Things are Tough All Over

I vaguely remember a Cheech & Chong movie from years ago. I believe it was called “Things are Tough All Over.”

I remember a friend I had in high school who would always say “Tough to be a man, baby.”

It is tough to be a man these days. Or a woman. This morning, I put $30 worth of gasoline in my car, and it barely moved the needle. My office is exactly 32 miles from my house, so the rising gas prices are hurting me more and more each day. And I don’t drive for a living. Imagine the effect of these gas prices on the trucking industry and how that will affect prices of everyday items that you and I buy. Groceries, clothing, everything is tied to the price of gas. Not to mention the travel industry where rising oil prices will surely be reflected in air fares very soon.

So, while I was pondering the effect of the price of oil, I found myself stuck in traffic. I live in a city that is divided by a river. I live north of that river and I work south of the river. With the river, there are a limited number of routes to get from my house to my office, and the geniuses who run such things have decided to close two of those routes for construction. So everyday I have to fight much more traffic than I normally would. I guess I understand it. I mean, why would we want to only close one bridge at a time when we could close two. I’m sure they’re working on plans to shut another down before this is all over. My wife has it even worse. She works down town. They have a bunch of streets closed down there for construction and to make way for all the vast new development that is going on. New buildings, new apartments, new arena. That’s all great, but it sure is a pain for now.

While I was sitting in the traffic jam, I was listening to my favorite talk show host. He was discussing the “housing bubble.” Apparently, when I refinanced my house and took some extra money out to finish my basement, I was making a mistake. The equity that I thought I had was just an illusion and very soon I will owe much more on my house than it is worth.

Of course, this is why we in America love our sports teams. No matter how bad things get, we can always pull for our favorite baseball, football, basketball or hockey team. Through the Depression, world wars, hostage crises, and terrorist attacks, Americas could always turn their attention to sports for an escape. Speaking of which, my baseball team lost their 17th straight game last night and are on their way to cementing their place in history as the worst professional baseball team ever. I’m very proud. My football team played a preseason game last week, and their “revamped” defense looked as anemic as last year’s league worst defense.

Now, please don’t be too worried about me. I’m not considering jumping off a shut down bridge or anything. I have plenty to be thankful for. For example, my kids started their school year yesterday. Both got off to a great start with great teachers in great schools. My son’s baseball team won their first ever tournament last weekend. My lovely wife is the cornerstone of my being and is a wonderful mother to our kids. We live in a great (over-valued) house and we really do have a great life. All four of my kids’ grandparents are still around and actively involved in their lives. We don’t want for anything.

No matter how difficult, tough, or depressing things seem to get, I can always look at my family and be very proud and thankful. Yes, it can be “tough to be a man, baby,” but only if you fail to appreciate the good things in your life.

Am I finished as a Royals fan?

This is the saddest day of my life as a baseball fan.

I’ve lived my entire life in Kansas City, and I have been fortunate enough to live in a city with a major league baseball team. I grew up a Royals fan. I remember when it was a given that our team would be in the playoffs every year. I remember when we didn’t really care about the regular season – we were just waiting for the playoffs to start.

The joy of a World Series championship is now a distant memory as the team celebrates the 20 year anniversary of that wonderful fall. But it seems since game seven of that series, this team has been snake-bitten.

Tragedy struck. Manager Dick Howser was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Owner Ewing Kauffman’s health declined. The Royals went ownerless for several years as a committee ran the team until a buyer could be secured under the terms that Kauffman defined before his death. With no real owner and no real direction, the Royals floundered.

David Glass finally bought the team and fans were encouraged that finally something good could happen. It hasn’t.

Questionable trades, signings, hirings and firings have peppered this team. This season, manager Tony Pena quit. They hired Buddy Bell. They’ve tried veterans. They’ve tried rookies. They’ve changed medical staff. They’ve moved the fences in, then out. Nothing matters. The one constant has been the losing. (the only bright spot was 2003 when they played above their Pythagorean record and was in contention in late August).

