Cards: Happy Halloween!

I received this card in the mail today from my Aunt Judy.  She's so sweet. 

By coincidence last weekend, I finally went through all the cards in mom's old scrapbooks one last time and rescued a final card that I thought was cute.  I'd pretty much destroyed the books by pulling out the cards to scan and post them.  I kind of had to get rid of them, but had put it off for a couple of months for sentimentality.  It's good to know that the cards will be better preserved on my hard drive and on the Internet.    

Post World Series Sports Report Part 2

 

Part 1

MLB

The playoffs have been intense as they’ve been scheduled without travel days at single sites.  Both league championships went seven games.  I did hear a commentator basically say what I’ve been thinking about this years’ shortened season.  He said it would be a legitimate championship because the best teams got in and moved on to the division round.  Let me translate that for you: If the Dodgers or Yankees win, it’s legit, otherwise, it’s not. 

 

I got to watch a few games during the day during the Wild Card round.  ESPN had Chipper Jones doing color commentary with Jon Sciambi.  It was good to hear Chipper.  The coverage was frustrating during the Marlins’ closeout of the Cubs.  With the fish up 2-0 in the ninth, news broke in over the President going to the hospital with the cold.  Is that important?  Yes . . . but, couldn’t you have waited like 15 minutes? 

 

I didn’t get to see it, but I was following along with the ticker during the 12-and-a-half scoreless innings between the Braves and the Reds.  They probably should have kept the automatic runner rule for the first couple of playoff rounds.  Trevor Bauer started that game for the Reds.  The night before, he livestreamed during an Indians’ game, doing commentary.  He’s a jerk, but I enjoyed the stream and appreciate him interacting with the fans like that.

 

I’m not going to go over the playoff games leading up to the World Series.  It was good to see the Padres in the playoffs.  I think they’ll be back over the coming years.  They now have the makings of a really good team.  The Rays did me a solid by eliminating the Yankees in the division series.  What are the Yankees missing?  Perhaps they need to pick up an ace starting pitcher, money no object.  Oh, wait.  Damn.  So much for that.         

   

I questioned how the Astros got into the ALCS.  They’d lost two of their best pitchers from last season.  Then I questioned the Rays being in the ALCS as they nearly failed to close the Astros out after going up 3-0.  The Braves blew three attempts finish off the Dodgers.  They also had an embarrassing 15-1 loss.  Having these seven games in seven days really tested all the teams in the league championship.  Once again, it amazed me how these tough grown men act like a bunch of Little Leaguers when winning or losing during these playoff games. 

 

World Series

I took a week off for this and they didn’t even finish while I was off—the nerve!  I wasn’t entirely looking forward to this since this series between the Dodgers and the Rays looked like a wipe out on paper.  The stats basically showed the Dodgers being as good as or much better than the Rays in every metric.  In sum, the Rays were basically hitting .200 as a team, the Dodgers about .300. 

 

Still, this was a victory of sorts regardless of the outcome.  This was a World Series battle between #2 in payroll, the Dodgers, versus #28 in payroll, the Rays.  As I predicted, the Rays took out #1 in payroll, the Yankees.  (Just ignore the part where I picked the Angels as the AL winner though.)  You can put together a legit contender on a budget.  Now if only there was better revenue sharing and a salary cap so that the competition was all on the field.    

 

Games 1 and 3 were no surprise as the Dodgers dominated.  The Rays won Game 2 as the Dodgers were short a starter and had a bullpen day.  (Thanks for sitting out the season David Price.  I’m sure your team will vote to give you a World Series ring and a full share.)  The stars of that game were a couple of fans in the stands who made great catches.  This is what we’ve been missing all year.  (Hearing Joe Buck stumble as the camera showed the back of one guy’s shirt, which read, “Nice swing, Bitch,” was priceless.)

 

Game 4 turned into one for the ages.  The Dodgers and Rays traded runs and the lead for the entire game.  It’s hard to call an 8-7 game a pitching meltdown, but what else do you call a game where there was only one inning where no one scored?  The game was already a classic even before the finale. 

