Yankee4Life

Hurry up and download this before the stuffed shirts at MLB pull it from youtube. It's Ernie Harwell at his classic best. Some classic calls by Ernie Harwell

All of a sudden this Yankee team looks old and tired. And now, after the sweep by Boston, I'm taking a break from watching these losers for a few days. One can only stand so much.

Not a problem. There are misunderstandings galore on the internet. It's all good.

For your information, the only reason why I talk about the Palins is that these people act like they are so much better than everyone else because they all have received instant fame because Sarah was a VP candidate. I don't care about these people either. I just happen to find the things they do funny as hell because they seem to think they are celebrities now . It also seems to me that you are subtlety mocking me out for talking about them in here. I think that family is a joke and they are self-important morons. Simple as that.

Arlas Taylor Never heard of him? Perfectly understandable. In fact, probably the only people who know of Arlas Taylor today are his relatives from Warrick County, Indiana where he was born in 1896. This young lefthanded pitcher had a very, very brief career in the major leagues - one game, and that was for the 1921 Philadelphia Athletics, a team that would go on to finish in last place with a 53-100 record. As I stated, Taylor was in one game for Connie Mack's Athletics that year. A game that he started and only lasted two innings against the World Champion Cleveland Indians. Here is his line for the two innings he pitched: As you can see for yourself, he gave up 7 hits in 2 innings, 5 runs, all earned and so on and so on. But look closely. He struck out one player and this is the reason why I made this post. The one player that this young 25 year old lefty struck out was a player named Joe Sewell, who just happens to be the hardest player in the entire history of the game to strike out. How hard? Sewell averaged one strikeout every 63 at bats and also has the distinction of going 115 games without striking out, another major league record. To me, this little known record is as unbeatable as Dimaggio's 56 game hitting streak. In his entire career Sewell only struck out 114 times in 7,132 at bats. Imagine that. Guys like Adam Dunn can do that before the All Star break. And yet this obscure pitcher, lost in the baseball record books, managed to strike Sewell out during his one and only major league game. This just goes to show that an appearance by any ballplayer over the years, no matter how minuscule it may appear, means something. There's a lot of Arlas Taylor's in the baseball record book. I was just lucky enough to find one of them. Joe Sewell of the Indians. Sewell came to the Indians as a replacement for Ray Chapman in 1920. Chapman died from a pitch by New York's Carl Mays. Sewell went on to have a .312 career batting average and made the Hall of Fame in 1977.

Updated to 5-15 ...I spent 69 dollars this week filling up our mini-van. That's the most I have ever spent on gas. It's a good thing I don't have any hobbies that occupy my time that I have to spend money on because they'd have to wait for awhile. My main hobby for years now has been playing the season mods of Mvp. In fact, now that I think about it, Mvp 05 was the last game I ever bought that was a brand new release. All other games have been from the bargain basement bin in the game stores. Because of that $69 I spent, that trend is going to have to continue. ...Nice to hear that Ashton Kutcher is going to be replacing headcase Charlie Sheen on 2 1/2 Men. I never watched that show in the past, and it had nothing to do with Sheen. I just never watched it. But I might now just because I want to help with the ratings so it pisses Sheen off. Still winning Charlie? Didn't think so. ...I watched all three installments of HBO's When it was a Game this week. What a show. I haven't seen it in a few years and watching it again made me appreciate it more. That was the time in baseball I really wish I could have seen first hand. ...This past week saw too many deaths occur during it. It was terrible. A hockey player, an NBA player and an Alabama football player all died this week and want to give my condolences to each of their families. All too young and all a shock. ...One other person that passed on this week was Daily News cartoonist Bill Gallo. This guy I did hear of. He was a cartoonist for the New York Daily News. He died due to complications from pneumonia. Gallo's cartoons in the News were funny and poignant, thoughtful and truthful. I have saved the cartoon that he drew the day after Thurman Munson died all these years. I don't know how long I looked at it the day that paper was sold. ...Now that I have paid my respects to those who have gone, it's time to check in on that Frolicking Family of Fun, the Palins. They're always doing something. Let's take a peek and see what mischief they are up to now. *16 year old Willow Palin was caught this week driving 84 MPH in a 65 MPH zone while in the family vehicle. If she pleads guilty here she will only get slapped with a $162 dollar fine, which Mommy will gladly fork over. My guess is that Willow wanted to have some attention to herself because older sister Bristol gets most of it. This was only a speeding ticket. The next time we hear about little Willow is when we find out that some goober in Alaska knocks her up. *Speaking about Bristol, this girl can't bare to have her name out of the papers. Now Bristol is moving to Los Angeles with the Massey Brothers (never heard of them) to make a brand new, but unnamed yet reality show. Like we need another one of these. God knows what this show will be about but maybe when the show's all finished her little boy Tripp will have a new baby sister to play with. And with that, the Palin update for the week is now complete. ...Some Angels pitcher named Kevin Jepsen threw a pitch over the catcher's head last week that lead to the tie breaking run in a game that the Angels eventually lost. Funny as all hell if you ask me and the only thing funnier would be if it would have happened to the Red Sox instead. You can judge for yourself by clicking on this link. Also, the only time I like looking at Mike Scioscia's fat face is when it is looking like this: ...My favorite punching bag (Jorge Posada) could be nearing the end of the line soon. The guy's not hitting - he's at .165 right now - and is looking over-matched just about every time he gets to the plate. Posada didn't play last night because he told Joe Girardi he needed time to clear his head, which was puzzling to me since I never thought he had anything up there anyways. Then, afterwords, he said he had a bad back and that's why he couldn't play. The trouble was, the bad back excuse was news to the Yankees. My guess is if he keeps this up a few weeks longer, he may be gone. One could only hope. ...Curious to hear what Captain Double Play has to say about this. Because if Posada is let go or ends up retiring on his own, Jeter will have one less person in the clubhouse that kisses his a$$. ...While compiling songs for custom playlists for my Mvp games, I kept on going back to these same artists, who are to me the greatest guitarists I have ever heard. Of course, I mean Ritchie Blackmore, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana and Eddie Van Halen, just to name four. I may not be a good modder (in fact I suck) but I'm going to have one hell of a playlist when I'm done. :)