I went to Tuesday night’s Royals game. The Royals had a 7-2 lead going into the ninth inning. They gave up 11 runs and lost 13-7. It was demoralizing. It was sickening. It was rotten. It extended their losing streak to 11 games, and last night they made it 12, tying the team’s longest losing streak in their history. They’ll attempt to break that record tonight. (see Dan's blog for a play-by-play of that ugly ninth inning.)

I’ve always been an optimistic fan. I’ve always defended the Royals and bought into their “plan.” But now I can only shake my head. What does this team need? New owner? New general manager? New manager? New players? New stadium? New city? All of the above? I don’t know, but I don’t think I can afford to invest any more of my time following this team with no reward in sight. Not even a little reward – how about playing .500 ball? Ten years is enough wasted time.

Phillips

I was driving home from a weekend at the lake yesterday when I heard Paul Phillips' name on the Royals radio broadcast. My skin crawled. I could not believe the Royals called up Phillips, who is number one on my public enemy list. (see my post)

Look, I know Lima's been terrible for the Royals this season, but that doesn't make Phillips' autograph crime right. And now Phillips is enjoying big league life. No justice, no peace.

Going Digital

For my birthday yesterday, my wife surprised me with a new Canon Digital Rebel XT camera. Last winter, I took a community education class on photography. At the time, I bought a fairly inexpensive film camera (Minolta Maxxum 50). It's a nice camera for the beginner or novice as it has good automatic features, plus the ability to adjust most settings manually.

But as I've been slowing getting more into photography, it's been frustrating for me to have to keep track of my shutter and aperture settings for each shot I took, and then remember to match up those settings when I finally got the photos back from the processor. It's difficult to learn about the effect of various settings when you can't see the results immediately.

So, I've been casually looking at digital cameras for a while. A good friend of mine had a Canon at one of my son's baseball tournaments, and he praised the camera. I was impressed with the quality of the shots he's taken.

I wasn't ready to spend the money on one just yet, but my wife made a visit to our local photography shop (Photographx Unlimited) and brought home the Canon.

I haven't had a chance to take many shots with it yet, but I am impressed with its capabilities. Plus, I love that data about each shot is captured with the shot. I never again will have to write down my shutter speed or aperture settings as that data is captured with the shot. The quality of the shots is unbelievable - better than any digital photos I've ever seen.

I'm really excited about getting to know this camera and capturing some great shots with it.

That's Ironic!

Today on the highway, the far right lane was closed. When I reached the spot of closure, I saw that two men were shoveling a bunch of debris back into a trailer behind a truck marked "Dependable Hauling."

Dependable?

Randa heads west

I just heard that former Royal and fan favorite Joe Randa was traded to the San Diego Padres. It's good to see that he'll finally play for a contender, though the contending may be short lived as illustrated recently by Dan.

Dumb pup

Okay, I know this has nothing to do with anything significant, but it is pretty dang funny.

After living in our house for 7 months, our bichon puppy just noticed his reflection in the stereo cabinet doors. He just sits there barking at himself. We've tried to show him that there's no dog behind the glass, but he still barks and barks and barks.

What a great watch dog we have...

Baby Royals

Last night’s Royals game gave us a potentially positive glimpse at the future. The Royals beat the Indians 4-0, and did so with good performances from their young players who are now developing on the big league level.

Zack Greinke finally seems to be breaking out of his funk. He pitched 7 strong shut out innings and was followed by Ambiorix Burgos and Mike MacDougal.

On the offensive side, Mark Teahen and David DeJesus both had a good game. DeJesus was 2-5 with a double and an RBI, and Teahen was 2-4 with a triple and an RBI. The other two runs game on Emil Brown’s homerun. While Brown isn’t necessarily a young kid, he is fairly new to the majors and is emerging as a solid offensive “veteran.”

It was nice to see the Royals win, but even as they lose, we fans should keep an eye to the future as these younger players continue to develop. Hopefully by 2007 we will have a solid, contending team to root for.

Checking out the 810 Zone

The other night, my wife and I made the trek out to Leawood, KS to check out the new 810 Zone restaurant. The 810 Zone is a new sports-themed restaurant and bar co-owned by KC Hopps, a local restaurateur, and Sports Radio 810 WHB, the local sports talk radio station.

