “vastly overrated” and yet also say it’s the best or second best conference. Not all the SEC teams are always great, but week-to-week, it’s a pretty grueling schedule to go through. And I think the SEC is definitely better than it was 20-25 years ago.
I’m no music buff and hesitate to get into an area like this, but every time I hear Dylan sing, I wish someone else was singing the song. But the songs themselves are great. I don’t think everyone that likes Dylan’s voice is on an LSD trip, though.
I’m sure Ozzie Guillen wouldn’t start Vazquez in the first game of the playoffs (or any game probably) but in terms of stuff and consistency, he is clearly the best pitcher on the team at this point.
62—Yep: Rob Cope & mraver.
You can overrate the best team/conference, whatever…it’s ESPN’s raison d’etre.
The SEC is the best conference, but it’s not better by nearly as large a margin as the media would have us believe.
ESPN is paying a shit ton of money to the SEC to air their games, and obviously has a huge financial incentive to hype the hell out it. But sports fans should at least realize that is what’s going on. I’m pretty sure the Big Ten teams make as much money off of their TV deal as the SEC teams do. The difference is, the Big Ten owns their own network, and gets revenue from televised basketball because the midwest cares about basketball. With the SEC, it’s ESPN’s that’s cutting checks, thus, marketing it like it’s the greatest show on earth.
@Stu:
That pic never gets old.
“tree huggers” – heh. Come up with that yourself?
Stu just loves breakin out that photo. 🙂
Seriously, though, OU should’ve beat UF last year? That’s crazy talk, son. Last year, the Big 12 clearly had an argument, but the SEC has been the best football conference for basically the last decade. If you want year-in year-out consistency, it’s hard to match. I mean, is it even close?
Not really, although, I’m not sure the SEC has put out a team in the last ten years that USC couldn’t have beaten. That’s beside the point regarding conferences though.
I love off days on Braves Journal. Can’t wait for football season.
The other thing about best conference is how do the “least of these” stack up. Right now, SEC has 1 team that looks hopeless (Miss St.). Two really good programs going through some bumps, but that could beat some awfully good teams this year if things break right (Auburn and Tennessee). Two middling teams coming back from lows to fair and good levels, respectively (Arkansas and Ole Miss). Three long time also rans that have stepped up to consistent low end bowl teams (Vandy, South Carolina and Kentucky). One super program coming back to excellent (Alabama). Two consistent pretty goods perfoming better than they ever have before at great and near elite levels, respectively (Georgia and LSU) and the team that has won 2 NC’s in 3 years and has a super program going for all but about 3 of the last 20 years (Florida).
NOBODY ELSE comes close to the bottom end depth of the sec.
#66
Point exactly
What college football needs is something like the NFL does where each division plays teams from the opposite division. For instance AFC East vs. NFC south this year. I’m a big ten guy so I’ll give props to teams like Ohio State and penn state for over the past couple years at least trying to create some sort of nonconference matchups. over the last 8 years Ohio state has had home/aways with Cinncinnatti, North Carolina State, Texas and this year USC. Penn State has had home/aways with Nebraska, Boston College, Notre Dame, SU, and coming in 2011 and 2012 PSU and Bama will match up. Granted this years penn state out of conference schedule is one of the easiest its been, but at least they have made the effort to put quality teams on their schedule.
Heres just an idea at how teams like Florida want to stay in the deep south and not play out of conference games. The gators have not played an out of conference-out of the state of florida away game in 18 years and counting. The last time was in 91 against Syracuse which was a loss. Kinda says a lot about your program when you refuse to leave the state of florida if it’s not a conference game
Jon K and Dix,
ESPN just signed the big SEC deal this winter, even though they did have SEC games, they haven’t always marketed the conference so heavy. I am still not sure they do. In fact, a lot of SEC fans will tell you ESPN hasn’t been so kind to them over the years.
I don’t know if USC would have beaten Florida and I do agree that the system is flawed, but since 1998 five of the last 11 champions have been from the SEC. It could be one more, but we all know Auburn got screwed.
Five! No other conference gets anywhere near that.
I hate the Gators (as most know), but their last two titles I am not sure if anyone would have beaten them. The score of that OU game was close, but the Gators were the better team by miles.
@52-
Bob Stoops losing his mind in big games is a feature, not a bug.
Dix – I wish Auburn had gotten their shot in ’04. Not saying they would have won, but definitely would have represented better than Stoopes and OU.
@73-
That was a very good Auburn team that USC would have pounded into non-existence. ’04 USC and ’01 Miami are the gold standards for dominance this decade.
Jon,
Where do you want the Gators to go play? They have two powerhouses in state that are natural rivals. Throw that on top of an SEC schedule. There aren’t a lot of teams left.
I mean Miami and Florida State are traditionally as tough out of conference game as you get. I am sure they could go to Notre Dame and beat the shit out of the Irish, but it makes more since for them to play FSU.
USC would have smashed florida last year. IF you think OU kept it close, USC has more playmakers on both sides of the ball than florida did last year. 3 LB’ers drafted in the first 2 rounds, not to mention one of the best safety prospects in decades in Taylor Mays… can you say the next Ronnie Lott?
I think if Tennessee gets past LSU in 01, the Vols give Miami a run for it in that game.
@71
See there’s my problem. I find it difficult to rate the middle to bottom level SEC teams BECAUSE of the overall SEC hype. I do think the SEC is the deepest conference. All other conferences have a precipitous drop after their top teams, (if they even have separation between their top teams and the middle of the pack: ACC, Big East). I just find it hard to tell how good the Arkansas, Kentucky, Vandy, and Ole Miss teams really are, and where they’d slot in if they played in other conferences.
Auburn last year basically was identical, if not worse, than Michigan last year. But I’m willing to bet almost anyone would pick Auburn to beat Michigan based on the perceived superiority of the SEC as a whole.
It’s really all an impossible exercise anyway, which is why a playoff would be nice.
Ronnie Lott my ass. Taylor Mays wasn’t even the best safety in college football.
USC should have been in the game, but they don’t beat the Gators.
last weekend of last season the ACC won 3 out of 4 against the mighty SEC. only the gators won and NOBODY was going to beat them……….i’m not claiming the ACC is better (at least not before noon)but maybe, just maybe, the SEC is seriously overrated.
Smitty
It’s not about that, its about they are afraid to play outside the state of florida. It’s about leaving the comfort zone to play other teams. Take a page out of USC book, they have had out of conference away games across the country for decades. Don’t give me that typical SEC drivel about “we dont need to schedule those games”. Play a game outside your comfort zone then come and talk to me. Let’s stick florida up in Ohio state or Happy valley late november in the snow and cold, see what happens. And I’m ripping florida because even Bama has stepped up their game by scheduling the home and away with penn state.
No way Michigan could handle Auburn’s speed.
Jon K seems to know roughly as much about football as he does about baseball.