Updated to 5-8 ...The big news this week was the death of terrorist Osama bin Laden, the man who ruined airport travel forever and took away thousands of people from their families almost ten years ago. I was thinking after this was all done. What if they would have captured him alive? Then they'd bring him back to the U.S. to stand trial. What lawyer would defend him? Although in this country they'd find one. ...I got to tell you right now, I was not one of those who was jumping up and down after I heard this news. I don't celebrate anyone's death. I have no sympathy for him or his followers, but I still won't have a party over it. ...And by the way, I don't trust Pakistan one bit. They knew where this guy was. Anyone know what hush money is? ...Ok, subject change. Let's see if we can get a laugh and check in on the Palins. What are they up to this week? Oh, hey look! Bristol Palin is rumored to have had plastic surgery on her face. I don't get it though. Her problem isn't in her face because she's a very attractive girl. Her problem is that Sarah Palin is her mother. ...Did you hear about the kid in Pittsburgh that took the wallet of a Pirates usher when he was having a fatal heart attack? Ok, this happened in Pittsburgh, but I'll put good money down that this kid was born in Philadelphia. ...Don Mattingly called Derek Jeter "the greatest ever" this week when the Dodgers were in New York. All well and good Donnie Baseball, but would you take him on your team right now with the way he's been hitting the ball? Didn't think so. ...I had to scratch my head with this one. Some cornhusker from Indiana went on a cruise and is suing the ship for going "too fast." I guess she thought being out at sea was like watching The Love Boat where the waves never bothered anyone. ...For any of you Mvpmods veterans in here: tell me you didn't think of Uncle Mo when you saw this article. (UncleMo, for anyone that did not know him, was the first guy to mod the audio in the game when Mvp 2005 came out. He was good.) ...My wife did not understand why on Friday when she arrived home from work that some Brownies were waiting for her. I tried to explain to her that Dennis James made two different versions of the Browns uniforms and one thing led to another and I went out to buy some Brownies to celebrate. I told her that I got the kind that she likes, with no nuts. She said that's good, because you're nuts enough. ...Please restrain yourself from all comments to the last random thought. ...Thank you New York Mets for stopping Andre Ethier's hitting streak. ...Last but not least, Happy Mother's Day to all your mothers wherever they are. They deserve it.

