Boski's Blogopoluza!

It has been awhile kids.


Well a lot has been going on since the last time I sat down and really blogged for you.

As you can see I have not been abducted by Finnish Secret Service, Time Warner Cable or became entangled in a pyramid scheme. However I would like to talk to you about Confederated Products. . . Maybe I will wait on that.


I have been struggling to figure out how to start this all over again and let you know what is going on. I have tried to sit down and do this at least 70 times, without turning this into a Steven King novel.


Let me just start off with 2007 sucked, from start to finish it sucked hard for the most part. 2008 has been better, but it has had some major suckage as well. So let me try to bullet point the highs and lows of the past year and half since I was writing to all of you good people (crickets):


My wife's mother passed away. Still tough to talk about.

Dealing with ADD and depression. I will talk about that at a later time as long as I don't make is sound pretentious.



I am on medication. All those years I used to joke about it and now it has happened. go figure. The medication has help but it does make me sweat more than I like. Let's say on some days I sweating like Dom Delouse


Gave up caffine, I don't know how I have made it this far.

Working on selling Better Half's Mom's home, which has been a huge undertaking. Nothing like selling a house when the market is tanking. Good times.


Did the Jimmy Carter Work Project in San Pedro CA, actually got to meet Mr. Carter briefly.


Been back to Vegas and it kicked ass. Nearly plowed into John Cleese at the Palazzo.


Let my hair go grey

From this:






To this:







Lost 25 pounds - Thanks to the meds I am on, getting my ass back to the gym and trying to eat better I have lost weight. I am not down to around 185. The scary thing is now I can bench press more now at 36, than I did when I was 18. The other sad thing is that # is 200 pounds. I "played" football and was an interior lineman and I could not bench more than 165 through out high school. My goal is to lift 225 so I finally declare myself eligible for the NFL Draft where I will be the first guy whose Wonderlick score and # of benching 225 combined will not be even half of my 40 time.




Finally have a BMW 3 Series, not happy how it came to us (it was the BH Mom car) also not happy that the car I really love and have been dreaming of owning runs on premium. Someone cue Alanis Morrissette.


Me and the Better Half are now the guardians of two desert tortoises, again you can guess from where. But we have taken them in, and enjoying it. Now just have to fix up the yard.

Sadly this guy may be moving away from us soon:




His family is looking for another home, since I think they maybe upside down on it, but I am no Chairman of the Fed. We do however hold out hope that they will leave him with us, but right now we are just trying to enjoy as much time as we can with him.



Well I became TimeWarner's prison bride. Our Tivo went teats up so we got a new one, an HD Tivo and we continued with out life time subscription. Doing that locks us in with Time Warner, but in standard TimeWarner Cable fashion they had to give us an extra box so we could run the On-Demand since the digital cable cards could not. Which ended up being a disaster and now they have raised the rates again and are charging us for both boxes. So it is good to see that in this world there are things you can depend on.


I have been moonlighting on the blogosphere, well actually have been hanging at another site pumping out witty sports and pop culture banter. FanIQ. I am there way more than I should, but I enjoy it. I can pick games and not lose money, I can talk about sports, play trivia. Hell I even do this with about 90% less of my poor writing.


Speaking of sports think in 2008 have gotten better. 2007 sucked for all my teams. But in 2008 I have seen my White Sox stumble out of the blocks and wobbling toward a repeat of '07 but then correct themselves and play some inspired baseball. Look I did not see this team playing this well this year and if they were I still thought they would be third behind the Pity Kitty's and the Casino Owners. Instead it the Sox trying to fight off the Twinkees. I know it only July so a lot can happen, but Ozzie again is showing why I love the crazy S.O.B. As for the Lakers well everything went so well right until they got clubbed like baby harp seals by the Celtics. I would have like to seen the Celtics play like that when in the day when they face Cromwell. As for football, well it may be a long year for the Broncos and Bruins, but then I not the greatest when it comes to prognostication.


Hey I spent a week on a horse - actually got back from that trip two weeks ago. I swear I will put the Snapfish link when my wife is done. But we spent a week in Bridgeport CA at a place called Hunewill Ranch. So now I can say I have punched some doggies.


