WCP # 18: Tigers & the Knock Out Round

In 1984, a kid down the street from us got a puppy. It was a poodle, I think, & annoying as Hell. Said kid, David Carlson, who went on to be in Bill Clinton's security detail (@ least that was the rumor... I haven't spoken w/ him since 1988), in a fit of excitement, named it Gibby after Kirk Gibson who had just lead the Tigers to a World Series victory. Well, Aiden made a similar move yesterday afternoon. I wasn't able to watch the USA match so he was tasked w/ Facebooking anything important so I could read along on my phone. Afterwards, Little Clint Dempsey (the chicken) became Landy. Just 2 short years ago he was sitting in as a guest poster on this very blog. What an amazing rise he's had. Klose could have netted a hat trick, gone in goal for a red-carded keeper, stopped a penalty & then split the atom @ his press-conference... he didn't have a chance to pick us the award today. Landy Cakes' stoppage time winner not only sees the USA through to the next round, but they go through as the #1 team & avoid Germany in the Knock-out Round. If they get passed Ghana (& they should) they'll face either Uruguay or S. Korea in the Quarter-Finals, & I think they can beat both of those teams. All in all, Landy's late winner then means by avoiding Germany, they should be favorites to advance through to the Semis. I gotta admit, I didn't see that coming a few weeks ago, so Your Visions of Ypsi Player of the Day is none other than Landy Cakes himself, Landon Donovan.Some people celebrate winning this award more enthusiastically than others

In which we discuss a few unrelated issues like mushrooms, baseball, and books

For your reading pleasure, we have 2 separate mushroom topics. The 1st in regards to the morels mushrooms in our back yard. When we looked @ this house for the 1st time in April of 2008, I found 2 & quickly pocketed them in case we decided not to move here. As it turns out, we did move in & each spring I've found a few more. Over the last week, I've found a grand total of 8 morels. I'll look around again this morning before I go to work, but the window seems to be closing. There are some great recipes for morels, but unless 1 has a larger quantity than 8, the best way to eat them seems to be simply sauteing them w/ butter & garlic. Prepared in this way, they are a lot like escargot. Delicious!In other morel news, I broke my morel coffee cup the other day while packing up my office for the big Pray Harrold move. The cup as my mom's when I was a kid. It had that sweet '70s mushroom pattern that looked all Allman Brothersy, but was really just a fad in 1976. I don't know why shrooms became a fad for people who never did them, but it was a cool cup none-the-less. The last thing I did was put the cup in a small box I was bringing home. Of course, I dropped the box as I went to pick up my phone & keys before walking out the door @ the cup broke into 3 big pieces & a bunch of little bits that made fixing it impossible. You may recall the time last September when I thought I'd lost it. Annette found it & all was good. My previous cup was a Kucinich 2004 cup. The 1 before that was a Women's Studies Program 25th anniversary cup. I get ridiculously attached to the cups so now I have to find 1 that will not only hold my tea/water, but also reflect my personality & socio/political beliefs. It's a hard life.While we're on the subject of Morels, I'd like to remind you that the morel is the state mushroom of Minnesota? How does this relate to anything, you ask? Well, yesterday, we went to the Tiger's game & they beat the Twins 3-0. It was a great game, & the kids had a blast. Solstice & Aiden absolutely love going down there, & even Isaiah watched the whole game w/o getting bored or fidgety. By far, my favorite play was Jackson stealing 2nd & 3rd to set up Damon's sacrifice fly. I'd never seen a 2 base steal in person before... it was sweet. Aiden was impressed by the double plays while Solstice seems to just love the atmosphere in general. Our seat were what 1 would traditionally call shit, but we actually liked them. For 5 bucks, we were in the farthest, highest section down the 3rd base line, but we could see really well, & the section only had 20 or so other people in it (including the weird dude w/ his kid & swastika tattoo). I can't wait to take them down there again, maybe w/ Elizabeth, Dan, & Sam. We're also thinking about a trip to Toledo for a Mudhens' game. Aiden & I had a blast last year, so I think we'll have to make that happen. lastly, we were talking about maybe a road trip to Cleveland or Chicago for an away game... anyone down?Finally, in other news of yesterday, I finished The Savage Detectives... at long last. According to this post, I started it on November 6th. It was hard going but well worth it. Roberto Bolaño was clearly a genius. He has a few other things translated 7 I think I'll have to make it my summer reading project to get through a couple more. 2666 is even longer & more convoluted than The Savage Detectives, but after a short break w/ some more simple stuff, I'll give it a go. I've also read A Mercy by Toni Morrison lately, a book my students absolutely hated, but it was actually really cool. It takes place on a small farm in the 1680s & '90s & each chapter is told from the perspective of a different person on the farm. Plus, it give us a nice look into the issues of religion & slavery in the early colonies... before slavery become the established system I am more familiar w/ in the 18th &19th centuries. Last week, I also read the first anthology in a series by Alan Moore I wasn't familiar w/ called Promethea. Like Watchmen, it's a fun post-modern story dealing w/ narrative structures & the construction of narratives & imagination. Give it a go if you're into comics... you won't be sorry... plus, there are some funny references to Helene Cixous... & who doesn't love a funny Cixous reference? You can get the books right here, or wander over to Nicola's & I can help you w/ them @ your friendly neighborhood bookstore this evening after 4:30.