The 810 Zone borrows many ideas from the more famous ESPN Zone restaurants. Beside the name, the 810 Zone also features televisions galore throughout the restaurant, including one for each booth.

When we arrived, it didn’t look too crowded, but we were informed that the wait for a non-smoking table was about 50 minutes. We accepted our buzzer and entered the bar for a few drinks while we waited.

The bar is a large horseshoe shaped bar with a large project TV above it. Behind the bar is a radio booth where WHB can do live shows from the restaurant. Around the bar are many televisions, all tuned to various sporting events. I ordered a beer and an apple martini and was shocked that the total for those two drinks was over $10. The martini tasted fine and the beer was cold.

Our buzzer went off about 45 minutes later and we were escorted to a table in the middle of the dining room. When we asked if we could have a booth, we were told that booths had their own waiting list and that it would be an additional 10 minutes. It would have been nice to know this when we first arrived.

After another minute or so, a booth opened up and we were finally seated. Each booth features a different theme. We were seated a the Tom Watson booth, which featured a few autographed magazine covers as well as an autographed golf club hanging on the wall.

We ordered an appetizer of spinach dip (The Lin Elliot Spin and Choke Dip), and my wife ordered a tenderloin steak and I ordered the Cajun pasta.

While we waited for our food, we started playing around with the TV monitor mounted in the booth. The monitors allow guests to watch television, access the internet, or play games. We tried it all. We played a game of Bejeweled, watched a little MTV as well as the Royals game, and we access the Kansas City Star online.

The appetizer arrived and we were both unimpressed. The dip tasted okay, but the chips seemed stale. There was not enough dip to keep up with the amount of chips they provided.

When the dinner arrived, my wife’s steak was cooked to order and looked delicious. She started eating it and commented that she wished she knew how much it was going to cost. I remembered seeing that the steaks on the menu were prices “Market Price.” That’s the first time I’ve seen that for beef. I didn’t realize the beef market was that volatile.

I tried the steak and agreed with her that it just didn’t have much flavor. It was tender and had good steak flavor, but it didn’t seem to have any seasoning.

My Cajun pasta seemed very salty and not very spicy. It had 3 shrimps on. I couldn’t eat all of it because of the strong salty flavor.

When the check arrived, we found out that her steak was about $22.00. The total bill was over $50 for the two of us.

Overall, I’d say the 810 Zone is a great place to go after work for some beers and to watch a game in the bar, but find someplace else when it gets to dinner time.

Royals All Stars

It’s tough being a Royals fan. It has been for years. The team’s struggles are well documented, of course.

But the agony of being a fan becomes apparent every year around this time. I’m sure Rockies fans, Devil Rays fans, and Diamondback fans know this feeling as well. You know the feeling. You’re watching the All Star game, hoping to see your one player on the screen at some time.

Every time there’s a shot of the dugout, you’re looking past all the Yankees and Red Sox jerseys trying to find your guy. I got really excited last night when I saw a blue helmet with the “KC” logo on a shelf behind AL manager Terry Francona.

But then I blinked. I had to step away for a bit, and when I returned to watching the game, I had already missed Sweeney’s one at bat. I checked the box score and saw that he struck out. Figures.

2003 was one of the best All Star games for Royals fans. They Royals actually had two – that’s right, two! – players in the All Star game. My memory was fuzzy, but after checking the box score, I see that Sweeney never got an at bat and Mike MacDougal never pitched. Like I said, it’s tough to be a fan of the Royals.

I’m trying to determine why fans in Kansas City or Tampa might watch the All Star game. The obvious reason to watch is to see your players, of course, but that doesn’t really work when your team gets only one player in and he’s a late inning substitution. Maybe it’s to see the National League players go against the American League players. No, Bud Selig took away the allure of that when he forced interleague play down our throats. Or, maybe we watch to see the stars of all the other teams play. But then, we only need to watch Sportscenter or Baseball Tonight for that.

So, I guess we Royals fans watch on the edge of our seats to see if the Yankees (or Red Sox) will have home field advantage in the World Series. “I live for this.”