I have become a watch addict during my sabbatical. I think this all started back in the summer of 2005 when I got upset over losing a Wenger watch that I really liked. I had always just wore a simple Swatch since forever, but after losing that watch I got a replacement that Christmas and began a trend. Right now I have not lost my head yet, but I do own a bitchin TAG Heuer Carreara watch. But I will build myself a watch army and rule the world.....



Lastly - something I did not want to have to confess to but I have an obligation to come out and tell you. I have become a bit of a . . . metro sexual. Look I am sorry but I finally got to a point in my life that I wanted to stop being the worst dress guy at the office. I realized that my days looking like a hobo are over. Now I have not gone all Ryan Seacreast and frosted my tips, but I know have a subscription to Esquire and GQ with the possibility of getting Details. I know, I know you may all be ashamed but it is who I am.



So that is all I have for you now. I am going to try to get back to blogging, well at least attempt to try.


Signed Management

How are you doing? It has been a long time since we last spoke. Oh I keep tabs on you, but I am worried. It used to be I could be content hanging out with you for hours, hell days on end. Sadly those days are far and few in between. I am glad that you have confidence yourself, but I think you are believing too much of your own hype. Hey you can keep your "World Wide Leader In Sports" title. I know you have already bought the stationary and monogram towels. I just think you have gone over board.

The past few years I have tried to look past your transgression, but this "Whose Now" is just too much. I tried to watch it a couple of weeks back. I had heard about this through Deadspin and through the Petros and Money Show. I knew it was bad, but I did not think it this bad. I would have been better off huffing gas and ramming framing nails into my skull. Which would have done less damage to my brain. Seriously, do I need Stu "Crazy Eye" Scott and the cast of "I Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" to tell me that Derek Jeter is more now than William Hung. F you ESPN, F you with broom handle in your ass, which I hope breaks and splinters in your ass!

What more do I and maybe many Americans have to suffer through. This is not Extra or Access Hollywood. I want Sports and maybe a human interest story once in a while. Your freaking job is about reporting sports not superseding the sports your are broadcasting. When I watch, I am watching to see the game or to get insight about the games. It seem to me that the sports seem to be getting in the way of you pimping, you! Okay pimping your self and the next Yankees/Red Sox series.

Tonight on Baseball Tonight, how will Friday's batting practice affect the ESPN Sunday Night game Sponored by Crucial.com!

But I have has enough of the BS. The following crap has to stop:

Stu Scott

The caricature that is Chris Berman - Hey Chris, if you bring down Tom Jackson, I will come for you fat man and I will hurt you.

The Firing of Harold Reynolds

The end of Cheap Seats

ESPN the Mag - Stu Scott but in written form

ESPN the Restaurant - OVERRATED!

ESPN the Cell Phone - how do that go?

ESPN the Home Pregnancy Test - If the stick shows Charlie Stiener then your pregnant!

The destruction of ESPN Classic

Enough of the Poker - Jesus H. Christ I am sick of watching classic flops from W.S.O.P. past and present.

The cancellation of Sports On Tap- which was a game show that saw a goofy kid from Orange County try his luck and come up short. Wait maybe this is actually good. People, I going to say that when the red light goes on, you can get dumb in a hurry. One day I will sit down and tell you this tale.

Dick V, I think it's time to put down the pipe and walk away.

Evening at the Improve or as you say SportsCenter - Come on, this use to be the show piece. It was my favorite hour of TV. Got all the scores and tons of highlights and analysis. But then you pushed it. Hey you were witty and I fell in love with some of the catch phrases, but now it just wrong. Look even the "Boom Goes the Dynamite Kid" thinks what you are rolling out is crap.

Hey you can fix this, and you still are doing a couple things right like:

Scott Van Pelt - Craig Kilborn but with humility

ESPN News Ticker - getting scores during commercial breaks is a wonderful thing.

Jeremy Green's football podcast

College Football

Ron Jaworski - I love NFL Edge Match Up, and I hope he does well on Monday.