Updated to 5-1 ...Let me get this clear before I say this. I'm no fan of Ozzie Guillen. I think he's a loud mouth and a show off, but I still don't think he should have received a two game ban for tweeting on his Twitter account after being banned from a game against the Yankees last week. All he did was post something on that account that criticized the umpire, probably something he would have also said during the post game interview. It wasn't like he was doing this when he was still actively managing the game. Selig swings and misses again. ...I regret to say I did not watch the Royal Wedding this past Friday since it was broadcast here at 4:00 am. At that time you see, I had an appointment with my pillow. ...I don't know what she looks like today but back in the day Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles was one of the hottest girls around. ...I love watching the Beverly Hillbillies on TV, mainly because of Raymond Bailey, who played greedy banker Milburn Drysdale. The things that guy did to keep the Clampetts money in his bank! (FYI: In real life, Bailey at one time was a real banker.) ...Reason number 1,785 of why I never want to go to Florida: Some lady last week came home and went into her bathroom because she heard a hissing sound and to her shock and surprise she was face to face with a seven foot alligator. This unwanted visitor crawled into the house through the doggie door and ended up in their bathroom. She's lucky she didn't go in the bathroom in the middle of the night. What a wake up call that would have been. ...Sarah Palin's going to be pretty busy this fall because Levi Johnston is coming out with a book about her and her family. You remember Johnston, don't you? He's the guy who knocked up her oldest daughter and now somehow she has to find a way to buy all the copies of the book once it's released. ...Real classy move by the NFL. They lifted the lockout to have the college draft but as soon as the draft was completed, they put it back on. ...Well, when they do things in Texas they do it big. And outrageous. And gaudy. A high school in the lame-brain state has spent 60 million dollars on their football field. This stadium will seat 18,000. Again, it's high school. God forbid they spend that kind of money something different, like education. ...You know what would be a nice habit for people in here to do after they download a mod? Go back and give a rating for the mod. I'm sure this is wishful thinking on my part because most of these 2k downloaders in here just want the mods and to get a "thank you" out of them is next to impossible. ...It didn't escape my eye that the thread I made about the lack of baseball talk in here died as quickly as it was brought up. There were only nine responses to it, five of them from me. While the guys who did respond added a lot to the topic, I did expect more people to chime in. I guess people really don't care. ...Derek Jeter is now hitting .250 and is getting very painful to watch. To me, this was a very sad and telling article.

Updated to 4-24 ...Ok, it's actually April 25th, but all I was able to do when I got back from my visit to hell was log on in here and catch up in the forums. Hell for me in located in Binghamton, New York. The place where nothing happens and nothing's planning on happening. The only attention Binghamton gets is being ranked number five in the five most depressing cities in America. If you ask me I don't know how they got ranked #5 because anyone who has spent at least five minutes there would agree that the city deserves a higher rank. There's more action in a cemetery in the middle of the night then there is in Binghamton. What was the number one most depressing city in America? Buffalo, New York. Damn. Whomever compiled this list knew what they were talking about. ...Thank God for my Kindle when I was down there or else I would have jumped out the second story window. You know it's boring down there when the dogs don't even jump up and bark when they hear a noise. I think they wanted to go home more than I did. ...Is it too soon to worry about Derek Jeter not hitting? And while I am at it, is it too soon to release Jorge Posada? ...Jeers to the Commissioner for wanting to expand the MLB playoffs next year to an extra round and have more teams in the post season. Why not just copy the NHL and let everyone in you son of a **&%@? ...Baltimore manager Buck Showalter's game plan for beating the Yankees seems to be to have his pitchers throw at the Yankee hitters. What a *****. I was never upset when they got rid of him after the 1995 season. ...I am very interested in reading the upcoming book about Derek Jeter which is to be released next month. It is an unauthorized Jeter biography so that means that the author didn't have to clear things with the King of Double Plays and kiss his *** about everything. Should be an interesting read. ...It is very nice to see Krawhitham back here after a long absence. This site and Mlbmods wasn't the same without that guy lurking around. ...Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is simply amazing. She is being cleared to attend her husband's launch into space on Friday. The courage and determination displayed by this woman should be an example for everyone. People like this are the real heroes, not ballplayers making millions of dollars a year and complaining that they want more. ...I wonder if Albert Pujols is going to demand more money from the Cardinals now that St. Louis just went through a tornado? I can picture Selfish Al saying he wants a few million more for "playing in a dangerous area of the country." ...I don't care what anyone says. I love laughing at Lindsay Lohan for all the crap she has brought on herself.

It's easy. Send a PM to one of the administrators, preferably Jim825. Tell him that you have two accounts and you want one disabled. He can do it so you can't access that again. Then you will be fine.

It'll be a late Random Thoughts this Sunday as I will be out of town being bored out of my mind down at the in-laws. We are going down there for Easter and to see one small step of theirs as they attempt to come to grips that this is the 21st century because two weeks ago they got their first cordless phone! Updates on this and news and views when I return home. And if you know anything about me, I am coming home as fast as I can.