Royals Tales

I recently started reading Denny Matthews's "Tales from the Royals Dugout: A Collection of the Greatest Stories Ever Told."

This is certainly not a literary cornerstone. The book is merely a collection of short stories and commentaries on the Royals by their long time radio announcer Denny Matthews. Denny has been a radio announcer for the Royals since their inception in 1969 and just last year was inducted into the Royals Hall of Fame. The book is somewhat poorly organized as it starts with the very early days of the Royals, then jumps right to the World Series year of 1985. The last 2/3 of the book is just a laundry list of various Royals players and associates with Denny's thoughts on each person.

There is no dirt in the book, and it seems as though Denny really likes just about every person he's ever met. If you are a big Royals fan and are interested in hearing some tales about players of the past (like Marty Pattin's duck voice or Tony Muser's hidden sense of humor), this is a nice read. Those humorous stories are scattered around the book, but mostly it seems to be simply Denny's observations about various people he's met through the years.

Overall, a fun book for true Royals fans, but try not to spend to much money on it... :)

Over the last several years, the Royals have gone through boatloads of players, finished with one winning season, had several losing season, fired a manager, had a manager quit and saw the rise and fall of Ken Harvey.

But, one constant through all of this is injuries. The Royals still continue to struggle with injuries Today they have 10 players on the DL and seven of those are pitchers.

Where is the strength and conditioning team for the Royals? Groin pulls, back strains, and oblique injuries are common, but aren't these injuries avoidable? Before 2003, I had never heard of an oblique strain when Carlos Beltran missed the first two weeks of the season with one. Since then, it seems every player has missed games because of oblique problems.

As the injuries pile up, the Royals continue to call up players to the majors who are way too young and inexperienced. I'm all for developing youth, but just calling up a guy because he had one good week at AA doesn't seem like the smartest strategy.

After the disastrous 2004 season, Royals GM Allard Baird made some changes to the strength and conditioning team. They haven't seemed to help. If they want to be successful with these young players, I think they should invest in a better team of trainers and doctors. I'd hate to see Zack Greinke miss 2006 after Tommy John surgery.

Get Fit!

Last week, I started a 5K training program. I found this 6 week program at NikeRunning.com. I've started similar programs in the past (including this one), but have yet to make it to the end of the program.

For a while now, I've been feeling sluggish and out of shape. I find myself breathing heavily after going up the stairs. So, I've started this running program again, and hopefully this time I will make it to the end. I'm just starting week 2 of the program.

To help manage the intervals (the programs include alternating run/walk times), I went to Target to look at some watches. I was looking at the Timex Ironman watches when I saw the Timex Heart Rate Monitor watch. It was on sale for only $42.00, so I bought it.

The included fitness guide describes the Heart Zones training system. Using the watch, you can monitor your heart rate and train at different zones. Each zone represents a progressive level of exercise, from "Healthy Heart" up through "Red Line." Each individual's zone levels are based on his/her maximum heart rate which must be calculated before starting the training program. Depending on your goals, you can train for different times in the various zones. Do so allows you to calculate training points. For example, of you train for 20 minutes in Zone 3, you've earned 60 points. You can then shoot for a number of points per week depending on your goals. Maintaining current weight should be around 700-1000 points per week, for example.

It will be interested to see how my heart zones are affected as I work through my 5K program. It's also kinda fun to wear the monitor and see what my heart rate is as I go through my day (apparently, blogging about running causes my heart to beat around 73 times per minute).

I'll keep you posted...

BABlog

One of my favorite Royals players, Brian Anderson, has started a blog. Okay, so Brain's no Roger Clemens, but I love his attitude and he seems like a real stand up guy. He had an awful year last year, but wasn't afraid to answer questions and admit he sucked. He's been on the DL most of the season this year, but has started throwing again and hopefully will be available soon.

Brian was mic'd for the television broadcast last night, and it was interesting to hear him chat. It looks like his blog will contain some interesting stuff about baseball as well as a glimpse into the life of a ballplayer.

A Royal Record

The Royals continue to play great baseball under new manager Buddy Bell. Last night, they completed a sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Think about that. The Royals hadn't swept a series since 2003, and within a month they swept the Yankees and the Dodgers.