Hey if you could, bring back Aussie Rule Football. I need me some Essendon vs. Fitzroy, or St. Kilda vs. Carlton

But take me seriously, I have got them Internets (where there are way better rants against you than I could muster) to give me what I want. Maybe one day someone will figure it out and have a channel that challenges you, so in closing I would like to quote the great American Stephen Colbert you are on notice!

brought his dim witted robot wife (I thought robots were supposed to be smart, but David is not the sharpest tool himself so it makes sense)





and he helping a pyramid scheme




What is Becks going to be rolling around in his Bentley with a "Ask Me About Herbalife" bumper sticker?


I think not.


Seriously, did Herbalife beat out Amway for this spot? Also where does Herbalife have that kind of scratch? I thought they needed that cash to stay ahead of the Feds? And fighting lawsuits ain't cheap kids.


I wish David well and I hope this helps American soccer, even though I still can't get into it. I am sticking with the EPL till further notice. The man is not the best footballer to walk on the pitch but he is amazing at what he does and he seems to be marketing gold.


Even though I am soccer novice, I do know that from what I have seen of Becks in the past it is special. I know this man is fantastic delivering the ball to others. I mean some of the long balls he strike are amazing. He is hitting guys 40 yards up field, in stride, right at their feet. He is one of the best at delivering the ball from a set piece. Penalties, Corners Free kicks, he lethal. The guy has been really trying to show he's a 90 minute player. He made a nice little run with Real Madrid this past season, but he not a complete player. So for those expecting something just remember he's no Pele. The biggest problem is not Beckham is will the Galaxy actually have people who can finish. If they don't then it will be a huge waste.


I just hope this does not become George Best II Electric Bugaloo. But every time I see him I will have to spit on the ground in anger. Because all that money could have been better sent on the Kings. Instead I have a team that maybe years away from the playoff while the Anaheim F%$#'s win the Cup. And no I am not getting over this anytime soon, so get used to me beating this into the ground.

Yesterday was the birthday of one of the greatest NFL QB's of all time.





John Albert Elway. ALL HAIL #7!


Also yesterday Frank Thomas clobbered his 500th Home Run.(MLB.com) It is sad he did not do it as a White Sox, but I am happy for him. Yes I have come down from my contempt for him after the 2005.

During the 90's it was all about these two.

I watched John Elway start the decade willing his team to a Super Bowl and coming within a Deep Thigh Bruise and a Steve Sewell fumble from another Super Bowl bid. Then go through some lean years only to see him end on top with back to back Super Bowl titles.

I also remember watching a young Frank Thomas fresh from AAA, go 1 for 4 with a walk in a White Sox 9 - 5 win at the Big A (9-1-90).




As the scrappy Sox moved within 5.5 of the A's. The same day Bobby Thigpen tied the MLB record for saves in a season (46) on his way to setting the current record of 57. Not that I remember any of that.

I watched this giant of a man who had a Ted Williams command of the strike zone develop in a terror weapon who helped put the White Sox back on the map. I watched him win two MVP's (should have had a third in 2000). Let us not forget he was putting up huge numbers in 1994 before the strike came.

I also watched Frank languish as the Sox floundered in the late 90's. Also watched him suffer through injuries and be an a-hole at times. Which I had to get a little bit of a chuckle see Frank get ejected in the 9th for arguing balls and strikes. I was happy to see Frank get a ring with the Sox, even seeing him limp through the season, it was just right to see him be apart of White Sox winning a title. Look I think Harold Baines is Mr. White Sox, but it is a title that fits Frank better.

So congrats Frank.

So you have heard me whiny not so poetic of my youth thank you for listening.

And that it was Sammy "Watch me forget how to speak English when I am asked about steroids" Sosa who broke it up, but it was rewarding to see Sammy getting picked off for having a brain fade.

Suck it Sammy!

So let us give Mark Buehrle a nice hand for the No-No he tossed last night.

Let us hope that this kick the White Sox in ass, and gets them going on doing what must be done. And that is to overtake the Politically Incorrect's, Twinkees and the Pitty Kittys.

Well the work week is winding down and I am just killing time here at work.

Trying to get things wrapped up so I can flee early today so I can catch L.A. Avengers excitement.

Yes, I am going to watch Arena Football.