 

Then came the bottom of the ninth.  The Rays were down by one with Kenly Jansen pitching to close it out for the Dodgers.  Kevin Kiermaier was on first with two outs.  Oddly, they pitched to Randy Arozarena, but ended up walking him to put the tying run at second.  It was an odd choice to pitch to him since Brett Phillips, a bench player with two unsuccessful at bats for the whole series, was up next.  Kenly got Phillips to a two-strike count with a couple of generous calls by the ump.    

 

I admit, I’d been hating the World Series to this point.  Watching guys do nothing but strike out, walk, or hit homers is boring.  What I love about the game and the reason I watch are for moments like what happened next.  This kind of drama never ever gets old.

 

Of course, the bench player in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and two strikes slapped a single to right center.  Sabermetricians everywhere immediately got out their calculators to figure out where they went wrong.  Meanwhile, Chris Taylor, in centerfield, rushed in to get it.  Myself and the announcers thought it was Mookie Betts, since he plays right field and you’d think it would have been his ball.  (This also might be subtle commentary on how light-skinned he is.) 

 

Taylor took his eye off the ball as he scooped for a quick catch and throw.  The ball skipped right off his glove.  Kiermaier scored and tied it up.  With that development  and the bobble in the outfield, the third base coach waved around Arozarena.  Kiermaier later accurately described what happened next, a sniper took out Randy as he tripped halfway to home.  He was a dead duck and started back to third.

 

The throw came into the infield.  Max Muncy took the relay and threw home.  Unfortunately, Will Smith wasn’t using his knuckle ball glove as the poor throw went wide.  Smith reached back for the ball, again taking his eye off it, and executed a sweep tag, sans the ball.  The coach and Arozarena realized Smith didn’t have the ball before he did.  Randy leapt for home, belly flopped, and slapped the plate with both hands.  The Rays had won and created another great World Series moment. 

 

I couldn’t believe what I just saw.  I went crazy, folks.  Crazy.  (Yes, I’m stealing that line.  Joe Buck couldn’t get out of his own way trying to call the play.  It was beyond his meager abilities.  He can only call home runs dramatically.  If only Vin Scully had been calling the game.)  I’d been passively watching the whole game and suddenly I was yelling.  My throat actually hurt afterward.  Who could believe that this back-and-forth game would end with two errors (three, if you count bringing in Jansen in the first place), a bench player hero, and a pratfall?   Elsewhere, there were casualties.  A co-worker of mine reported he got beaten to death by his Dodger-loving girlfriend at about this time.       

 

The Dodgers came back the next day and won Game 5, 4-2.  The score never seemed that close with the Dodgers in control for the game.  Game 6 was another Dodger bullpen day.  This time it worked for them as they only allowed an Arozarena solo home run.  Blake Snell for the Rays pitched into the sixth without giving up a run.  The Rays relievers gave up the lead.  In Dave Roberts’ best managerial move (which probably saved his job if they’d lost this series), he left Julio Urias in for two-and-a-third innings to close it out. 

 

The Dodgers won 3-1 and the World Series 4-2.  I was back at work and trying to catch up from what wasn’t done while I was gone during Game 6.  I got to see only about 10 minutes of the game.  Personally, I was okay with that given the result.  I maybe saw only 15 minutes of the postgame, which I found compelling for all the wrong reasons.  Instead of a celebration, it was all controversy. 

 

Justin Turner had been pulled from game late.  Afterward, they said he had had a positive cold test and that the results hadn’t come in until during the game.  Need I comment?  Either they shouldn’t have left him play while the test was inclusive (duh) or they should have let him finish out the game.  (Or the cold testing is inaccurate and shouldn’t be being used or this little incident was all a political stunt.)  Turner still celebrated out on field and said he felt fine.  The image of the Dodgers celebrating in masks on field, where they hadn’t wearing them for the whole series, smacked of intense manufactured imaging.  (Leave it to a couple of female commentators on ESPN Radio to call the event a “possible super-spreader.” )

 

Commissioner Rob Manfred was getting boo’ed whenever he spoke to the crowd.  I’m really not sure why.  Certainly something was getting to him.  He was shaking and stuttering like he was having a stroke the whole time.  As happy as MLB had been with not having any positive cold tests during the whole playoffs, Turner’s sudden revelation came out of nowhere.  Let me put on my tinfoil hat.  It was almost like it had been forced upon them from an outside source and Manfred had been threatened into going along with it.  My explanation is as good as anybody else’s and certainly better than taking events at face value. 