Dix,
I don’t think the Big Eleven, even with its own network, is making the kind of money the SEC is under the ESPN deal.
We all know what the Gators can do to the Ohio State. Rain, sleet, cold, hot. It doesn’t matter.
I want to know why Florida should go play Ohio State when the rivals are in the same state. Plus, it would hurt their strength of schedule to go play a sorry Big Ten team.
@84,
Very funny. Michigan’s offense basically comes from Florida and California, hopefully we can keep up.
Maybe USC will get a chance to play Florida if they can take care of Oregon State.
Smitty’s fired up!
Michigan can’t even keep up with slow Big Ten teams.
Now he’s blinded by rage. Michigan is basically comprised of tiny little electrons that dart around the field, on offense at least.
Michigan’s problem isn’t lack of speed. It’s lack of everything (and anything) else.
Stu
That is a moronic comment. Your probably just another florida fan with nothing to say because you know I’m right.
Smitty?
Rain, Sleet cold? Smitty your slowly lowering yourself into the category of SEC fools. Florida hasn’t played a cold weather game in decades, don’t even get me started. If you or Stu had any understanding of football you’d realize that the reason they recruit so much speed is because they can play in perfect 90 degree conditions and can just hit the corners at will. Big Ten football teams need to take into account that come late november its about smash mouth football up north. Teams are put together differently to win up north due to the conditions. Bring all that florida speed and play a game in the cold and snow. I know you probably think it would be a walk in the park but I’m guessing you were educated in the south so I’m not surprised
Boy, have you ever got me pegged, Jon K.
Smitty is just a southern moron. Hell next I’m gonna hear that tailgating is better down south. You nancy boys can go sit in the parking lot with your aviators, flip flops and sip your daiquiris. Come up and tailgate in 40 degree weather and drink Yukon Jack with us out of rusty cowbells. Ohh and maybe you can come and take a look at the 3 largest college football stadiums in the country in PSU, Michigan (will be biggest again in 2010), and Ohio state
the tailgating IS better down south. Watching hot girls wearing bikini tops and short shorts is so vastly superior to watching girls of unidentifiable hotness wrapped up in layers, topped off with a puffy northface jacket.
And as for stadiums…it’s not the size, it’s how you use it. Michigan Stadium kind of sucks for a non-student fan experience. It’s not that loud and energetic.
Hot girls are better than increased Tetanus risk, Dix? I’ll bet you were educated in the South, too.
The thought of anyone beating Florida in last year’s national championship is laughable. And I hate Florida and the SEC in general.
Jon, Jon, Jon.
Cold weather doesn’t matter as much as you think. Wind makes a bigger difference than any other weather condition in football. The reason I know that, Tom Brady says so. Where did he go to college? My southern education prevents me from memberin.
If their cold weather offense is so great, how come they can’t dictate the tempo of a game on a neutral site? Teams that win dictate tempo.
I’d risk impaling myself on a rusty pitchfork for a roll in the hay with a hot chick any day.
It certainly beats the Christmas morning-esque letdown of unwrapping the package only to find out too late that the North Face jacket was not the source of the girth.
Gosh dang it, I got called a southern moron!
That’s cute.
I’m from the South but much prefer football as a cold weather sport. That’s not to say I think any conference is better than the SEC–just to be clear–but it is to say that I wish the Big Ten was better, since I prefer northern tailgating. Also, debating “hot girls” via region is ridiculous. To generalize like that is beyond the pale stupid.
Who’s with me?
Probably the only time I will ever agree with Jon K on anything: USC would indeed have manhandled Florida last year. As good as the SEC is, Florida never saw a team with that combination of speed and strength on defense.
I didn’t say they were hotter in the south. I said that in the south you can tell that they’re hot before it’s too late.
Jon K., being right about Bob Dylan doesn’t make you right about everything.
How did Michigan lose to Appalachian State in September?
How did Florida lose to a Michigan team that lost to App. St.?
You want windy conditions? The combination of cold weather and wind is what your going to get in cold weather games. Exactly, Tom Brady a quarterback from Michigan who was breed to compete in adverse conditions, probably the reason why he constently deficates on a former SEC qb in Peyton Manning in games in Dec and Jan.
In addition when we talk about cold weather games its about cold weather defenses Smitty. When you build a defense to win in cold weather your built to stop the run. When you take that team and put them on turf, in 80 degree weather, against a team with 5 or 6 guys who run 4.3… that team that has built its team with big slower type guys to clog up the middle can’t stop the speed. You can’t keep those players from hitting the edge, and you can’t run with them 40 yards down field. The cornerbacks are better in the SEC because it’s a faster game because of the weather. It’s really quite simple to understand. You recruit to win your conference, you don’t recruit to beat some SEC team you may play in a bowl game. But, I mean if you want to get on that the SEC vs Big is pretty much a .500 spilt (10-9 or something close to that) since 2002. So besides OSU losing in BCS title games, the SEC is not trouncing the big ten like you claim. The big ten is 10-9 verse the SEC in bowl games since 2002 so minus some lopsided matchups the overall conferences against each other have resulted in spilt outcomes.
How did Vanderbilt lose to a Florida team that lost to a Michigan team that lost to Appalachian State?
If you want to look at pretty girls go to strip club… in the north its about the football. It’s about eating chicken wings, listening to metallica, drinking Keystone Light, and wanting to get into the stadium to scream as loud as you can.
So what you are saying is that the SEC is putting a better brand of football on the field that is designed to win championships at the national level?
So people in the north don’t enjoy seeing hot chicks naked?
Mac, I beg of you, just for a day, let the second sentence in 110 be the tagline for Braves Journal. If I could go back in time and make it my yearbook quotation, I would.
we heard all about “smash-mouth” big 11 football from wisconsins’ coach before the bowl game last year.(” FSU doesnt want any of that”)the score wasnt close but it was closer than the game………… and i think if you ask, 98% of football players will tell you that its a lot easier to play in cold weather than the heat and humidity.
The second sentence of post 110 is the reason why the girls in the south are hotter.
Just because USC’s LBs entered the draft and UFs were juniors and underclassmen doesn’t make USC’s defensive unit magically better than UFs. Spikes would’ve gone ahead of any of USC’s trio if he’d gone in.
You can say USC would’ve put up a better fight if you want to, but I don’t believe their defense was superior to, say, Alabama’s. Which UF seemed to handle okay.
Speaking of which, who did USC play that was near that quality of opponent? PSU in the Rose Bowl? Maybe? Maybe if they scheduled a real OOC opponent (no, OSU doesn’t count) or had anyone worth mentioning in their own conference, they’d have made it to the NC game.