In doing so, they became the first team to ever sweep the Dodgers and the Yankees in a month. That's an impressive record, until you think about. The Dodgers and Yankees are in different leagues, so the only way to sweep them both in one season is during inter-league play, which only goes back about 10 years.

Still, the Royals are finding ways to win, and are playing much better than they did under Pena. They've won 11 of 15 under Bell and most of those with out their best hitter, Mike Sweeney.

Tonight, rookie JP Howell takes on Roger Clemens. Should be a good one.

Does the manager make a difference???

Kevin Keitzman had a good point today:

Buddy Bell's record with the Royals is now 8-4. When Tony Pena resigned, the Royals were 8-25.

So, if the Royals lose their next 20 games in a row, they will still have a better record than what Pena had. That's quite a statement. Bell's only managed 12 games, but in those 12 games, the team has accomplished things that hadn't been done since 2003: Sweep a series and win back to back series on the road.

And Bell's done it without Sweeney who's been out a week with a sore oblique and with Greinke struggling. One could surmise that Pena had a better team since Greinke looked unhittable and Sweeney was killing the ball.

Was Bell the right choice? Who knows. All I know is that the Royals are playing much better ball, and the wins are following.

New Friends at Tech-Ed

I spent the past Week in Orlando attending Microsoft's Tech-Ed 2005 Conference. While at the attendee party at Universal Studios, I met a couple of folks who work at MOBIFORM Software Ltd in Vancouver. Mobiform is working on a product called Aurora that helps create XAML documents for Microsoft Avalon. The tool will eventually be a plug-in for Visual Studio.

I had a great time hanging out with my new friends. We took in a few of the attractions at Universal (including the awesome Revenge of the Mummy), and after the park closed we enjoyed some of the night life in downtown Orlando. We had a blast enjoying the evening and good conversation. I look forward to keeping in touch with Glenn and Alexandra.

Missing...

Sad to see the body of David Koch was found on Grouse Mountain in Vancouver. I first heard about Koch last week when I was reading some blogs. Of course, Koch's disappearance was never mentioned on any news cast that I had seen. I wonder why? The disappearance of a young blonde girl has dominated the news for the last week and yet we hear nothing about Koch. I suppose the fact that she's a beautiful girl and that foul play seems to be involved makes Natalee Holloway's story more interesting for the media. But it's seems disappointing to me that the news I hear seems to be based more on ratings than on newsworthiness.

Are those capri pants you're wearing?

I'm seeing a disturbing trend here at Microsoft's Tech-Ed event in Orlando... Men in capri pants. That's right. Men.

I'm not sure how this trend got started, but from what I can tell, it seems most popular with men who are here from Europe. Let's just hope it doesn't catch on in the states.

How's It Going?

Jason Whitlock hates it.

Joe Posnanski hates it.

Dan Fox is questioning it.

My friends and co-workers have been asking me what I think of it.

What is it? The hiring this week of Buddy Bell as the new Royals manager.

Before this week, I had never heard of Buddy Bell. I’m too young to remember him as a player, (18 years in the majors as a third baseman) and I’ve never followed the two teams he’s managed (Colorado and Detroit).

So, I don’t know what to think of him. Royals GM Allard Baird seems to like him. In the various interviews I’ve heard, Baird had referred to Bell’s selection as an All-Star at the age of 21. Baird believes this makes him qualified to help the young players on this team grow and develop, since he himself has experienced success at the major league level at a fairly young age.

Bell so far is 2-0 in his tenure in Kansas City. Both games were extremely well played, close games against the struggling Yankees. Who knows what effect Bell has had on the team in his short time here, but the team is playing much more fundamentally sound baseball than in earlier games this season.

Bell has also stuck with Mike MacDougal as his closer. I have always maintained that Mac the Ninth should be the closer and Affeldt should either start or be traded. Until Mac proves he’s not capable of closing (without fighting injury), leave him in that role.

Tonight, the Royals will go for a sweep of the Yankees. They haven’t swept a series since 2003 and a sweep against the Bronx Bombers in Bell’s first series will surely ease the minds of the local newspaper columnists.