God & the Tigers or A Coke & a Smile

While that crazy-ass facebook group praying for the death of Obama was circulating yesterday, I also came across another crazy-ass situation. I saw this bumper sticker... for those who don't want to follow the link, it says, "God bless our troops... especially the snipers." I don't get it. Is it asking God to bless (AKA forgive) the snipers for their aggressive behavior? I doubt it. I don't usually have a problem w/ "bless the troops" type claims in that I assumed they implied protection. But the snipers aren't really in the same danger as the other soldiers. Hiding in a tree & picking people of who don't even know they're there seems like a pretty safe job. I think that if I ever enlisted, I'd certainly choose sniper over "dude who busts into a bombed out basement w/o knowing who is waiting." I don't mean this as an attack on snipers; I don't want them to get shot, I just think the bumper-sticker was odd. Why single them out like that. Is this suggesting that the owner of the sticker doesn't want the other members of the armed forces to receive an equal amount of blessings?

When I was i high school, a Priest (Fr. Wheeler) would lead a team prayer before the matches, but I always assumed it was a pray for a safe game... not for a victory. I never assumed God really gave a shit about who won or lost our high school soccer games. Dan has also been known to lead a prayer before Verde FC matches, & while I didn't take part, I assumed it was a similar situation: a prayer for safety & a good match. If I believed in God, I imagine God would certainly want to see a good game w/ beautiful passing & strong tackles... right? Who wouldn't?Back in 1984, there was a popular slogan 'round these [arts that some of you might recall... "Bless You, Boys!" This sports "prayer" is a little more ambiguous than Dan's or Fr. Wheeler's pre-match prayers. It was cool that they won the series & all, but if God was really concerned w/ the outcome of the MLB post-season & was a Tigers fan, would God really have let us suffer for the last 26 years? 2006 was close, but if God wanted the Tigers to win a few years back, I'm he'd have figured out a way to pull it off.

God may not be a Tigers fan (even God has to know when to throw in the towel... The entire Pantheon of gods must have given up on the Lions back in the mid-70s... but I'm no God. And after last night's victory, I think it may be time to make the call. That's right folks, it's now the time to announce your Visions of Ypsi 2010 Tiger! Before we do that though, you can refresh you Visions of Ypsi Tigers memory here.Phil Coke is it! It's not so much his ability as his name, his ridiculous hair, & his name. I definitely need to get a Coke shirt. I was waffling between Valverde (his name has my team's name in it), Austin Jackson (his name has not 1 but 2 Southern cities in it), & Dontrell Willis (he looks like a cross between Sol Campbell & someone w/ an internal head injury... I dig that.