Smitty
Your doing it again… generalizing the facts and painting the picture you want to paint. No response to my FACT… that the big ten is 10-9 against the SEC in bowl games since 2002?? The SEC is putting a brand of football together on the field that is conducive of winning SEC titles and bowl games in your home state. Let’s have a bowl game in cold weather… see how your florida teams stack up. It’s never happened before, so I guess you can’t say that florida can win in cold weather. Whereas I can say the big ten can win in your weather conditions. The bowl records don’t lie
Metallica?? at least now we know what Jon considers “good” singing. such soothing voices.
Mraver
Your SEC teams don’t schedule anyone out of conference give me a break. Go take a look at USC’s out of conference schedule over the last 10 years, maybe instead of spiting up your SEC biased it would do you some good to go look up some facts
Let’s be fair, when your conference schedule is far stronger, you don’t need to schedule tough nonconference games.
USC has to schedule a strong non-conf because it’s conference is so weak.
Plus, it’s not Florida’s fault that Miami and FSU suck lately.
I love the smell of SEC myopia in the morning.
This discussion has taken a silly turn.
and drinking Keystone Light? thank god i dont live where thats a sign of anything except being flat-ass broke.
1) Who wants to go to a bowl game and sit in the cold?
2) Heat and humidity is much more taxing than cold weather.
3) Who cares what the Big Ten’s #2 team did against the SEC #5-6 team? Your flagship schools OSU and Michigan are consistently overrated and can’t get it done in the big game. They are too slow and have far less talent than SEC schools.
barrycuda
Your at a football game, your supposed to get fired up… I suppose you prefer listening to dylan before the game right? Nothing like listening to that whiney pot smoking hippie complain about how he hates the world before a football game.
There’s reason we are the best student section in the country. It’s because teams up north actual have passion for the game of football. We will wear our jerseys and support our team no matter what. PSU lost to a better USC team, yeah it sucked, but the next day I’m still supporting my team and will admitt that PSU’s passing defense didn’t face a challenge and that good of a QB in Sanchez all year long. On the other hand, that’s why I give OSU supporters all the credit, they’ve gotten embarassed in bowl games in recent years yet the passion never dies. It’s about being a fan of your team first and foremost. The fact is that if Florida had 4 or 5 losing seasons the gator fans would disappear into the shadows.
Come on, Michigan always runs into the USC juggernaut that the SEC avoids.
Are there any bama fans in here? Maybe they can talk logically with me besides these florida lovers
Damn, Special K is on a roll.
Axel Rose is Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks’ love child. Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks were Bob Dylan and Janis Joplin’s love children. they all sound the same, and although there are some great songs amongst them, there are also some crazy ones.
I heard Leo Mazzone was in Milwaukee interviewing for their open Pitching Coach position.
In all fairness, that App State team was pretty good. And very fast. And Michigan sucks.
I could never abandon my Gators, not even after a few losing seasons.
Go Yellow Jackets!
I think what Jon is trying to say is that in cold weather, because of all the wind, QBs can’t throw as accurately and as such, there’s less pressure to recruit good DBs/WRs. Therefore, since your players don’t need to be as talented, you can keep the games low-scoring (which means the WWL will describe your teams as “tough” and playing “smash-mouth football”) and say it’s because of your dominant defenses.
All of this allows you to get one of your teams in or near the national title game every year, even though there are probably 4-10 more deserving teams.
So really they’ve got a pretty good setup.
Dix
The pac 10 went 5-0 in their bowl games last year. That doesn’t scream an sucky conference
@123,
Just tried Milwaukee’s Best for the first time the other day. $3.60 for a six-pack in New York. Ridiculous.
It was like drinking the pee of someone who drank a lot of real beer.
Doesn’t scream sucky conference…but doesn’t mask the fact that its a sucky conference either.
Uh, John K, Bama fans are the most fanatical, loyal fans to ever walk the planet. I’m not one of them, but work with a bunch and have a brother-in-law that believes Alabama would go undefeated, even if they had 1st graders on their O and D-line with Bear Bryant still coaching them.
Need more proof? He missed his son’s first basketball game last year to go to the Bama/Clemson game, and probably would have missed his birth too, if Bama were playing in Atlanta.
I never said Keystone light was good haha jesus. I said Keystone light because it’s just an example that it doesn’t matter what your drinking as long as your getting drunk. When its 30 degrees you can’t taste anything anyway haha
bwarrend
I’m looking for a bama fans opinion on PSU-Bamas home and away coming up next year. I’m a PSU alum and I couldn’t be more excited. These types of matchups are long overdue. I’ve waited a long time for a Big 10-SEC regular season match and I think its great both schools decided to re-live the glory years and match these two dominate schools together
F it. PSU is not dominant.
“it doesn’t matter what your drinking as long as your getting drunk.”
Sounds like me when I was 19. I didn’t like Dylan too much back then either.
I hate Florida, but I can over look my hatred to see greatness.
So SEC fans don’t support their schools? Wow.
Last year the SEC averaged 75,816 per game (most in the nation) Big Ten 70,514.
Now if my stupid southern math is right that is, on average, 5302 more fans in SEC stadiums on Saturdays than in Big Ten facilitates.
Dix
Exactly where do you lie along the spectrum of college football in terms of support?
facilitates? is that like spanish for fruition?
@143
I lie on braves journal all the time. Or, at least I kid/joke/wind-up/dominate PSU fans/have fun.
Dix is a fellow Gator fan.
But like most SEC fans, I don’t support the team.
Southern Smitty
I don’t know where your getting your southern man facts, but I’ll tell you that the big ten has the three largest stadiums in the country in penn state, michigan and ohio state. Where each school will average close to 108,000 for ALL home games. You know your not supposed to count the fans in the parking lot right? The ones that don’t really care about the game and would rather just watch those pretty little southern bells.
Jon K. Drink heavily, it’s gonna be two long games for PSU fans. You’re better off not knowing what transpires (that’s a big word for happens).
Props to my new word a day calendar.
I think it’s the absence of rust that makes the Southern bells so pretty.
Yankee Jon,
For the last 11 years more people have been to SEC games.
From the NCAA website:
http://www.ncaa.org/wps/ncaa?ContentID=45320
“As for league totals, the Southeastern Conference set the NCAA conference record for average attendance while topping all conferences for the 11th consecutive year. While the Big Ten Conference boasted the nation’s top three teams in per-game attendance, the SEC claimed the six of the remaining top 10 spots. The other top-10 mark went to the Big 12 (Texas at No. 5).
The SEC totaled 6,378,085 fans while averaging a record 76,844 per game. That average mark topped the SEC’s all-time conference record of 75,706 from 2006.”
the Southern bells have an advantage. It never rains, so they never get wet, so they don’t get rusty.
I wish there was a Braves game today so we could talk baseball.
Keystone Light?
Yikes!
Well I’m happy for you gator fans. Your enjoying a nice run of success and eventually these gator teams are the start of what hopes to be a traditionally dominate program. Don’t get too comfortable though, we all know what happened to miami and FSU. And its about time florida had some good teams I mean decade after decade of horrible football takes its toll.
