Happy Memorial Day. This day means a lot to me--I have a long list of military service in my family. Both my grandfathers served in WWII, and my Dad drove a tank in Vietnam. I never had to serve in any of the armed forces, due to the sacrifices of the above three and so many more. I'm grateful for that.

To commemorate the day, here's am mp3 clip of Sam Waterston of Law & Order reading the Gettysburg Address.

Why do I only update on Thursdays?

--Cyber Sox update: The Giants approach me about a trade for Ray Durham. Mark Bellhorn hasn't been doing a great job (good BA, no speed, no power), so I offer him and Ellis Burks, who had the balls to complain about his playing time. To my surprise, the Giants take the deal. I play one game with my new lineup, and get thumped by Oakland 7-1. After the game, I get a note saying Ray Durham is unhappy with his playing time. Yes, after one game where he played all nine innings. Now I see why the Giants wanted to get rid of him.

--By the way, the Cyber Sox are infinitely preferable to the real world Sox lately.

--I took a nap last night and woke up around 9:40, so I watched the last 20 minutes of Lost. Today that's all anyone is talking about online. Now I'm intrigued. Maybe I'll try and find a few eps online.

--This kills me: I have a few music channels as part of my cable package. One of them is VH1 Hits, which plays new music today as well as hits from the 90's (any thing earlier falls on VH1 Classic, I guess). Anyway, in the past 2 months I've seen the video for Chris Cornell's "Can't Change Me" six times. Remember Chris Cornell's solo album after Soundgarden disbanded? No, you don't, because it bombed. I don't think "Can't Change Me" was played six times when the album was released, never mind six years later. I guess someone at Vh1 loves this song and is determined to right some kind of wrong.

--The new Weezer album is OK. I'd put it ahead of Maladroit, but behind the Green Album and way behind The Blue Album and Pinkerton. Ben Folds new album is good. John Cena's album is surprisingly good (and yes, I bought a copy).

Possesed by Grady Little

Argh, had the most heartbreaking game of MLB 2K5 last night. It was the last game of a four game series against the Tigers, and a lot of my players were tired. Since I'd beaten Detroit handily the first three games, I rested 1/3 of my lineup. I put Manny on the bench for Ellis Burks, an AAA prospect for Mark Bellhorn, and Jay Payton for Trot Nixon.

Big mistake. I proceeded to get aced by the Tiger pitcher (again, the name escapes me). Change-ups just kill me in the game, and this guy through about 90% change-ups. I’d bang out the occasional hit, sometimes get men in scoring position, but couldn’t get anything going. Hitting into four double plays didn’t help either.

But the thing is, Wade Miller was just mowing down the Tigers. How nasty was he? I had three three pitch innings. Yes, one pitch per batter. Apparently the Tigers aren’t big fans of working the count. So while he doesn’t have the best stamina, he still had plenty in the tank as the game went on. I carried a perfect game into the 8th inning, when Detroit got a single.

That was my mistake. I should’ve pulled Miller out right there. Unfortunately, I figured Detroit would put in a reliever and I’d surely come up with something in the ninth. Uh, no, as Troy Percival shuts me down.

Bottom of the ninth, Miller gives up two quick singles. I should have made the sub there, but John Halama had just started warming up. I get the next guy to pop up, but the next batter lays down a bunt and I fuck up the throw, so everyone’s safe. Bases loaded, one out.

Next guy up, I strike him out on four pitches with a nasty slider. I pump my fist in excitement.

Up next, Pudge Rodriguez, who hits a 1-1 pitch up the middle, juuuuust out of the reach of Renteria. Tigers win 1-0. Fudge.

Ellis Burks was placed on the trading block after the game.

Playing ketchup:

Item #1: Celtics stink

My Work Buddy Johnny and I were aghast at the Celtics game 7 effort on Saturday. Pitiful. What would Larry Bird think? Well, since he's with the Pacers now I guess he was happy, but still. I think it's time to dump Paul Pierce and start fresh with the young guys.

Item #2: Red Sox do not stink

Wow, two walkoff home runs in two days. Sucks to be Octavio Dotel. I'm liking this team--they give off a real scrappy vibe, even though the team payroll is larger than the GNP of most small countries.

Item #3: Gee whiz.

Go read this. And this. I definitely know what I'm naming my fantasy team this fall.

Item #4: I got promoted

I wasn't expecting it either. And I won a free song from iTunes from my Diet Mountain Dew. That was a good day.

Item #5: Chris Candido

Professional wrestler Chris Candido passed away last week. He wrestled pretty much everwhere in the mid-to-late 90's and I always liked his work. He got hooked on drugs and pretty much burned all his bridges in the business. Most people figured he would end up another casualty of the business.

Then last year word spread that he'd gotten back into shape and was apparently clean, and we soon started hearing raves about his in-ring work. He was working smaller shows, and soon was appearing on TV for TNA Wrestling. It was a nice story in a business where nice stories are few and far between.

Then a few weeks back, he subbed in a match on a PPV. He took an errant dropkick and broke his leg. He went to the hospital and was released, and worked TV the next day. After that show, he was not feeling well, and soon was dead of a blood clot.

Can you imagine fighting to overcome your demons, then dying of a frigging blood clot while you're making a borderline miraculous comeback. Just another reminder of how fucked up a place the world can be.

It's that time again. Here's a list of random searches that bring people to this here blog:

curley shuffle mets (huh?)
Curtis Leskanic
curtis leskanic jerseys
"3 south" mtv
steven adler comments on One in a Million
have another donut, you fat pig
golden smog 2005
"bling it up" commercial video
hulk hogan merchandise
SERENA SUTHERLAND
gavin degraw i don't wanna be mp3
+"bling it up" +TV +comm
"ted nugent" "aqua teen"

YES YES YES

The Bling It On commercial (give it a few seconds to load)

Watch for the tweezers being senselessly jabbed into the cell phone about 8 seconds in.