    

Corey Seager won the MVP.  He was completely nonplussed by the award (or maybe freaked out by Manfred having a near seizure in front of him).  He did deserve it.  (I looked up the stats.)  However, I was shocked Mookie Betts didn’t win it.  Mookie certainly hot dogged like he was going to be the MVP.  He paid off the Taco Bell promotion with a stolen base for the second time.  Every time he scored, Mookie did a little dance at the plate.  (Shouldn’t the unwritten rules mandate getting buzzed for that?)  He was constantly promoted by FOX during the game and by the MLB on their website.  (Perhaps because the rest of the Dodger batting lineup was white?  After all, a baseball commentator recently said, “Baseball was too white.”)  Unfortunately, he hadn’t done enough nor had a signature moment.  Mookie may have been quietly rooting on a Game 7 just have another chance.  He could at least take solace in knowing that his salary this year was more than the Rays’ entire payroll. 

 

(I’m not really sure about that number.  I heard it on the radio this morning.  I’d say maybe during a normal season, but probably not this shortened season.  They did say that Giancarlo Stanton’s mansion cost more the Rays’ payroll.  That I can believe.  Certainly Stanton’s spent enough time in it rehabbing his constant injuries.) 

 

Another thing I heard on the radio was Mark Teixeira literally saying what I said the baseball media would say: the Dodgers winning meant this made it a legitimate championship.  By implication, any other team winning it (except the Yankees) would have diminished value.  I’ll say that the postseason was totally legit and then some with the expanded Wild Card round and the no off days neutral site series.  The regular season wasn’t, but by virtue of the expanded playoff field, probably every deserving team (and then some) got a chance.  It’s not like there haven’t been other truncated seasons.     

 

Everyone has mentioned that it’s been 32 years since the Dodgers’ last championship.  I’d bring up that it’s been eight years since the Guggenheim group bought the team and tried to buy a championship.  That’s been the source of my animus.  I will admit that the organization eventually started doing it the right way by developing prospects, retaining good players, and making impact free agent acquisitions.  (And using lots of money to do it.)  I used to be a Dodger fan.  Maybe someday they’ll win me back over.   

 

With this win, the Dodgers are likely not going to repeat next year unless they spend a bunch more money on fresh arms.  The postseason format this year and ever since 2000 has been too exhausting for teams to repeat in consecutive years.  I guess this opens the door for the Yankees next year.  Sigh.  I had a pretty good run this century with World Series winners that I liked.   

 

To wrap up, I don’t have any comment on the regular season.  It’s not really worth discussing, but congrats to the Cardinals and the Marlins for weathering a storm of positive cold tests and missed games to make it into the playoffs.  The playoffs themselves were pretty good.  I’d pick the Padres as the most charismatic team that I’d like to see more of.  The Wild Card round was fun with baseball in the morning for me.  The marathon format of both league championship series produced some great drama. 

 

I’m not doing to say I really enjoyed this World Series or the result, but I have to smile remembering it.  Like Carlton Fisk waving his home run fair in 1975, though the Red Sox lost that series in the end, Randy Arozarena putting both hands on home plate to win Game 4 and the heroics and antics that proceeded that moment will be what is iconic.      

 

Pre-Hot Stove Season Talk

Is there such a thing?  There is now.  Just in case civilization collapses later this year, I’d like to bring up a couple of things to look out for in the offseason.  Actually, three things.  Number 1 with a bullet, will there be fans in the stands next season?  I don’t know how long any sports league can last without in-person paying customers.  (Wait.  The WNBA perhaps?)  Issue #2, remember that this little season basically got rammed through without player consent?  I’ll assure you that the players do.  Look for strike talk.  This issue will tie into Issue #1 with the owners’ revenue.  Issue #3, minor league baseball was rubbed out this year and they were also unhappy with the owners’ contraction edict.  MiLB can’t play at all without fans in the stands either. 

 

Maybe here’s the real reason why Manfred was nervous.  

 

I’ll write more as these stories develop.