Yeah Dix you know a lot about football, PSU not dominate. I know you come from a program that has had a long history up until the 90s of disappointment. But penn state has traditionally been a dominate program thanks to Joe Paterno is only the greatest college football coach in history with 383 wins, 23 bowl wins, 5 undefeated untied seasons and 2 NC.
did anyone see the Strikeforce trailer for Gina Carano vs Cyborg? Just scary
i tried to not support my team this year but my wife paid for the tickets. with my credit card! saturdays on the deck watching the games on tv with a tall, cool beverage was sounding good. i always have fun when i go but its getting harder every year to go join the mob.
PSU not dominate.
I rest my case.
We’ll see what happens bama fan… I like Penn State’s chances. At least I’m not as ignorant to claim victory in both games. But hey, at least bama will get the chance to see what a real stadium looks like and the greatest student section in the country.
Woah! a brillant comment from moron Dix! Can’t even come up with something substantial to say. Guess when your team still isn’t considered a traditional power house school maybe gets under your skin a bit
Losing seasons since 2000:
Penn State 4
So much laughter. Eyes filled with tears.
the Southern bells have an advantage. It never rains, so they never get wet
C’mon Dix, you’re slipping! You’re going to lose your title of resident perv if you keep making statements like that. Waaay too many jokes to be made from that line.
132,
What’s the good word?
All my jokes are intended to give rise to further humor. I can’t do all the work. Plus, did you at least get the joke?
To hell with Georgia!
Yes, Jon K., we’re all Gator fans here. Maybe you’re on the wrong blog.
Moron is a controversial term once used in psychology to denote a category of mental retardation. Apologize, idiot.
haha let me clarify one thing. The rusty cowbell seems to be taken WAY out of context and I don’t blame you since I just listed it as a “common activty”. Anyways my buddies and I went up to the PSU-MSU game back in 2005 and we were tailgating in one of the parking lots and on our way through the masses of PSU tailgaters one dude just runs up to us with a cowbell with whiskey in it and tells us to take a drink for joe pa. It was just an example of some of the crazy stuff I’ve seen at tailgates.
And I’m not even gonna get into the female thing. Of course woman down south are hotter. Geez what do you expect when they all came from the seed of Tim Tebow, the greatest human ever to grace the earth.
Fine… how about mongolian idiot? The term used to describe Trisomy 21. I always liked that one better than Downsyndrome. So Dix… now you appologize to me you mongolian idiot!
Oh, I have quite the low-brow sense of humor, so I not only get your jokes, I very much appreciate them.
What this thread needs is more…
Cowbell!
Now you’ve gone too far.
Seriously though… nothing like drinking whiskey out of a cowbell. There are just some things in life that you can’t pass up… kinda like sitting in a dark room with a freshly rolled doobie listening to a remastered LP of Blonde on Blonde…. PRICELESS
And I’m not even gonna get into the female thing.
This is readily apparent.
I don’t think priceless means what you think it means. The word you’re looking for there is valueless.
I’m really glad that I’ve stayed up until 2:30 am to read this thread. I think I’ll stay up.
Stu
You can’t compete with the fruit of Tim Tebows loins! There is no arguement on my side for that one
Dix
Didn’t catch the sarcasm there buddy? I hate dylan
Goodness gracious. I can’t believe I missed the sarcasm. I guess it’s because I take things too seriously.
So, you’re saying you like Dylan?
Lets go back to the discussion we once had about beer or movies.
I’ll start it off: My favorite beer is Sam Adams Summer Ale
My favorite movie is the first Pirates of the Caribbean
My favorite movie is PCU where Jeremy Piven proves that his school is dominate.
My favorite beer is Keystone Light, and my favorite movie is Metallica: Some Kind of Monster.
Other common activities at PSU tailgates include driving JoePa (aka Bernie) around the parking lot in a golf cart, drinking Lysol strained through a dirty sock, and trying to guess the weight of the bundled-up chicks munching on beef jerky in the next parking space.
Oh, and making snow angels in the yellow snow.
i guess in pennsylvania YukonJack passes for whiskey?
off days really suck around here
Keystone? there really is no accounting for taste
my favorite movie is Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid because
Dylan has a part in it and does the soundtrack.
my favorite movie is Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid because
Dylan has a part in it and does the soundtrack.
Best line of the day comes from Razzball:
Erik Bedard – To have exploratory surgery on his shoulder. I think the Mariners are hoping to find a few prospects in there.
Sad news to report. Les Paul has passed away at 94. He is Steve Miller’s Godfather.
Bob Dylan played an Epiphone Les Paul guitar.
Oh, wow.
That Les Paul?
RIP Les.
Yeah, I just heard on the radio…
All videos will be Dylan until Jon apologizes.
Mac,
Is that really necessary? Can’t you just find some Bama videos?
The only real thing I’ve garnered from this thread is that Jon K needs to be drunk to tolerate PSU football.
Geez…off days really do suck.
And that he doesn’t think you’re hot.
Some good laughs today (even beyond the gator fans pic, which never gets old).
Question for MLB.tv users…
I see that they suggest 3Mbps minimum connection for their HD games, but I can’t find the minimum for the regular ones. Any thoughts? I just don’t want to buy it and not be able to see it well because my internet at home is way too slow.
Well Dix, that’s nothing new.
Sheesh… Wren must be the best GM & Bobby the best manager in the game today, because apparently even THIS group hasn’t found things relating to the Braves to discuss and have instead moved on to college football and music (and not even an INTERESTING music discussion).
Edit: At least somebody brought up the actual interesting topic of the passing of Les Paul… they should be able to get a good musician or three for a memorial service for him I bet.
On a Braves-related note, I have cacti named after Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano.
c. shorter-
IIRC, it’s like 1.5 for the regular and like 750k for the audio.
I’m sorry I hate Dylan so much Mac
Jesus fellas let’s just settle it by saying we agree to disagree, we’re fans of different college football teams/Conferences and the best part about college football is the competition and thrill of seeing the big schools play each other. The SEC has been the best conference since 2000 with Florida winning 2 NC and LSU 2 NC. Regardless, I’m still happy at how PSU has rebounded from those dismal years between 2000-2004. I mean if your team doesnt win a NC, then 2 big ten titles, and winning 3 of 4 bowl games the last 4 years is about all you can ask for.
heres hoping that Jon doesnt apologize.
I agree with Jon K that PSU was dismal from 2000-2004 and is now not as bad.
…the best part about college football is the competition and thrill of seeing the big schools play each other.
I disagree. The best things about college football are, in no particular order:
eating chicken wings;
listening to metallica;
drinking Keystone Light; and
wanting to get into the stadium to scream as loud as you can.
Hey stu the jerk store called they’re running out of you… but don’t worry your they’re all time best seller
Heh, nice. I’m just messing with you, Jon.