Updated to 4-17 ...Pardon me while I don't shed any tears for Barry Bonds, whom this week was found guilty of obstruction of justice in a federal court. Sure it's another bad mark on baseball, but in Bonds' case that is the only mark people really remember him for. And it wouldn't bother me at all if he did jail time. ...It also goes to show how much this place has changed for the worse. Years ago when something like this happened, someone would make a thread and talk about it. And then we'd go back and forth defending Bonds or putting him down. Nothing like this happened in here this time. Same goes for when Manny Ramirez announced his retirement. No threads, no talk about it. It's like baseball talk has all but shriveled up and died in here because all these new people are flooding the forums with inane questions about 2k11, questions that they wouldn't have to ask if they actually stopped to read the game directions or tried to find it themselves. Yeah I know, things change. But when you are on a baseball site and no one talks about baseball, it's frustrating. ...Way to go Josh Hamilton! Blame third base coach Dave Anderson for sending you home when the plate was uncovered on that infield pop up. Forget the fact that it was two big guys colliding into one another at home plate, you'd rather blame someone else for you getting hurt. ...Just watch, during this off season the Rangers will let that third base coach go because of this. ...Never was I more relieved to see that Phil Hughes was placed on the disabled list. God knows what is wrong with this son of a ***** that a kick in the *** won't cure. ...And it's just a matter of time until the lack of pitching is going to sink this Yankee team. We couldn't afford to have Hughes fall apart, but that's what he did. And Burnett is pretty soon going to be pitching like well, himself very soon. The bullpen will have tired arms by the end of June. ...Yeah but Jeter is hitting .240 and only has one extra base hit all year. The perfect guy you want at the top of any order. ...Why are people so worried about the start of the Red Sox? It's like they expected other teams to roll over because of the people they signed in the off season. ...Hey, Nicolas Cage got arrested for domestic abuse and drunkenness. I didn't know he was friends with Charlie Sheen. ...Housewives, retired couples and people that don't know any better are crying in their coffee this week after the news that two of their soap operas have been canceled. Now what will they do?

Updated to 4-10 ...Can't say anything bad about this week. This is the week we have been waiting for since the Giants put an end to the Rangers last October. I love it when baseball comes back to us. It makes me feel so much better about everything. ...How about the start by Derek Jeter? Pretty good, huh? Hey, he's hitting .233 (7 for 30 with only one extra base hit.) Come on, give him a break. He's only making 20 million this year and that doesn't take you as far as it used to. ...I got to confess something right now and it's something I kept to myself all this time. When the Cubs told Carlos Silva to get the hell out, I had the awful feeling that the Yankees would sign him and I don't know why I thought this. I mean what the hell did they sign him for? Isn't A.J. Burnett enough for them? ...And why is it I can predict something like this but I can't predict the winning lottery numbers? ...Of course the Red Sox had to get their first win of the year at the expense of the Yankees. You could see that happening a mile away. ...Hey Phil Hughes! Great job so far this year. Keep up the good work. ...I am not going to miss Manny Ramirez one bit. The guy proved to everyone how much of an idiot he is by getting caught yet again by using performance enhancing drugs. If he doesn't care about what he did why should we? And the hell with that "Manny being Manny" bullsh**. The guy didn't care about anyone but himself. And this video by Red Sox talking head Dan Shaughnessy says a lot. ...No matter what this season brings for the Tampa Bay Rays, manager Joe Maddon has to consider it a success because Ramirez won't be there. Something that Terry Francona could very well appreciate. And so would have Joe Torre had he been awake last year. ...Of course something had to ruin opening week and this time it was the pointless and idiotic beating of a Giants fan after the Dodgers opening game in the Dodger parking lot. And all because this guy had the nerve to be a Giant fan. This poor guy may have permanent brain damage because of this. Honestly when I read about this I was surprised that this didn't happen in Philadelphia, the hotbed of good sportsmanship and exemplary fan behavior. ...My wife bought an iPad2. Why? Because it was "cute." ...They booed him in Detroit, but in Cleveland Charlie Sheen was a huge hit during his stop there on his "tour." Maybe all the jokes made about Cleveland are justified. ...Where else but in this country can an airhead little tramp get knocked up, have a kid, not have to care for him because she was too busy dancing and in the course of time leave the guy that did the job on her, and then get hired by a foundation to spread the word to kids about teen pregnancy prevention ? None other than Teen Mom of the year Bristol Palin, who raked in $262,000 just to tell a bunch of kids who probably were not listening anyway to keep it in their pants? Yeah, I bet she is really sorry she had a kid now.

