Keener

Many of you left during Trout's cycle? Well, I was in the stadium to witness the cycle. By Jeff Davanon. Nevermind.

As a kid, I was collecting autographs at a game. One of the players handed my baseball back. I read it, went running back to my parents excitedly, telling them I got Mickey Mantle to sign my ball. Nine year old me had never heard of Mickey Mahler. And obviously only knew Mantle by name.

Nah, you didn't jinx it. I did. Called my buddy who liked the Sox so I could talk a little smack. Phone was ringing when Henderson hit the bomb. Hung up and have never felt comfortable until the last out ever again.

Just give him a gift basket and call him a cab.

Pitchers that would rather not throw strikes tend to go through bad spells.

I'm with you on all. Funny that Davanon is the only player I've seen hit for the cycle at a game I attended. Hundreds of games, Jeff Davanon...

Like Sam the butcher, bringin' Alice the meat... Too soon?

Crosby is not going anywhere. The defensive breakdowns were very alarming, but the offense shares all blame for the recent playoff struggles. The failures have been team wide. Fleury has simply not been good enough either. He is so athletic, but maddeningly inconsistent. Every single time he leaves the crease to play the puck, I hold my breath. Tank, I was excited for Scuds' return, but honestly, he really struggled this year. I hate to say it, but it looks as if age hit him all at once. He looked painfully slow at times, and struggled just winning battles to clear the puck.

Yep. After taking my emotions out, (still a little bit chapped) definitely makes sense. Although I hope it's more of, new GM will fire Bylsma.

I missed it too. Also missed the walkoff hr. Turned it off and went to bed, down 5-2. Doh!

Wait, what??? Official site said they fired both, now they say only Shero? F that. Bylsma must go too.

Long overdue. Would have liked to have seen it after the debacle against Boston last year. The team has become very soft in the face of adversity (USA Olympics ring a bell?). Discipline is poor, and effort is low. Bylsma seems like a great guy, but as a coach, he has become ineffective. Shero has drafted terribly. I read the other day that the leading scorer among forwards he has drafted (since 06) has a whopping 15 goals scored in the NHL. He made some nice deadline moves, but at the expense of high picks. The Letang contract is a disaster. I wanted him traded after last year, with value high, and was disappointed with the money they threw at him instead. Now, with his health concerns, it looks even worse. For the first time, I am down on Sid. Whatever outside perception has been, he has played the game hard his entire career. Plays in high traffic areas, tough on the boards, hard to the net, etc. Until before the last Olympics. Something has changed. He has been content to play outside the dots, and 4 out of 5 passes are no-look drop passes to the other team. I don't know if injuries have taken a mental toll on him, or if the compete level just isn't the same. Whatever it is, the team has suffered for it. No excuse for him to have playoff games where he plays over 20 minutes and has 1 or 2 shots. I hope there isn't a huge step back, but this needed to happen.

ESPN boards, starting in '99 or '00. Always a low volume poster. Had some good times playing fantasy baseball with many of the posters, got to meet several at a "league meeting" at the Big A in 2002. Good bunch of guys. Weird to think that my wife and I were expecting our first child at the time of that meeting. Now he's almost 12. Born a few days after our championship. Time flies. After the ESPN board became unusable, someone (popstar? Rings a bell) set up a smaller, exclusive spot. Shortly after, red emailed to tell me about angelswin. Great community. Even though I'm still a low volume poster.

Guess our little league game yesterday wasn't enough. Get to see one today too.

Exactly. Later, it will be amended to say these really are catches, but probably not until someone is screwed over. Much like the tuck rule reversal must bring Raiders fans plenty of satisfaction.

Hate it. Seen it during several games in the last week or so, and think it is a complete joke. I'm a fan of the Detroit Lions (don't judge my intelligence), and now I have to see the "Calvin Johnson Rule" in baseball, too? Hamilton caught the ball. The Rays player caught the ball. If everyone in the world who looks at it knows it was a catch, don't try to sell me that it wasn't. Replay gives managers the ability to force a different "perspective" of a rule. Players F up. Managers F up. Umpires F up. That's baseball. Stopping a game for several minutes just so umpires can find a more creative way to F up is not needed. Lose it.

Welcome back, Tanger! Set to play tonight against Detroit. According to docs, playing hockey again will not increase risk of having related problems. Happy to hear that. Hope he brings a spark. Pens have slept through the post-olympic portion of their season. Of course, having everyone on the roster hurt may have something to do with that as well.

Who else held their nose and tried to hum?

Didn't they say sister, or at least half sister? Ugh. Solid ending to an enjoyable show. I'm trying to remember, did Rust see the clouds/stars illusion before he was stabbed, or after? I'm thinking before, which I thought was odd. I guess with his hallucinations, he could almost see Carcosa himself.

Backes is a beast. Eastern conference fan, I don't see him that much. This team is coach Disco's wet dream. A bunch of grinders with top end skill. Kane's freewheeling style seems not to play so well with this group.

Malkin. Ovechkin. Kovy. Semin. etc. Great with the puck, average without it. Tough to win a tournament built like that.

Yeah, Tank, the one downside to using "our guys" in the olympics. Maatta came back, probably just got a little maintenance during the intermission. Kunitz promptly knocked him on his wallet, then bullrushed him near the net later in the same shift. I guess I'm more worried about the Penguins than other Penguins are.

Any news on Kopitar? He didn't play in the 3rd. Sucks for Kings fans if he's hurt. I'm watching nervously to see if Olli Maatta returns for Finland in the second. Took a stick blade to the eye area from Rick Trash. With Letang probably out for the year, Maatta has become quite important for my Penguins.

What's this Winter Olympics you speak of? I thought it was called team figure skating.

It definitely is. I just kept pulling up the phone and joining missions. Eventually you'll get in with a solid group and it gets pretty fun. Also keeps you out of free roam, which lets you choose to stay away from microphone screeching kids.