Who remembers back to a time when I didn't obsess over sports?

To start things off, I'd like to invite you to order your Verde FC replica kits. For just $30.00, you too can wear your very own Verde F.C. shirt. Come support your team! Order today and you'll have it in time for our first home game of the season. Pay here & then specify your size in the comments box (numbers and size XXL are $2.00 extra). Be sure to specify your preferred number in the comment box also.

In other sports news, the Tigers play their 1st game of the year in just 30 minutes. Verlander will be on the mound in KC while I'm in front of a class in Ypsi. I'll be sure to follow the 1st few innings before I go to teach though. Before the game starts, I do have a couple thoughts to put out there for you.
1) I'm wondering about Damon's age. He was amazing a few years ago, but he's pushing 37 years young. I sure hope this decision doesn't come back to kick us in the ass.
2) There's no clear front-runner for the Visions of Ypsi Tiger yet. we'll give it a couple weeks before we make our call. Who knows, maybe Johnny will come good & get the nod.
3) I'm always, oddly, a fan of the closers, & the new guy has "verde" in his last name... that's gotta be a good sign.

Balls & Ovaries... & the Tigers: The Big Talk

On Tuesday evening, starting during the bottom of the 3rd & running through the top of the 6th inning, we had the Panthers' U10 soccer practice. It was a rainy, crappy, evening. I've always loved playing in that kind of weather, but coaching is another thing all together. Afterwards, I put the ball-bag in the trunk, we dropped another kid off @ his house, & then we headed home. Listening to the game on the radio, we heard that whoever was batting had 2 balls.

Aiden then asked? "What'd that guy on the radio just say?"

Me: "The batter has 2 balls."

Aiden: "I've got a bunch of balls!"

Me: "What do you mean by that?"

Aiden: "In my ball sack!"

Solstice: "HAHAHAHAHA"

Me: "A bunch? How many balls do you think you have?"

Aiden: "I don't know... a ton?"

Solstice: "HAHAHAHAHA"

Me: "Do you really not know?"

Aiden: "No; how should I know?"

At this point, I realized a little science was in order. I proceeded to explain the testicles, the scrotum, and semen.

Solstice: "Scrotum? We call it a ball sack or a nut sack."

Me: "Yeah, I'm aware of those phrases, but the technical term is 'scrotum' or 'scrotal sack.'"

Solstice: "Well, kids these days say ball sack."

Me: "Yes, I understand that; I'm telling you the scientific term for it. Besides, it's not like your generation coined the phrase."

Solstice: "So how come I don't have any balls?"

Me: "Are you kidding?" (I think she may have been kidding.)

Me: "Because you have ovaries."

Solstice: "What are those?"

At this point, I'm pretty sure she was fucking w/ me, but I wasn't positive so I proceeded to explain.

Me: "It's where your eggs are made."

Solstice: "I'm gonna lay an egg???"

Bless You Bonderman

We scored Tigers tix from the Schoolmasters yesterday... Don's father has a ticket package but couldn't go... so I got my 1st game of the season, Stephanie got her 1st @ Comerica Park, & Isaiah got his 1st ever. Solstice & Aiden went to a game w/ Elizabeth & Dan a month or so ago & saw Ordóñez hit a grand slam. I think Aiden was under the impression that that would happen every time. He was wrong.
here's what I learned:
* Aiden wasn't afraid to squeeze out a few tears over the final score
* Aiden was actually paying a lot of attention & asked a million questions regarding the rules & the strategy
* Isaiah loves balls... no, not those balls. I knew he was nuts for them by the way be watches soccer on TV, but even from the upper deck 1/2 way down the 1st base line, he was watching the pitches & the foul balls saying, "ba... ba... ba."
* Bonderman is a bad ass. He plunked Delmon Young w/ his very 1st pitch after then Twins hit Thames, & nearly missed Evertt & Thames a 2nd time.
* Leyland isn't afraid to go ape shit. He's usually so reserved, but after Evertt was almost hit, he refused to leave the field until after getting in both the home plate umpire's & the 1st base umpire's face for a good 5 minutes after being ejected.
* An old dude in line for beer was wearing an '84 replica jersey that said, "Bless You Boys" on it. I'd forgotten about that slogan... I never quite understood it then & it seems to make less sense now.
* Rally caps might not actually help
* Isaiah is kind of scared of Carousels
* Solstice digs baseball & seems to understand it really well
* We may need to save up for a small ticket package soon
* Ball park hotdogs might not be vegetarian, but I don't care... they go so well w/ beer & peanuts
* My early season pick of Thames was spot-on!
* Aiden has a weird disdain for all things tradition; he won't sing the song during the Stretch, not will he participate in the Mexican Wave
* People who refer to it as the Mexican Wave watch too much European soccer Rally Caps Drinking cheap beer The view fro our seats Isaiah on the carousel