Total Classics 1927 MLB/Negro Leagues, Continued Another few inches this Giant pitcher would have had a Giant bruise. Here is the aforementioned George Scales, hitting star of the NY Lincoln Giants. All Scales did in this game to torment the Black Barons was go 2 for 4 with two home runs and four RBI. The Giants as a team hit four home runs as they won 7 - 3. The Giants were warming up their pen as early as the seventh inning but they did not go to it until one out in the ninth. Birmingham stages a mild rally in the seventh as they pushed across two runs but any further retaliation was stopped by an inning ending double play. Another walk to the mound for the Black Barons manager, who had to change pitchers four times today. It's almost over. This Black Baron hitter has just been called out on strikes for the second out in the bottom of the ninth inning. And now it is. A routine grounder to second ends the game for the Black Barons and a happy group of Lincoln Giants will leave the field victorious.

Next up in this thread is Total Classics 1927 Phase 2 or as it is also known, Total Classics 1927 MLB/Negro Leagues. You can download this mod right here. Now while this mod may share a similar name to the previous mod that was reviewed in this thread, this new mod by Dennis James and redeck stands alone by itself. With the addition of more Negro league players, there are now complete Negro League teams (like the famous Homestead Grays and Kansas City Monarchs) and there are also actual Negro League stadiums, a first in all of the Total Conversion mods. Many of the cyberfaces for the Negro League players were created by jogar, someone who can probably make a cyberface of the Invisible Man if he wanted to and the schedule for this mod was made by none other than Dylan. Each and every one of these guys had a huge hand in making this mod what it is. One bit of warning if you decide to download and play this game. If you are not careful when you get into this game, you might end up learning something and God forbid that's the last thing we want to happen. You'll end up playing some games with the Negro League teams and you'll be familiar with some of the famous names there, like Satchel Paige. But there's so many more names you won't be familiar with and if you read about those guys you'd be surprised and impressed at what they accomplished. Some of the greatest players we never saw played Negro League baseball. This mod introduces you to the player and the stats behind the player. Reading about them is a whole other thing. I suggest you look at this book or this book if you want to get an idea who these guys were. There's also many more books on the Negro Leagues too. Screenshots Welcome to Total Classics 1927 MLB/Integrated The Black Baron pitcher was on his game in the early inning as he had the Giants out in front of his offerings. This single up the middle sent the Black Baron runner to third base which set up Birmingham's first run of the game. Their lead however, would be short lived. A weak throw by the Birmingham third baseman was not enough to force out this New York baserunner and the Black Barons immediately paid for this when George Scales of the Lincoln Giants stepped in and blasted a three run homer to turn a 1 - 0 deficit into a 3 - 1 lead. Where else but in this mod will you run across a player named Spoony Palm? Believe it or not, the Giants runner was out on this play as the momentum from the throw drove the first baseman into foul territory. "Hit em where they ain't," Willie Keeler once said. And that is exactly what happened here as this Lincoln Giants hitter places the ball down the left field line, inches away from the foul line.

Well, sure. That's a good point. But that only lasts a few hours. I need other things to do. :lol:

Updated to 4-3 ...It's a nice start to the 2011 season and I will leave it at that. To add any un-needed superlatives to this will serve no purpose. ...But I will rave about one thing. It is so nice not seeing Jorge Posada behind the plate anymore for the Yankees. Now maybe we will throw out some runners this year. ...Asking if I am concerned about this little tiff between DirectTV and YES and you will be surprised at what you get for an answer. ...Ok, here's something I don't understand about the Yankees. They said they had "reservations about signing Pedro Feliciano" from the New York Mets during the off season, stating that he made 266 total appearances for the Mets over the last three seasons, which may have lead to his current arm problems right now. (Currently Feliciano is on the DL for most of this month.) Then why sign the guy if you had an idea what might happen? There are enough pitchers on the team already that can't do the job as it is. Right AJ? ...Honestly, what I am paying attention to the most this year with the Yankees is their farm system. The young pitching down there is exciting. And the two catchers (Montero and Romine) are a few steps away from coming to New York. ...Kind of had a bad week. Sarah Palin didn't say anything stupid, mainly because she wasn't interviewed. She'll make up for it this week. That pig needs to be in front of the camera as much as Charlie Sheen needs to be. ...I refuse to eat candy that you have to unwrap. Hershey's kisses, chocolate Easter eggs wrapped in tin foil, etc. I don't have the patience to get past the candy's outer defenses. ...April Fools was two days ago and yet I find it amazing every year to see people falling for obvious hoaxes that websites dream up just to spring on the unsuspecting lot year after year. ...Yeah, 2K11 is out and the bandwagon for that is growing more and more every day. Old pros like DonSpa have returned to bring some sort of respectability to that game. I swear I think that guy's goal is to make every uniform ever made. But with all the attention given to that game, one beautiful audio mod by OTBJoel has overshadowed every mod made for 2K11. Biased? Maybe. But what other game can you find a mod that took three long years to make? Only in Mvp can you find such devotion. ...I have been home since March 18th. There hasn't been one day above 40. Even if I wasn't still sick I'd stay inside. Yeah, I'm a wimp.