We won the tickets a couple weeks back when I correctly guessed the total of the BYU vs. Xavier 1st Round NCAA Tourny Game (and you all said gambling would lead to nothing). Would have liked the Laker tickets, but as they say "beggar can be choosers but there are a hell of a lot of forms to fill out."

So I will fighting the freeways to watch grown me do something I used to get yelled at. Didn't the Brady Bunch teach us about playing ball in the house. I love the Arena League is trying to sell itself and be fan friendly, I just would love for them to add one thing. In or around each end-zone I wish they would have a giant mock up of a lamp or picture frame. So that if either team hits any of the home items, then a siren goes off and the offenders are penalized 15 yards for roughing the breakables. To add to it, if a team gets three in a game and your team is grounded and it's an automatic forfeit and will get it from Dad when he gets home.

Just a thought Arena League. Chew on it, if you like it you know where to find me.

This will be my second foray into Arena Football. 11 years ago I watched an epic tilt between the Anaheim Piranhas and the Iowa Barnstormers. It was a game that did have playoff implications. I was there since the man who ran the Broadcasting Camp, had part ownership of the team. So in a way we where helping him bankroll this venture. A venture that ended the next season. But what I did not realize is that during the game that we all making fun of one player. A player we kept referencing to as former Seattle Seahawk great. Little did we know it would be future Super Bowl winner, NFL MVP, and selling his own soul to the devil for fame Quarterback Kurt Warner. Some of you thought I was going to say Dan Doornick. Psych!

I can tell by the yawns you are fascinated by that to no end.


As for the rest of the weekend,


Saturday - a little bit of this, a little bit of that.


Sunday - Brunch with my wife's Mom at Castle Boskistein, Then Easter egg/nap hunt with this guy:

Next up is Mass, then it is off to my Mom's for the Nephew's Million Dollar Egg Hunt - Sponsored by Cisco Information Systems. Depending on the the loot I may need to get in on it. Look, I am not afraid of moving aside an 8 year old, or 3 year old, to get a Lincoln or two. Hey they need to know about competition, and their Uncle Boski will be the one to teach them.

I am know I am a horrible person.

I hope everyone has a good weekend and blog at you Monday.

I am wondering if Met fans from the 80's who have kids, command those kids to boo Daryl Strawberry's kids who plays for Maryland?

Just curious.

My favorite Darryl Strawberry moment. Me and a friend of mine went down to see the Padres opening day in 1994. We would have gone to see the Angles play, but some moron could not read a newspaper, and yes that moron was me.

The game was done and we were sitting in the parking lot at the Murph (it will always be the Murph). These were the days before they put in the red car line. Back in the day when it took you about three and a half days to get out of the parking lot. So we were listening to Sports Talk. It was an L.A. Station and they were talking about Darryl going into rehab, after missing a Freeway Series game to score some blow at one of the many motor lodges near Disneyland. I forget the name of the place, but it may have been the Ivanhoe Motel, the same place Tony Phillips got some Colombian Marching powder.

The host of the show had Tommy Lasorda (I don't hate Tommy, but I always love that scene) on. And Tommy is trying to explain that he feels bad for Straw and that he is glad to get help and what the Dodgers were going to do. Tommy being the positive person he is (Tommy never liked to put anyone down, even opponents. . .okay most times) But a call comes in and it is from a transplant from NY and the guys starts yelling,

"Daryl is a dog Tommy, he's a dog!"

So him and Tommy go back and forth and the host is just laughing. Me and my friend were rolling as well. To this day we anytime still yell that each other. Oh memories.

I am still sleepy from this weekend. This weekend was not wild and crazy, but still tiring.

Here are the highlights:


Friday


- The Better Half's Mom showed up to take us to the airport. As we prepared to ventured out, we nearly had a home invasion by this fellow.




At first he just sauntered up to hang with the Better Half and her mom, as they were opening up the car. All was fine until the Better Half came back to the house and opened the door. As soon as the wife opened the door. He bolted to it and made his attempt. It was an orange and white streak to the door. He nearly made it in, but was stopped, this time.

Damn him and his adorableness.


- Land at Sky Harbor and we saw NFL Hall of Famer the Minister of Defense himself, Deacon Jones. We made a halfass effort to say hello, but he seemed out of it and he still may be a little bummed with the passing of one of his fellow Fearsome Foursome.

