The Hound Of Ulster

THIS deserves more attention:

As for the Penny-Green flap, it was there for all to see when Penny struck out Green to end the top of the third inning, but its origin was the first inning. Green had doubled and with two out, David Wright laced a 2-0 fastball on the outside part of the plate to right field for an RBI single.

Nothing was said at the time, but when Green came up in the third, Penny’s fastball jumped two miles an hour faster until he hit 97 mph on the strikeout pitch. As Green bent over to remove his shin guard while still in the batter’s box, Penny walked off the mound and, instead of heading toward his dugout, moved with a purpose, stopping two feet away from Green. There wasn’t much of an exchange, maybe 10 seconds worth with Penny doing the talking. But from the facial expressions, Penny was stern and Green appeared surprised.

“I was a little mad at the time,” said Penny. “[Green] was giving pitch location to the hitter from second base in the first inning. When you do that, and you have a reputation for doing that, people are watching you and you take a chance of getting yourself or your team where you shouldn’t be.”

“I was working on my shin guard, and there he was,” said Green. “He said I was giving location of pitches from second base, which wasn’t true. A little bit of paranoia on their side. If you think someone is stealing signs, you change the signs. It’s that simple.”

Gotta love the “unwritten” baseball “rules.”

Just finishing up training my replacement. Then I’ll be packing. Then moving. And driving. And then starting the new job.

And lastly, breathing.

I might not post much over the next couple of days. (Pipe down, UHaul. I know I’m not posting much now. So let’s just say that I’ll be posting even less.)

Actually, that should probably just read The “Good,” Bad and Weird of the Sports World, cause I’m pretty sure there’s nothing else to call THIS but weird. I know it’s happened before, but still: is there actually a significant difference between Williams and Davis?

Then, I’ve got the throw the quotation marks around Good, because I’m really not sure exactly how to describe THIS.

“He came to me the next day, and he apologized and I apologized to him and we cried,” a teary-eyed Zambrano said after he beat the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday. “I still love him.”

…

“And I don’t have a problem with that,” Zambrano told reporters. “I told you I didn’t want to talk about that, but I’m still a friend of Michael Barrett. He still calls me ‘brother,’ and I still call him ‘brother.’ We forget and forgive each other, and we’re back on track. … We’ve moved on, and we’re here for this team.”

…

“It was over the moment it happened for me. There were no hard feelings,” Barrett told reporters. “I totally understand how things like that can happen. And like I said, I love him enough to move forward.”

Oh, and I refuse to talk about the UGLY.

Ugly.

THIS is not PROMISING for us SoCal lifers:

Snow, heavy rain and strong wind caused travel problems in parts of Wyoming today.

Up to 8 inches of snow fell in the Big Horn Mountains in northern Wyoming and forced highway officials to close a section of U.S. 14A between Burgess Junction and Lovell.

No unnecessary travel was recommended for U.S. 14 from Dayton to Burgess Junction.

At least it wasn’t 140+ WINDS.

Life continue to get the better of me in a fairly major way. Getting ready to move is not easy. Getting ready to move and buying a house at the same time is harder. And getting ready to move while buying a house and training my replacement is the farthest of all from easy. Read the JEFFERSON and THOMPSON stories, and hope for better times.

I love THESE sorts of articles. Hard to know when they’re anything more than “wishful” or “doomsday” thinking, but they’re still great fun. And I’m always a fan of seeing this in print:

Bush does not want to repeat the mistake of his father, who nominated the unknown David Souter, believing he was conservative only to see Souter quickly become one of the Court’s most reliable liberal votes.

Good.

At least not if THIS guy is right.

Professor Djerassi is the man who invented the Pill, the first oral contraceptive, which triggered the sexual revolution of the 1960s, and which many would argue changed the face of society and sexual morality for ever — and not necessarily for the better.

The Pill gave us sex without children. Now Djerassi has turned that concept on its head. He believes the developed world is heading towards its next cultural revolution — children without sex.

“It is my own prediction that within the next 30 to 50 years in the Western world, many women, when young, will bank their eggs or ovarian tissue, have them frozen, and use them when they feel the time is right for them to have a child,” he says. “It will become commonplace.”

The strange thing is not so much the science itself as the brazen way in which Djerassi discusses the matter.  It’s almost as though he’s sure everyone is so “enlightened,” they couldn’t possibly object to what he suggests.

Heaven help us. 

Not sure what all THIS means:

Dan Bartlett, one of President Bush’s most trusted advisers and his longest-serving aide, said Friday he is resigning to begin a career outside of government.

The move was announced on Bartlett’s 36th birthday. He has been with Bush for nearly 14 years, from Bush’s first campaign as governor of Texas, through two races for the White House and more than six years of a presidency marked by costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and an ongoing battle against terrorism.

I had no idea he was 36. That means he’s been with Bush since he was twenty-two years old. Wow. No wonder he wants to get “reacquainted with his family.”  I’m surprised he still remembers that he has one.

This line was interesting:

Bartlett said he would not write a book about his experiences, would not seek a political career in Texas and would not align himself with any Republican candidate in the 2008 presidential election.

I wonder if that’ll stay true. I hope so.

Got a couple of Dominican classmates being ordained this weekend, so I’m going to drive up to San Francisco tomorrow morning. Early. With all the kids.

And then I’m driving back. Tomorrow.

Yes, I am crazy.