I have been up for about an hour now and lucky for me that I have! I just finished downloading this and I just want to thank you Joel for your work on this because it's going to make Mvp's audio now equal to the wonderful game play! Thank you again. Five stars for this?? Forget that man. No way. How about five times 1,000? Now we're talking.

That is odd, isn't it? I'm hoping this week there is a bit of improvement for the both of us. I am very happy to learn this Dennis. Thank you. And no, I did not see the 60 loading screens you made for the game. You must have released them while I was gone. I will be sure to check them out. I already purchased two books for mine and I am sure I will have a lot more before this year is out. I'm really getting adjusted to it well. I love reading about Palin. She is almost like my daily comedy show. She is always doing or saying something stupid. And I hope she never stops because she alone is going to keep her from being President. The dumb SOB.

Updated to 3-27 ...Talk about a culture shock everyone. It has not been above forty degrees since I came home from Hawaii and I have not been outside since the day I was discharged from the hospital. This upper respitory infection thing sucks by the way. (Like I really have to tell any of you this.) Besides coughing a lot I am finding that I am sleeping about twelve hours a day. ...By the way Dylan, thanks for the advice but we do not have Buckley's medicine around here at all. I'm at the point now where I'd try anything. ...It was like almost being on a different website when I got back here. All the talk was about MLB 2k11 and with all the mods I have been seeing for this game, I hope this year's version is better than the other two years combined. And no, I'm not buying it until I hear some good stuff about it except that "it's ok" or 'at least is is better than last year's.' ...Imagine the surprise that was in store for me when I saw that Dennis James made some mods for 2k11. Either I was away for much too long or Dennis filed for free agency and left the Mvp game. ...To me, MVP is the game the refuses to die. With all the talk about 2k11 now, the biggest news that I read this week was OTBJoel's announcement that the audio mod that he has been working on for years now is 100% done. What this is going to do is give Mvp a facelift in the area it needed the most. Thank you OTBJoel! ...Sergio Mitre got traded recently by the Yankees to Milwaukee for an outfielder that they didn't need. The only reason why they had to dump him instead of Burnett was because of the contract - never mind that Mitre was more consistent last year. This team really worries me this year. ...Opening day is only a few days away in the Bronx but I'll believe it when I see it. No way would I want to be in Yankee Stadium on Thursday unless they let me bring in a few blankets from home. I would just love to talk to the idiot that made the Yankees open up at home on the 31st of March. ...I got better things to do than worry about how millionaire football players and millionaire football owners are going to resolve their differences. ...Bought one of those electronic book readers recently because I was running out of room for books that I own already. From now on I am going digital. It'll take some getting used to. ...Funniest quote of the week by Bill Maher: "Sarah Palin finally heard what happened in Japan. And she's demanding that we invade tsunami. She says that 'these Tsunamians will not get away with this'. You can view the youtube clip right here.

Dylan, I hope you get well soon from this. Pneumonia sucks. I had it went I was 13 years old and I had to miss two weeks of school because of it. Thank God I never had it again. On the other hand, having an upper respitory infection isn't a walk in the park either because that's what I found out that I have. I haven't been here since Sunday afternoon because since that time and all the way until yesterday afternoon around 4 pm I was checked in the hospital. We had no idea what the problem was. All I know is every time I put my head down on the pillow I would suddenly become short of breath, like someone was stepping on me. Finally I consented to go to emergency (I always fight this because I don't like hospitals) and I had to go through a series of tests, including a stress test on my heart. My heart ended up in good condition after all the tests but now I have to take these antibiotics and use a breather to clear up my lungs for awhile. I have no idea at all how the hell I got this. But at this point I'm more worried about you because I know pneumonia is nothing to play around with. I recall that pneumonia makes it hard to breath too. Try not to go outside while you are recovering. Take care.

