Eric

I just got off the phone with Mike. He's in spirits. I can't say they are good spirits, but he's still trying to process everything. He's still somewhat in shock, as the rest of his friends are. I didn't get a long time to talk with him, but I will be calling again tomorrow to do some catching up. He still doesn't know a lot about the specifics as they are still trying to figure things out. They did a biopsy a few hours ago and he will know more in the next 24-48 hours. That's all he knows at this point, other than the fact that he's been having trouble breathing, which precipitated his call to the doctor. I do not believe he has access to the internet from where he is right now. But he is finding out he has a lot more friends than he knew, that's for sure.

Fresh popcorn? Check, eating it already. Copious amounts of alcohol? Check, I have 2 12'ers in the fridge and I've already started in on one. DVR recording the program live so I can catch up while skipping through the commercials? Check. Angels game over so it doesn't conflict? Check. Let's get this party ****in' started!

This coming Wed, Sharknado 2. I'm pumped!

Wow, I guess now I understand why I cannot properly get a gauge on the Angels performance by simply looking at this message board thread titles. For some of you, the fecal defecation meter is always cranked up to 11 and you bury the rest of the positive comments and thread titles in so much of it, that it's always rising to the top. It's not always wine and roses, but by the same token, it's not always scorched earth either. Have some perspective guys.

Having not been able to pay any attention to anything other than work for the last while, I was shocked to check in on the Angels to find that they are 4th best in the AL. Why was I shocked? Because I lurk in on this board every so often and had zero clue that this was the case until I found this little nugget buried deep in a thread. The best part was, with the activity of the "Fire Scioscia" thread in full bloom, I thought for sure the Angels were slipping (especially after hearing about the sweep at the hands of the A's the other day). But 4th best record? How about a little props for the Angels? Good job guys!

Generally speaking, as long as people remain unwilling to pay for content, these industries will continue to suffer. I know I am among a vast and aging minority in that I have the paper delivered to my doorstep ever morning. Do I read it every day? No, of course not. But it's there, reliably, everyday. And I am supporting my local economy by doing so. There are plenty of other options available to me to get my news on the internet and I use those resources as well. Someone has to write the stories we all read. And that someone needs to be paid for their work. Stories don't just appear out of thin air. Someone has to work on them. They have to drive to where the story is. They have to spend time gathering the information. And then they have to have the skill to translate all of that into a clear and understandable format so the general public has the information necessary to understand the world in which they live. Sometimes it's sports. Sometimes it's crime. Sometimes it's a new store opening. Whatever it is, someone needs to be there and they need to be paid. Most of all, however, someone needs the skills to be able to do what they do. Anyone can write grammatical diarrhea in 400 words or less. Telling a clear and concise story in that amount of space requires education and experience. That is what journalists and real writers do. And that is why people go to their local papers to find out what is happening. Chances are, if something newsworthy happens in Southern California most people on this board will head on over to the LA Times Website, or the OCR website, to find out what is going on. Why? Because Bobby's Southern California whimsical musings on the skateboarding culture of Newport Beach blog just isn't going to cut it. As an aside. If you like the content that a website is providing, one way you can show your support is by clicking on the ads that website provides in order to offset their costs. Like a News site? Click on an ad on the page of the article you liked, don't just click the like button. Like a certain message board? Throw the operator a bone every now and again and follow an ad link. It's not a lot of work on your part and it does two things. First, it tells the website operators what content pages are engaging their viewers, which usually promotes more of that same type of content in the future, and second, it keeps the revenue going towards the content providers so that they can continue to bring you more of what you like. Ad-blocking software is great for those spam sites that shove popup after popup after popup in your face to the point at which you can't actually get to the content that you want, but let's face it, a well thought out, well put together and well run website should be rewarded for their hard work. So, today as you surf the web, make it your mission, if you like the content provided on a webpage, click an ad.

I bought my current car from them but financed it through an outside agency. No, they do not negotiate, at all. That said, the car I got was so limited edition that there were only 4 available in the entire western US, and the price was blue book. I would not return to them under any circumstances otherwise, and actively looked for another dealer (even one 4 states away) that sold the same vehicle I was looking at less than a mile away.

The fact that you guys went straight to Caddyshack is the gold that I look for when I dive into the Hangout Forum. Thank you!

That looks like a cross between the masks they wore in Avatar and that bad guy from Batman.

Brandon, I will try to get one with Mike Leah. I don't really know the other guys (and I know more pro's than 99.99999% of the people I work with). Angels_Made_Me_Drink: I'll try to get another one. Until then, here's the first one I did. http://www.pokertelegraph.com/wpt/2013/09/12/phil-laak-interview/ Hold onto you hat for this one, we ended up deep down the rabbit hole.