A Big Week

On Saturday, I'm taking Aiden down to Toledo for the big Cub Scouts Father/Son Mudhens Camping Trip. We're seeing a double header against Scranton which will be followed by a fireworks show & then camping in the outfield. The first game starts @ 5:30, but I'm not certain Aiden will be able to stand 2 whole games so we might go a little late. I think we may make a stop @ Tony Packo's beforehand for the full Klinger experience. I've always wanted to go there, so this might be the perfect reason. Speaking of baseball, Elizabeth & Dan are taking Solstice & Aiden to the Tigers game tomorrow night against the Mariners. They've never been to a Tigers game before & they're soooo excited. They're bouncing off the walls over it... or @ least doing their equivalent of bouncing off the wall... talking about it a lot & laying on the couch.In unrelated news, I started the Premier League Fantasy League this week. For those of you who are dying to get involved, go here to make your team & then join the Private League DB2 w/ this code: 261267-65351 . At this point, we're still waiting for Jason, Aiden, & my father to join. I imagine my dad will be a later addition since he's in the hospital right now; Aiden will join whenever he gets me to help him some time this week; however, Jason's late registration is confounding me. Get on it! Those of you who choose to enter but then neglect your team will be removed from the league by October. That will give you a month & a 1/2 to get up to speed... it takes about 2 minutes to register, 10-15 minutes to make your team, & then about 5 minutes a week once the season starts on August 15.The final news of the week comes in the form of a Schwarzenegger-a-thon update. We watched the beginning of True Lies last night: it's good. (Here's a link to his complete filmography.) This brings the Schwarzenegger-a-thon count to 8.
* The Terminator 41/2 out of 5 Stars
* Terminator 2: Judgement Day 5 Stars
* Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines 4 Stars
* Total Recall 2 1/2 Stars
* The Last Action Hero 2 1/2 Stars
* The Running Man 4 Stars
* The 6th Day 3 1/2 Stars
* True Lies 4 1/2 Stars (contingent on the 2nd half tonight)
Stay tuned to Visions of Ypsi for the summer Schwarzenegger recap. I will give a full review of each of the films we view by the end of August.And for the other final news of the week, the Ypsi City Council has its final vote over the chicken issue tomorrow evening. Be sure to contact your Council-Person & urge her or him to support this effort. What is a city w/o chickens? Hopefully, this will lead the way to allowing llamas, bees, & pigs too, but I'm not holding my breath for a hippo. Though Huron River Hippos would be pretty sweet... if not a little dangerous for the local canoers/kayakers.

A Sports Post that is not about the FA Cup Loss Yesterday

You may remember a year ago when I gave you an overview of my Tigers. My 1st was Gibby, then Young, Jones & finally, Renteria who has now gone to the Giants. This year, The Tigers Organization has changed its marketing strategy & are no longer asking "Who's your Tiger?" Instead, they're claiming, "Always a Tiger." However, my fair-weather fandom attests to the fact that this claim is certainly fallacious. That said, I'm sticking w/ the "Who's your Tiger?" approach. I've been thinking about it for a couple weeks now & Finally made a decision. W/ Jones retired & Renteria gone to San Fransisco, it's been an agonizing decision. I considered Grandy for a while. He seems like a true athlete. He can do everything & he's even in good physical condition... someone needs to remind him it's just Baseball. Then I mulled Rodney over for a little while. He had 13 saves last year, & so far this year he has yet to give up a run. He may be on deck to become My Tiger next year. Since we've recapped all of this, w/o further ado, I give you the Visions of Ypsi 2009 Tiger: Marcus Thames.