Updated to 3-20 ...These two weeks in Hawaii were a blur. It's a recommended trip to anyone in here. You all will love it if you get the chance to see it for yourself. ...We had a view from our hotel window that overlooked Waikiki beach. I never got tired looking out that window in the morning just watching the waves come in. ...The International Marketplace was directly across the street from our hotel and it was a place that my wife surprisingly ended up not liking a lot. This was due to the sellers there, who were nothing but sharks who feasted on tourists. ...The girls around that place were not modest at all, thank God. It was not uncommon to see one walking down the street in nothing but a skimpy bikini. Trust me, I noticed. Again and again. ...Tried out some coffee at a place called "Seattle's Best Coffee." I'm telling you if this is Seattle's best I do not want to try its worst. This was some of the worst coffee I've ever had in my life and it really made me miss Dunkin Donuts' coffee. ...The stores on Kalakaua Avenue (the main street in Waikiki) were very high class stores and were basically all alike. Stores like Prada, Coach, Chanel and Louis Vuitton were all over the place. In case you don't know what they are, join the club. These are all expensive purse stores where you pay for the name of the purse and not the quality of it. ...Want an example? Ok. At that Louis Vuitton store they had a wallet that sold for $995. They had a purse there for $2,250. My wife walked out of the store faster than I did. ...I could not find one computer store there unless you want to count the Apple store and I don't count them as a computer store. ...The next time you see people on TV walk on sand like it is no problem at all, don't believe it. Walking on the sand in Waikiki was one of the toughest things I did there and I did it quite a few times and it never got easier. ...Some people on the beach would go out in the water about a half a mile. I never mustered up the courage to do that. I'm lucky I made it out fifteen feet. ...The pigeons in Waikiki were not afraid of people at all. They would stand at your feet while you had dinner just waiting for you to drop something. ...Going to the Honolulu Zoo sucked. I didn't care at all that I was there. "Hey look, there's a tiger." Wow. "And there's a elephant." Great. "And over there is a giraffe." How nice! "Hey look, there's the exit sign to leave the zoo!" Great, now we are talking!! ...Tell me how you can hear the person sitting next to you on a plane when it's in the air? With the engines going you can't hear anything. ...The bathrooms are so small on the planes that it made me wonder how anyone was able to join the Mile High Club? ...Each day the temperature there was 80 degrees or higher. ...You know what? I'm still glad I'm home.

I wanted to get back online yesterday but I am still on Hawaiian time over here and I slept most of the day after I got off the plane. It was a long flight! Anyways, I will try to let you guys know how it was like to go through the tsunami while my wife and I were in Honolulu. It was around midnight and my wife and I were asleep and all of a sudden we hear a voice from someone who works at the front desk at the Outrigger Waikiki. They reported that a very substantial earthquake had just hit Japan and that a tsunami warning was now issued for the Hawaiian Islands. They estimated that the tsunami would hit around 3 am. The first three floors of the hotel were evacuated and the guests were moved up to the hospitality suites while the warning was going on. Since our room was on the tenth floor, we didn't have to leave. Waikiki beach was completely evacuated except for an official who was riding up and down the beach on a dune buggy to make sure no one was on the beach. No one was, but the Honolulu Police Department had to tell some people to get off their boat because either they did not know or care that a tsunami warning was issued. The police also blocked off all major roads and highways on the island. Finally, 3 am came and went and on our part of the island the tsunami did not hit. Some parts of Hawaii did get hit by it. In the Kona area of the Big Island of Hawaii there was a lot of damage. For example, the entire first floor of the King Kamehameha's Kona Beach hotel was flooded. A house located near Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island was swept away by the tsunami and was lost. Here is a photo of that house after divers located it: North Shore residents on Oahu await for a signal to return to their homes. Many people had to spend the night in their cars because of the tsunami. Waikiki beach was closed until 11 am that same day. Usually people were out on the beach as soon as sunup came but not this time. Even the beach side restaurants were closed. A few days after the tsunami hit the newspaper in Hawaii said that tourism is going to be taking a major hit in the next few months because of this. Japan is a country that visits Hawaii a lot, due to the close proximity of it to Hawaii. (Japan is only 3,800 miles away from the Hawaiian Islands.) In 2010 for instance, Japan supplied about 17.3% of statewide visitor arrivals. Some 1.2 million visitors from Japan came to Hawaii last year and spent $1.9 billion. This will be considerably less this year because of what happened. Any other questions about this please don't hesitate to ask me. It was quite an experience.