PS: I’m not a Florida fan. Neither is Dix.
Apparently Soriano requested not to pitch last night, but he says it is nothing physical. We will see.
mraver — thanks.
Where’d you read that, Tony?
Is it just me, or does the location of the link to DOB’s blog change almost daily on the AJC website?
IOC chooses golf and rugby over baseball for the 2016 Olympics.
Die, Olympics. Die.
Stu, check the AJC recap of the game.
Jon-
No one is telling you not to be pleased that your team has rebounded and is now once again a power in the Big 10. I for one think it’s great that you’re able to focus on what PSU can do (ie, being one of the headliners in the Big 10) rather than worry about what they can’t (ie, being more than a sideshow in the SEC).
What I’d really like to see is a fair matchup between some SEC and Big 10 teams.
Like PSU vs. Vandy.
No matter what is said “eating chicken wings;listening to metallica;
drinking Keystone Light; and
wanting to get into the stadium to scream as loud as you can.”
Was the line of the day
@212 – The Olympics, the!
Stu, after all isn’t the biggest thing to worry about on game day whether or not to go with boneless or bone in wings?
Here’s the exact quote:
“The Braves, who have won seven of their past eight games, opted to heed Rafael Soriano’s request for a night off and utilize Mike Gonzalez to protect a four-run lead. After the game, Soriano said that he wasn’t fighting any physical ailment, and Gonzalez felt fortunate for the opportunity to say the same.”
http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090812&content_id=6394226&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl
Thanks, Tony. billy-jay, you had me thinking I was crazy or blind—there’s no mention of it in the AJC story.
Hadn’t Soriano been off since Saturday?
If so, that is a scary quote. i really thought he needed work yesterday with the off day today to be sharp enough to go in 2 of 3 this weekend.
Apologies, Stu. I don’t normally read the official Braves site. I guess I made an exception today (or yesterday).
mraver
I can’t tell if your kidding or not. But I do know this… PSU would wipe Vandy off the field. I’m not saying PSU is in Florida’s class… but they most certainly are in the class of LSU, Georgia, UT, Miss, auburn and alabama. It was alabama that got WAXED basically in a home game for them by a Mountain West team. At least Penn state got beat by USC which was a home game for USC. God I really hope you were joking about that Vandy crack… and if you really think Vandy could beat PSU then you sir are a couple fries short of a happy meal
I just read this entire thread, and I’m not sure if I’m bored or elated.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Jason & the Scorchers’ “Absolutely Sweet Marie” is one of the great songs ever, let alone one of the great covers. Obviously, the Byrds’ “Mr. Tambourine Man” falls in the same category.
My favorite beer: Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout.
When you go to school outside the SEC, you drink beer that isn’t Keystone Light.
Vandy and Penn State’s offenses are probably pretty comparable.
PSU would probably scrape by with a slightly better defense.
My call. Penn St. 9 Vandy 6.
But… that is why the SEC is overall a better conference than the big ten. While you have 2 teams (psu and osu) that are in the class of LSU, Georgia, UT, Miss, Auburn and bama, there always is that one SEC team that stands out of the pack. This is why I think OSU got beat those years. The best in the big ten hasnt match up well with the “best” in the SEC. But that doesn’t mean that big ten team doesnt match up with the teams below that best team. Some of you SEC fans think that if the SEC’s best team can beat the big ten’s best team then that correlates to every team in SEC could beat that big ten team. Might I remind everyone again — the big ten is 10-9 in bowl games over the SEC. I’ll finish by saying the SEC’s best is still better than the big ten’s best, the SEC just has more quality legit teams 6-7 whereas the big ten has only had 3 legit teams each year for the last couple of years.
for those of you who missed it, Gonzo’s catch:
http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=6068901&c_id=atl
Our defense is better than Penn State’s. Now that Terence Jeffers failed to qualify, their offense is better than ours by a wider margin than that by which our defense is better than theirs, so they might win a close one, depending on the location of the game.
There would be no floor-wiping, though.
Gonna make it 4 out of the last 5 against Ole Miss this year. 😉
Vandy 16 Joe Pa’s 10
GO DORES! SEC SEC SEC SEC!!!
I like fries.
And he really did say “God Damn” when he got up, too.
Offenses are comparable???? Your talking about Vandy??
Penn State 2008 final offensive team stats
Scoring – 11th in the country (38.9 pts/gm)
Rushing – 17th in the country (205.8 yards/gm)
Passing – 37th in the country (243.1 yards/gm)
Yards – 14th in the country (448.9 yards/gm)
Vandy’s 2008 final offensive team stats
Yards – 118th in the country (256.2 yards/gm)
Scoring -106th in the country (19.2 pts/gm)
Rushing – 74th (133.6 yards/gm)
Passing- 113th in the country (122.6 yards/gm)
@230, was it “god” or “hot”? I couldn’t tell for sure… and both applied.
Well Vandy did play SEC defenses.
Our offense was just plain bad last year, though, regardless of competition. Should be better this year—it can’t really be worse—and how much better will determine whether we keep the program momentum going forward.
Vandy has one of the worst offenses in the country. And defense??? you think Vandy’s defense is better than PSU’s??? hahaha ohh now thats!! funny. Wow. PSU has a top 3 linebacker core with a great front 4. How do you expect vandy to get a 1st down?
The only other Linebackers I’d take over PSU’s are florida’s LB’s
Penn State is afraid to play Pitt.
Phillies will win today. However, it seems as though we won’t have to face their true ace, Cliff Lee. Good stuff!
Stupid Cubs, not beating the Phils.
You are right Smitty. Based on the stats above I’d have to change that pick.
Vandy 12 Penn St. 6.
Talking about things that are overrated, still calling Penn St. linebacker U. Dan Connor and Paul Posluszny have definitely lived up to their first round draft hype that saw the actual drafters take them in the third and second rounds.
Wait…
I though USC’s line backers were the best in the country.
Okay, what famous ballplayer shares Dylan’s birthplace of Hibbing, Minnesota?
I like George Thorogood’s version of Wanted Man.
Well the Phillies are beating the Cubs again….
Stark says the Braves made a quick run at VMart before the deadline but didn’t get very far.
246 comments on an off day in August, dang you can tell Football is close cant you?
I thought at first we must have claimed someone off waivers
This webpage exists.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2257682_have-fun-penn-state-football.html
I think step 6 is practice your ABCs
Alabama will kill Penn State.
I think the same would be said for Georgia and LSU.
That Alabama would kill them?
Alex (PA)
Talk about my boy Heyward!
Jim Callis (2:48 PM)
He’s the best prospect in the minors! The Braves should call him up!
Rockies winning, Phillies won…
So going into tomorrow, 5 out of division race, 3.5 out of wildcard.
I hate the Cubs.
So, what is Mr. Smoltz going to do now that he did not accept his assignment?