- Got picked up by our friends and traveled to that bustling metropolis Tuscon and made it to Tuscon Electrical Ballpark for that all important White Sox/Diamondback Spring Training Battle.

- The White Sox came out and established their dominance. A dominance that lasted till half way through the bottom of the first.

- Even though the Sox, Offense, Defense and pitching looked listless it was still a great time.

- I got my first bit of sunburn of the season. That along with windburn. Man it was cold.

- Friday was the start of using and overusing the phrase for anything that did not go as planned, "well it is spring training for (insert proper noun here) them as well". It was used for the concession stand, the parking attendants, the umps, the organ player, the hotel workers and so on and so on.


- It is hard to have a bad day after a day at the yard.

- The hotel we stayed at was the home for the Colorado Rockies minor league players. I know that these were not in the big clubs camp. I don't think Todd Helton is camping at this hotel for spring. Now this place was not horrible, but not worth what was paid.

- It seems to be law that to be in the Rockies farm system that you have to walk around with your luggage or your shaving kits. I don't know why they were doing this. It was driving us all crazy, we wanted to know what was up. My guess was that they were using the shaving kit bags and suitcases to hoard food or hotel towels. Probably not, but I going to believe it.


- Attention Future Rockies, or at this point Pebbles, if you want to make the bigs, shag more grounders and spend less time on your myspace pages/looking at porn. It seemed like the players were in the "Visitor Business Center" (A small room with a computer in it) the whole time. I was tempted to bang on the door and yell "hand check", but my Spanish is lousy.


- I think Mexican food is catching on in Tuscon.


Saturday

- Another glorious day, but thankfully with less wind.


- Team Boski got Joe Crede's autograph, which was nice, but I also think it lead to him committing an error when the ball got into his jersey.

- Gavin Floyd made a bid for the fifth spot in the rotation with a couple of solid innings, but Gavin, I need to ask are you part Werewolf because there is something going on with your neck?



- Along with the good pitching it was good to see the Sox move runners, get some key hits and play better defense, especially Juan "Don't Touch My Jeep" Uribe. Who snuffed out many a D-Back rally. Which helped the White Sox finally get their first win of the Spring, even though the White Sox did a great Bad News Bears impression as they let the D-Back get back into the game, thankfully the Sox prevented an embarrassing let down with a collision at home plate resulting in the final out.


- Have I mentioned I like baseball?


- If you have not done it, and you love baseball, then you do need to go to Spring Training. You get good seats without paying an arm and a leg.


- My only complaint with the Tuscon stadium, other than no media guides, is that please tell the Air Force base not to have planes doing tricks during the games. I was got distracted multiple times watching a couple of F-4's, some F-16's and others doing some fancy turns. I just had visions of getting domed by a foul ball when I am looking at the sky.


Sunday

- I know Tuscon is not a large city, and I know a lot of things are closed on Sunday, but it was so quiet. Almost to the point of eerie.


- How did Clint Eastwood not win an Oscar for "Any Which Way You Can? The finest illegal street fighter with an Orangutan sequel ever made.


- We had not planned to see the Sox on Sunday, but wished we had as they beat the Cubs like the filthy curr's they are. But I did enjoy looking at the dejected faces of Cub fans at the airport.


- Sadly we had to say goodbye to our friends who joined us on this journey. They are great people and it was great they had time to see us and go down to Tuscon. We also enjoyed seeing their daughter who got to see her first baseball game. Out of this weekend we might have been able to talk them into coming out to see the Dodgers this August. If we don't see them


- Sky Harbor not too bad of a place to kill time.


- Saw NBA Analyst and former NBAer Mark Jackson walking through the Airport, but too scared to say anything.


So it finally came time to get on our plane and end our weekend, but Boski was able to spot one more former Athlete. Our flight had current NBA ref, former NBAer, a 1984 Gold medal winner, and a former Cal State Fullerton Titan, Leon Wood. I know, but I find it exciting. Well he is very nice guys who took time to talk to me from the plane to luggage claim. I have a VHS tape somewhere with me doing an "interview" with him when I was at a broadcasting camp back in 1996.

Okay this nonsense will cease, must get back to napping at work.