Thank you very much. Kind of makes me wonder what they'd do if I responded to the e-mail and accepted the nomination to their Hall of Fame? Well I don't think SSX is backing up Boras, but he does bring up a good point. Boras doesn't hold a gun to their head and demands that the teams sign his clients, but at the same time he is an unreasonable S.O.B. who tough to deal with. I know he's just doing his job but I'm no fan of his. One more thing before I take off: everyone that is getting the Show 11 next week have a great time with it! Take care.

Updated to 3-4 ...I know what I said on Sunday that I would not be doing another one of these until I got back from Hawaii, but I had some time today and I figured why not? ...I'm all packed up for the trip and I have double checked everything. But I know what's going to happen as soon as the plane first gets in the air. I'm going to turn to my wife and say "Guess what we forgot?" ...I even got two cortisone shots in both of my knees to help me walk around Oahu a little better. I'm telling you, for those of you who have had cortisone shots in your knees, they sure sting a little don't they? I was sore for a few hours yesterday after I got them but now I'm fine. ...Coco Crisp is the second ballplayer this year to be pulled over for a D.U.I. Just seven more to go and they can field their own starting nine. ...Of course Coco said he was sorry. What did you expect him to say, that he could use another drink? ...Last week at this time I never heard of some British designer named John Galliano and I was perfectly happy not knowing who he was since I don't roll that way if you get my drift, and the only reason why I now heard of him was because of a stupid tirade he made in Paris when he brought up Adolph Hitler's name. ...Can I play the devil's advocate here for a minute? Why so much backlash for Galliano because of what he said? Look, understand what I am saying. I'm not supporting him or anyone that thinks Hitler did anything good, but this guy ends up getting fired for a comment that he could have made when he was under the influence of something but yet in some circles people are praising Charlie Sheen for the things he is saying and doing right now. Sheen is the sole reason for the cancellation of his TV show for the rest of the year and all the other stuff he has done and said lately has made him look just as bad as Galliano to me with the only exception being that Sheen has not mentioned Hitler. ...Personally, I'd rather not hear anymore about the two of them and would rather hear about updates of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords as she continues on her road to recovery from a gun shot wound. Remember her? Oh that's right. That's January's news. ...Keith Richards daughter is facing drug charges. Hey Keith, where do you think she learned how to do drugs? ...I get spam mail just like everyone else and like everyone else I delete it as quickly as I can without even reading it. But one I got recently made me stop in my tracks. Seems that yours truly, Yankee4Life, has been elected to the Women's Hall of Fame. This bit of news immediately made my wife jealous since she has been a woman all her life and understandably felt a bit snubbed that she wasn't elected also or at least considered and that her husband, who has never been a women, has this honor before she did. ...Hey! The iPad2 is out. All I want to know now is what the hell Apple screwed up on this version? ...Only in America Dept: The Southeastern Virginia Arts Association is going to be honoring Michael Vick as a hero because Vick has been speaking out to kids ever since he got out of jail not to do the things he did and be like him. This is what a hero is about these days? ...A.J. Burnett had a good first outing for the Yankees a few days ago prompting jackass Michael Kay and the shill Kim Jones to proclaim that because of a change in his delivery "he could have a good year." Sorry Burnett, you got to do much more than that besides getting minor leaguers out in the beginning of Spring Training. I never wanted the Yankees to sign him but I would be very happy to be proved wrong this year and to watch him win twenty games. ...I am liking Mark Teixeira even more now since he doesn't have Scott Bora$ as an agent anymore. ...I forgot in last week's random thoughts to welcome back Super Cyberface Modder Jogar84. If you guys think think Homer can make good cyberfaces, this guy is just as good. Check the download section for his previous work. Chances are if you have any of the season mods you have already seen Jogar's work. ...The Cubs got into another fight a day or two ago as Carlos Silva and Aramis Ramirez got into it and the first thing that must have entered the Cubs fans mind was where the hell was Carlos Zambrano when all this was happening? Zambrano, I am happy to inform you was no way involved in the scuffle between Silva and Ramirez but as he told the Chicago Tribune "he was going to take on the winner of that fight since Derrek Lee is no longer on the team." ...And with that, I say goodbye to all of you as I leave for Oahu on Saturday morning!