He’s going to attack the Red Sox in the media, presumably.
Finally, something John Smoltz and I can agree on!
@255 Ouch! But true…
Alex, how am I supposed to avoid work by bugging you if you’re not on G-Chat?
Runoff poll.
Re: Callis’s chat, he also said he’d take Heyward over Matt Kemp and (!) Justin Upton. I mean, wow. BETTER than Justin Upton?! Upton’s 21 with an OPS over .900. Friggin nuts. Upton’s the poster boy for “Young, emerging stars in MLB”, and he likes Heyward more.
I gotta say, I’m really excited about how this year’s going, and I can’t wait to see if we can make the playoffs. But next years’ team is going to be even better.
@223–good call on Brooklyn Black Choc Stout
my favorite is Shakespeare Stout from Rogue
I’ve only gotten about halfway through this hilarious thread, but I just want to pause to say that I STILL think that, even though it’s totally making fun of me, the Gator picture Stu likes to post is absolutely hilarious and I just laughed out loud. On to continue reading one of the best threads in a while…
Frank, nice one. Shakespeare’s great too.
Sorry, Stu — I’m working at my new job, currently on the road in Pittsburgh. I’ll tell you all about it when I’m back in DC on Monday.
I do love that picture.
Jon K waited. The lights blinked and sparked out of the air. There were SEC fans in the bravesjournal. He didn’t see them, but had expected them now for months. His warnings to fellow Big Ten fans were not listened to and now it was too late. Far too late for now, anyway.
John was a PSU fan for fourteen years. He was young he watched the Nittany Lions games and he said to dad “I want to tailgate at Penn State games.”
Dad said “No! PSU WILL BE DEFEATED BY SEC TEAMS”
There was a time when he believed him. Then as he got oldered he stopped. But now on an off day in the bravesjournal he new there were SEC fans.
“This is Joe Paterno” The headset crackered. “You must fight the southerners!” So Jon K gotted his computer and posted on the bravesjournal.
“HE GOING TO DEBATE SEC VS BIG TEN” Said the southerners.
“I will make fun of him” Said the head southerner and he posted #206. John posted at him and tried to site bowl games and stadium capacity. But then the Big Ten sucked and Jon K was not able to post.
“No! I must defeat the SEC fans!” He shouted.
The radio said “No Jon K. You are the SEC fans”
And then Jon K did the Gator Chomp.
If I’m the Head Southerner, we are doomed.
Wait a minute, Jon K blasted people who love Dylan as being stoners and saying he preferred to live a “sober life”. Then he goes on to say it doesn’t matter what your drinking as long as your getting wasted. Sounds like a tool to me.
Andruw Jones
17 hrs
.221
ANother good non-signing by Wren.
His moves look better and better as the season goes by.
someone please tell me that Jon K is 19 years old and still has a chance . he may have to be tied down with a Jim Beam iv drip and Dylan blasting through the headphones for about 72 hours but i think he’ll come around.
Jon K is clearly an alter ego of Dix or Stu. No one could possibly mean that line about chicken wings and Keystone Light.
My favorite beer is Left Hand Milk Stout, but I love Killian’s too.
Rob, why’d you leave mraver?
http://acctrash.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/gator-jorts.jpg
I like the LH Milk Stout too. Right now my favorite “value beer” i.e., what I buy a case of every week to drink around the house, is Stockyard Stout. $5.99/6 at Trader Joes. Yummy too.
@269 Wait ’till he spends a summer night on a blanket in the woods, preferably on the water, with a beautiful girl, a bottle of rose and Blood On The Tracks in the jam box. He’ll change his mind.
beautiful girl on a blanket in the woods by the riverthe river?? sounds like my back yard………lets not get carried away here.
beautiful girl on a blanket in the woods by the river?? sounds like my back yard………lets not get carried away here. i just figured that if pennsylvania=the keystone state, keystone light= a bunch of clueless young patriots.
My SEC Predictions:
East
1. Florida
2. Georgia
3. South Carolina
4. Vanderbilt
5. Kentucky
6. Tennessee
West
1. Alabama
2. LSU
3. Ole Miss
4. Arkansas
5. Auburn
6. Mississippi State
All other conferences: irrelevant.
Mac, when are we going to start the SEC previews?
How do you know that Dix isn’t an alter ego of Stu?
OK, I wanna know who’s the red head and who’s the other one. If I may, I’d like to be the red head. I just imagine that guy saying, in that “Will Ferrell as John Rocker” voice, “Do you bow-hunt?! I BOW HUNT!”
That’s also how I imagine Jon K saying how he loves chicken wings, Keystone Light, and getting in the game to scream as loud as he can. It’s actually a mix between that and Joe Dirt.
I need a huge favor guys. Can 7 someone 2 call 7 my phone? 2 It’s somewhere 1 in my apartment, 5 and I really need to leave 3 the house 1 and I 5 can’t find it 4 anywhere. It went really well last summer when I tried this. As you can probably tell, I put it in this paragraph so that it wouldn’t be found. Anybody help me out?
Hi this is Rob, I’m sorry I missed your call but if you’ll please leave me a message I’ll call you back
I don’t think it worked
i called but got dix
just another alter ego…
December 6th at the Dome…interesting
when is adam milligan going to start getting more buzz? he is raking at rome.
http://tinyurl.com/l2dz2b
I’ve about 1/3 written the Alabama preview. Anyone want to volunteer for others? Stu wants Vandy, I assume, and Alex R. wants UGA.
Speaking of Volunteers, Kiffin is a nimrod.
I’ll do the Penn State Preview
@276 – Whoa.
I help with this part of it. Alabama humbles Penn State, JoePa curses Saban, calls him the “2nd coming of Bear Bryant.”
Alabama is dominate?
Five Best Dylan Songs
#5—Tangled Up In Blue
#4—Subterranean Homesick Blues
#3—Positively 4th Street—Fantastic cover done by Johnny Rivers
#2—All Along the Watchtower—Agree with Mac, even better by Jimi
#1—Like A Rolling Stone
I wasn’t the one who said Hendrix’s “Watchtower” was better, though I agree with that… I also agree with your list, but not the order. I’d have “Tangled Up In Blue” first.
I thought Eleanor Abernathy sang those?
I’ll do Carolina.
South, I assume?
I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because some people out there in our nation don’t have maps and I believe that our education like such as in South Africa and Iraq and everywhere like such as and I believe that they should our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S. or should help South Africa and should help Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future for us
I’d do her too…
Yes. Since when is the other one in the SEC?
Well, every year someone does Miami and someone does Tech.
My Five Favorite Dylan Songs:
1-Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again (not even close)
2-Buckets Of Rain
3-Spanish Harlem Incident
4-Tangled Up In Blue
5-You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome
My Five Favorite Overall Bob Dylan Records:
1-Blonde On Blonde
2-Another Side Of Bob Dylan
3-Oh Mercy
4-Bringing It All Back Home
5-John Wesley Harding
297—Stuck Inside of Mobile is a great song, as is Highway 61 Revisited, both could have been in my top five on any given day—just not when I thought about it five minutes ago.