Take 2

Yesterday, we made a 2nd, much more successful attempt to visit the Detroit Historical Museum. It's awesome. Other than the failed attempt the other day, I hadn't been there since I was a little kid. The exhibit focusing on the old Detroit Movie houses is great, & the kids really liked the scale models of the old forts & stuff like that. They also really dug the auto exhibit. Of course, the Streets of Old Detroit exhibit was the best part. For those of you who haven't been there, the basement is done up to look as if you're walking through Detroit @ the turn of the last century. It then morphs into Detroit before the Civil War & then Detroit before the Revolution. Again, I want to thank Georgina for telling me about the free tix to the museums & the libraries for providing the tix. It's an awesome thing & you should all take advantage of it.After watching the Tigers' game last night, I need to reaffirm my choices & explain how I can stand behind my Tigers. Th obvious concern is w/ Jones. He blew a 3 run lead in the top o' the 9th, but they were able to put up 2 runs in the bottom o' the 9th. Some might suggest that he did a poor job, but it seems to me that he knew exactly what he was doing. He didn't give up 5 runs. That could have been too much to overcome. He activated his super-stache powers knowing full well that going down by 1 run wouldn't be too much for the team to overcome. All of their runs until then were courtesy of Rayburn: an RBI in the 3rd & a grand slam in the 5th. Jonesy was just making sure other contributed. The other concern could be w/ Renteria. He's kind of batted for shit lately, & the way he missed that easy catch last night really problemitizes his role as my new Tiger. That said, I'm giving him another chance. I just hope that someone realizes he needs a bat designed to go along w/ his limp-wristed batting style.

Diarrhea... Cha Cha Cha

While I've certainly gotten dollars for doughnuts over the years riding the "Rip on the Tigers" train, going to some games over the last few years w/ Jean & Dan has reawakened the fan w/in, & let's face it, puttin' up 19 runs last night was pretty fuckin' impressive... I don't care who you are: that's quality stuff. The 1st game I ever went to was in 1984 against the Twins. It was a Sunday afternoon game & I went w/ my cousins & their friends. It was July 1st, & we were in town for the Wolverine Tournament, The Official State Sponsored tournament that used to be held in Livonia over the 4th of July weekend every year. It was the final game in a 4 game series, the 1st 3 had been close w/ the Tigers losing on Friday & then winning both on Saturday. As it turns out, they lost 9-0 & Gibson struck out every time he was up, but for some reason I loved him & he was my Tiger then. (In fact, to this very day, I've never been to a winning game. In 2006, Dmitri Young was my Tiger based on the fact that he always looked like he was going to kick someones ass, & based on his arrest record, hindsight suggests that was a pretty good evaluation of him. He had cool hair too. I went to 2 games last year & they lost both. You can read the reviews of the games here & here). While Gibby actually proved to be a quality player, my recent picks have been less than sensical. Of course Todd Jones is solely because he's 9/10s 'stache & you gotta support a guy willing to make that statement. "I kinda suck @ pitching, but check out the sweet inverted devil-horns on my upper lip!" I tell people he's my favorite & they look @ me as though they misunderstood what I said. No one likes Jonesie but me & Leland. After seeing 2 games in a row this week, I've decided to add a 2nd player to my list of favs. Since he is lacking the sweet facial hair, I based this 1 on his sweet name. So w/o further ado, I give you the 2008 Vision's of Ypsi Tiger: Edgar Rentería. I imagine he's Daria's fav too since he can empathize w/ the name calling. Gibby's Rookie Card Young's Rookie Card Jonesie's Rookie Card Renteria's Rookie Card