We should be available through ITunes and Stitcher by the end of next week. With the World Series of Poker kicking off next Tuesday, we should have a ton of new interviews coming up with some notable players. If there's a player that you'd like us to interview, either post the name here or email us at feedback@threesheetstotheriver.com and we'll try to get them on if they are in the Rio this summer. Just to warn you right now, though, Phil Ivey may be the toughest "get" in the poker world, so while we will certainly be trying to get him to give us the interview, don't hold out a lot of hope for that one, at least this year. But who knows? We may just get him to come on before the series is over.

Why is it that the Angels seem to have this amazing ability to run into buzzsaws where the other pitcher is "On"? Is it just a random fluke of statistics happening? I've always been taught that when there's a problem, no matter what the problem is, in order to find a solution, find the common denominator. Considering this problem the Angels have seems to be league wide, then maybe, just maybe, the problem is in house. Is it the players? Is it the coaches? Is it the scouts or their reports? Seems to me that the more green the pitcher the Angels face, the worse they tend to do. I've always joked, if you want to beat the Angels, the surefire way to do that is to call up a pitcher for his Major League debut and you can lock up that W. Seriously, the whole "Angels are facing Cy 'Who?' tonight" is getting old.

This is kind of a cool site I found that I thought would interest some of you on here. It lists the changes to the rule-book over the years, at least up until 1989. http://www.baseballlibrary.com/chronology/rules2.php

I give it a 3 on a scale from 1 to "When does Don Baylor get back?".

Oh my, where does one begin with what was wrong with that douche? I mean, he's the quintessential douchebag. The only thing he's missing is the wallet chain. He's gotta be a top, given those prison tats and the rainbow lid almost but not quite spun 180. After banging out high fives with his fellow rump-rangers he turns to check the damage he inflicted on the chair, not the lady he steamrolled. All this to get the same ball he could walk into any sporting good store and pick up for a few buck. The fact that he was wearing an Angels uniform simply exemplifies how we've changed embarrassment as a fan base. It used to be embarrassing to be known as a fan of this organization just because they're the Angels and, you know, September. Now we have to defend ourselves against the onslaught of ass-hats like this flying our colors. All that said, and as embarrassing as that douchtard is for the entire fanbase, at least he didn't really see her, I guess. It's not like he ripped the ball out of a little girls hands and then walked away celebrating his new-found toy. But he is a bad mark on the entire fanbase. In some ways I hope he reads these comments about what an embarrassment he is, but, then again that would involved being able to put more than 2 words together to form an idea and I doubt a mongoloid like that is even capable of such feats.

I swear, you can't take those beer swilling, menthol smoking, cheese gargling Smörgåsbord waitresses anywhere anymore.

Gotta understand, this was through the TV with a completely messed up color scale, it was a best guess given essentially B&W, or, more to the point, brown and darker brown.

I was watching on the TV and mentioned that in the chatroom, to a bunch of non-answers. I will ask again, WTF was that? It looked like a Calico.

Chuck, I thoroughly agree with this sentiment. Taking a chance is always a good thing. My only question is, at what point does it cease being "taking a chance on in order to" and become "the method with which they" rebuild their franchise? I think we all get that the Angels are up against a wall as far as their pitching depth is concerned and they need to do something to fix it. But seriously, for going on three years the answer for the Angels seems to be acquiring potential talent with serious concerns about their health. The biggest red flag to me about this whole thing is that it's the Royals who simply gave him away (yes, I consider "cash considerations" as "giving a player away"). It sounds to me like the Royals were about to DFA him just before the Angels stepped in. To me, the biggest concern about this is not who the Angels acquired and what his potential is (should he get healthy again) but how this is no longer the aberration, and has instead become the norm of doing business for this front office. Again, occasionally doing this is one thing, but how many of these types of acquisitions have the Angels made just in the month of May alone? Let alone how they spent last off-season depending on these types of acquisitions for the success of the franchise as a whole this year.

This is the difference between a veteran and a rookie. A rookie can never do this, simply because the coaching staff and the fans would eviscerate him. However, once a pitcher has established themselves, they can do what Weav did and are respected for it.

Judging from the way Weav came off the mound, it seem like the only one that was surprised was Scioscia.

Can someone with gif skills please give us a memorial gif of Mike Scioscia's reaction when Butch pulled Weav? Thank you in advance.

It is imperative that someone with gif skills captures Scioscia's expression right there for all to relive. That is the beginning of an EPIC thread, right there!

Who gets the first bite?

Transfering the wort from the carboy back into the bucket to be able to bottle after a 3 week rest in the carboy. Got a taste. OMG! This is going to be some epic stuff!