I don’t know how you could leave Like a Rolling Stone off your top five Dylan list. It would be hard to leave off my top five all time list.
1. Love Minus Zero (No Limit)
2. Tangled Up In Blue
3. Going, Going, Gone
4. Forever Young
5. One Too Many Mornings
3-5 always subject to change
Ok, I’ll bite.
1. Like a Rolling Stone
2. Tangled Up In Blue
3. Idiot Wind
4. Mr. Tambourine Man
5. Lay Lady Lay
Mac,
Did you know Neyer linked to you on Monday?
EDIT: Awful Umpiring, that is.
Oh, yeah. Great big flood of hits. Hopefully I can hang on to some of them.
#242
Roger Maris and Bob Dylan (born Robert Zimmerman) are from Hibbing, Minnesota.
Weldon @ #58
I totally agree on both counts.
Marlins won.
Ill do Tennessee again this year. I am sure you all won’t be able to sleep until you read it. However, it will have to wait til Friday
Been at a medical conference all day, so I just now read the entire thread…wow.
Keystone is literally the only beer I will not drink. Just horrible. Boulevard Wheat or Pale Ale is probably the favorite.
I was pretty bullish on the Big 12 last year as the best conference in the nation, and I’ll admit they didn’t back it up. Heading into this year, no doubt the crown belongs to the SEC.
However, I find it hysterical that Auburn hired the guy whose team was the b**** of the Big 12 last year. Saw numerous games last year and Iowa St (besides having no talent) was just a horribly coached team. Have fun with that douchebag SEC. It’s like the addition by subtraction of the Jeff Francoeur trade for the Big 12.
I am worried about the boys at Mizzou this year though. We had 4 players drafted in the first 3 rounds (6 total) and lost the best QB in school history.
However, the Big 12 would wipe the floor with the Big 11 any day of the week and twice on Sunday. The stereotypes are true; your teams are slow and unathletic. Sorry.
Stupid Cubs and Astros. What good are they?! Well, at least the Astros took Hampton off our hands…
Just back from Atlantic City & I return with a terrific gift from some pals from Ottawa: Two 6-packs of La Fin Du Monde.
But I’m more excited about the 5-game winning streak.
12 Fave Dylan tunes:
1. “Visions of Johanna”
2. “Desolation Row”
3. “Postively 4th Street” (Dunno what it says about me, but his meaner material always gets me.)
4. “Tangled Up in Blue”
5. “Mr. Tambourine Man”
6. “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall”
7. “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” (Another swift-kick break-up song.)
8. “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues”
9. “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”
10. “Masters of War”
11. “Jokerman” (Sly & Robbie have a lot to do with it, actually.)
12. “Mississippi” (Best late-era tune, IMO)
Love the vocals on every one of ’em.
Covers? I think The Byrds (both versions) do the best job with all that shimmer & harmony.
But yeah, Hendrix’s “Watchtower” is still otherworldly.
Also, if football conferences were bands, the SEC would be The Bad Brains; the Big 10 would be Bachman-Turner Overdrive.
Fin du Monde — you got some classy friends, Ububba. Unibroue makes excellent stuff.
I’ve always preferred dark beers. I couldn’t quite articulate why, but then I saw that an Irishman on the internet has done so for me:
He goes on to elaborate:
It’s the end of the world, and I’ll drink it?
This is my favorite thread on the internet.
wow… what a thread! i didn’t understand a thing you guys talked about. but hey, i for one am happy that golf is in the olympics in 2016. sorry.
@52, 69. I’m a huge OU fan, and while there is no way I’m going to read 300 posts arguing about conferences (especially since a lot of them appear to mention the Big Ten), I feel a need to comment.
First, to say OU should have won that game is a bit of an overstatement. It certainly could have won it, and I do think OU outplayed Florida for the first three quarters. I also agree with Jon K. that OU’s coaches made it far less likely for the team to win. The biggest two blunders were: not just sneaking it in on third and goal with a foot to go, which would have given OU a 14-7 lead at the time; and attempting a 45 yard field goal on fourth and four with one of the worst kickers in major college football. Those decisions cost OU at least seven points in a ten point game that also saw two tipped Bradford passes become interceptions, one of them in the end zone. It was hardly a game dominated by Florida, and if you took away UF’s best playmaker (Harvin) and gave OU its best (Murray), the score almost certainly would have been reversed.
Anyway, as to the conferences, the most interesting thing to me in the comparisons is never mentioned, and it’s pace of play. The SEC’s defenses call themselves elite, and everyone rips the Big 12’s, but most of the difference is clock usage. The SEC just plays a lot slower than the other major conferences, and the Big 12 a lot faster.
Take OU and UF, because they’re instructive cases. OU ran 148 more plays in 2008 than any other major conference team not in the Big 12. That’s over two games worth of plays for a team like Florida, which averaged but 62 per.
It’s basically football’s version of a park effect, and it’s why, in the bowl games, Big 12 teams scored a bunch fewer points but still managed to win more than they lost. When you’re a team that rarely runs the play clock below 15 seconds and your opponent is the same way, of course scores are going to be inflated, just as scores are deflated when teams run clock.
Basically, last year the SEC had UF, Alabama, Georgia (which had a bad defense, btw), at times Mississippi and at times LSU. Every other team was weak. In the middle and bottom tiers, the ACC was obviously better, and the Big 12 probably better. At the top, the SEC was better than the ACC and about equal to the Big 12, maybe a little better, maybe a little worse. I mean, it’s easy to say now that Mississippi was better than Texas Tech last year, but are we looking at who was better over the whole year or just in January?
Anyway, I think the SEC is usually the best conference, though never by a great deal, and never by enough to excuse their teams’ usually pathetic non-conference schedules. SEC homers usually claim it’s necessary so as to avoid succumbing to the nigh on impossibility of playing South Carolina, LSU and Tennessee back to back, but come on, it’s almost always structured the same as the others, with a couple great teams, a few good ones, a few average ones and a few terrible ones.
Another nice outing by Randall Delgado at Rome.
5 IP, 1 BB, 9 SO
My Top Five Dylan songs:
1) Queen Jane, Approximately (Dylan and the Dead)
2) Tweeter and the Monkeyman (Traveling Wilburys)
3) A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall (Concert for Bangladesh version, with Leon & George & Ringo)
4) Like a Rolling Stone (Constantly played on oldies rock version)
5) Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright (Johnny Cash version)
I think there’s something to this Dylan guy.
ububbas’ top twelve is almost perfect but i could easily come up with a couple more top twelves and i’d hate to have to choose if i could only hear twelve tunes for the rest of my life…….Like a Rolling Stone may actually be THE best(radio) rock song of all time but i doubt it would crack the top 30 on my Dylan list. thats how deep his catalog is.
So we now know who the leader of the team is:
“I don’t think anyone would deny, McCann’s the leader of this team,” Diaz said. “Even though he’s a young guy, he’s our leader. At the position he’s in, catcher, it calls for it. He commands our pitching staff, even though most of them are older than him. And all of us as hitters respect what he’s able to do, day in and day out.
“To have a young leader like that in place, and go about his business the way he goes about his business, really helps the chemistry of our team.”
I pretty much like every Bob Dylan song. Except Changing of the Guard, which is god awful. Not to be confused with Steely Dan’s song of the same title. Which I greatly enjoy.
This is the best beer I’ve ever tasted, and I’ve tasted it quite often. It’s 10.5% alcohol, yet it’s 100% delicious. How can that be?
st. bernardus abt 12
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/259/1708
I don’t think Andruw counts as a dodged bullet for Wren. It was reasonable to be concerned about signing him, but that .222 avg doesn’t tell the whole story any more than the 17HRs in 68 games do.
He’s got a higher OBP than Garret (and just a smidge below McLouth), and a higher Slugging than either. Granted, much of that is skewed by a fantastic first month of the season (his average for the season after that is closer to .200, obp closer to .315, slugging closer to .450), but spending 400K on him vs 2.5M on Garret wouldn’t have been a troubling expense in retrospect (though I think Wren could be defended based on history of declining Andruw).
Blah. Feliz 2 more perfect innings with 5 Ks.
So, how amusing will Michael Vick in Philadelphia be?
@322…Feliz looks damn good. 98mph fastball on the outside corner. Ridiculous.
@323 I can’t wait until PETA tries to protest a game in Philly. It will not be pretty.
Re Feliz: But it’s not like the Braves really need an arm throwing 100 in the bullpen, right? 🙂 After all, we have Acosta.
Re Philly: If Vick helps the Eagles win, he could be a pedophile and no one will care.
#321 For a better perspective you have to look at Andruw’s home/road splits.
I wonder how the Eagles will use him.
And didn’t the Eagles just burn a second round pick on a quarterback?
I bet he gets on the field more than at quarterback.
Since he hasn’t been hit in a long time he should really be fresh. This will be interesting to watch.
Hollywood gives up.
Bad news for Adrian Beltre.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/mariners/2009659134_marinotes14.html
I wonder if he was wearing a cup?
cliff, it says “Beltre does not wear a protective cup because he says it’s uncomfortable.” One would assume it meant before the incident, because I can’t imagine the phrase “bleeding testicle” ever implying ANY activity is comfortable.
The Citadel
Troy
Florida International
Florida State
That’s Florida’s OOC schedule. Atrocious. They’re the best team in the nation, absolutely, but it’d be some just desserts if they got ’04 Auburn-ed because of this nonsense.
They’re called “marquee games,” Gators. Attempt to have them.
No – he finds them “uncomfortable to wear”. Bet he’s god-damned uncomfortable now.
The thing is, if the BCS allows you have a schedule like that and still compete for the title, why would you make it harder on yourself? DN Nation, are you saying you would be upset if your team played that schedule and competed for the title? Until they implement a playoff system, the schools should take advantage if the situation. Florida and all the other sec schools play enough road sec games to not have to go play out of conference, same as the big ten. PAC ten does not, and thus they need to go put and get some better teams.
Ouch!! A bleeding testicle…poor dude. Damn
Now, if they would just do a TV series for The Hangover.
I envision a PSA involving the clip of him getting hit by that ball, the words “bleeding testicle” floating by, and a picture of a cup labeled “Wear one!”…
If Vick helps the Eagles win, he could be a pedophile and no one will care.
I’ll care.
/’skins fan
As John Madden used to say “That’ll make you cough!”
whats the deal with everyone dropping GD’s on here now. Its disrespectful and un called for
Like a Rolling Stone may actually be THE best(radio) rock song of all time
May? Sure, it gets played a whole lot, but that’s not without reason.
(Miller) Geniune Draft?
Yeah, it’s uncalled for.
UF Sked
Three of those OOC teams are certainly lame, but you can’t blame Florida for playing FSU. They have to.
There were plenty of years when UGA got voter grief for playing Tech, a school that in recent history beats UGA about twice every 10 years. But it’s a rivalry game. It’s not your fault if their program falls off. It’s on the schedule every year.
FWIW, Big 10 & Pac 10 teams don’t have a conference title game & that particular extra contest is no small thing. Ask Alabama.
You ain’t goin’ nowhere (basement tapes version)
Alberta (either version, I can’t decide which I prefer)
Stuck inside of mobile with the Memphis blues again
With god on our side
Don’t think twice it’s alright
Queen Jane
Tonight I’ll be staying here with you
One too many mornings (duet with Johnny Cash, nashville sessions bootleg)
Desolation Row
Highway 61
The thing that I enjoy so much about Bob is his ability to write all kinds of great songs in a variety of styles. His political and topical songs are almost unrivaled, but in the late 60s he started writing sweet love songs and the most harshly bitter breakup songs known to man.
Serious question here. I am headed to DC next weekend with the boys, where should I go for the best beer and beer selections?
Any recommendations are appreciated.
Has anyone ever read Griel Marcus’ “Invisible Republic?” It’s a fascinating study of Dylan’s Basement Tapes, Harry Smith’s Anthology and the commercial and political causes of the American Civil war as well as it’s resultant policies and affects on the American Psyche. It’s a heavy read, especially for a relatively short book, but an incredibly poignant and insightful one.
#348
Great book! Dock Boggs was a particularly interesting influence. Reading Invisible Republic, you come away with the sense that Dylan remained true to the spirit of the music he incorporated.
Sounds like a book I’d like to read! Interesting synthesis of topics.
I like Dock Boggs’ records. Hadn’t heard the Dylan connection before, but it isn’t much of a shock, given Boggs’ presence at Newport
It’s a great read for anyone who’s a musical historian or someone who appreciates a fresh revisionist perspective. Especially if you’re like me and you think that the tapes were among, if not the finest of dylan’s work.
Jason C…………i only said it MAY be the best radio song of all time because i think its a toss-up with Satisfaction. they came out about the same time(if memory serves) and both shook my little teenage brain.
Longest thread of the season.
Blanton is throwing tonite for the Phillies…cool. I like a Blanton/Jurrgens match-up better than a Blanton/Kawakawi match-up.
Been out for most of the week, but I wanted to contribute: Go Braves.
I expect the Braves to beat Country Joe Blanton every time he pitches. And yet his K/BB numbers are better than Jurrjens. Maybe even much better.
Should we worry about Jurrjens? Or, is he really as good as he’s shown the last year and a half?
Game thread is up BTW.