Post World Series Sports Report Part 1

 

For the first time this year, I’m took a week off from work.  I scheduled it to watch the World Series.  I was terrified I’d be watching the Yankees and Dodgers play, but I had to take the time off and didn’t have anything else planned.  Let’s cover some other sports first though.

 

NFL

I’ve actually watched and listened to some games.  I still hate the league.  The NFL did some social justice crap on their opening weekend, but signaled that they wouldn’t do more than that afterward.  (Barring a couple of FOX announcers, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, mocking the military during a flyover.  That incident is still being investigated, so we’re not sure exactly what that was about.)  The first Sunday featured a marquee matchup between Tom Brady with his new team, the Buccaneers, versus Drew Brees and the Saints.  The game, unfortunately, wasn’t that great. 

 

I’ve listened to some Cowboys games on the radio, mostly out of loyalty to Brad Sham and Babe Laufenberg, their broadcasters.  Quarterback Dak Prescott led an amazing comeback against the Falcons, but the Cowboys have been a terrible disappointment this season.  Dak’s ankle then got broke, putting him out for the season.  This only led to questions about whether Dak was going to get his big contract or not.  I am getting so sick of the professional sports world revolving around somebody getting the next gigantic contract, especially players who haven’t won anything. 

 

NHL

The Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup.  Contrary to what I thought would happen, the players didn’t seem to miss the fans being there at all when they won.  Fortunately with the season over, their social justice messaging also ended.  There was bad news a couple of weeks after the championship.  Mike “Doc” Emrick announced his retirement.  He was my favorite play-by-play announcer.  Calling hockey games is very difficult, yet Doc made it look effortless.

 

NBA

Speaking of ending, the full-on social justice mission of the association was successful.  Racism ended because of Lebron James’ efforts.  Winning the championship on top of that was fully deserved.  Lebron didn’t have to demand my respect during his celebration like he did.  I give it freely. 

 

(Ratings were down 50% from last year.  The Michael Jordan documentary ratings this summer beat every playoff game.  The NBA officially said the social justice experiment was over starting next season.  They wouldn’t dare do protests in front of paying customers, assuming they show back up.  Lebron is now the most hated player in professional sports.)

 

Soccer

I feel like my criticism from last time was repeated and heard by the women of the NWSL.  A white player interviewed in the pregame was wearing a shirt that read, “You don’t have to be black to be outraged.”  They didn’t take a knee for the Anthem the last time I saw the beginning of a game, but did take a knee for a “moment of silence.”  We’re still protesting you viewers, but we’re hoping you’re dumb enough to not notice.

 

Out of the seven or eight games I’ve looked in on, I’ve only recognized three players from the US national team (and especially no Alex Morgan).  I think most of the games have also ended in ties too, including a dreaded nil-nil decision.  This weekend’s game did see one of the teams go up 3-0 at halftime.  It was 3-2 when I tuned back during extra time.  I flipped away for like 10 seconds.  When I got back, the score was tied at 3-3.  I slapped my chair in anger at missing every one of the six goals in the game.

 

Meanwhile, the El Paso Locomotive beat the New Mexico United to advance to the Western Conference final in the USL for the second year in a row.  Well done, lads.  (I would have watched, but the ALCS Game 7 was on at the same time.)  All three meetings between these teams this season occurred in El Paso.  The Lobos football team has permission to play in Albuquerque, but not the United.  Explain that to me.   

 

The Conference final came on late Saturday night the next week against Phoenix.  I was surprised, since I’d heard on the radio that there wouldn’t be local TV coverage.  Unfortunately, the World Series was on at the same time, but there ended up being plenty of soccer after the baseball was over.  Given that a bunch of the players were wearing BLM armbands, I didn’t feel too bad about missing most of it.  When I did tune in, the commentators were talking about some opponent of Phoenix that had taken themselves out of the playoffs because one of their players had used a gay slur during the game or something like that.  Some groups of people in this country are just above criticism and mockery, and offenders must be punished.  It’s as American as apple pie. 

 

A 1-1 regulation tie against Phoenix brought about two 15-minute OT periods (and I think they play the whole time out regardless of any scoring).  When this failed to produce a winner, they went to penalty kicks.  A bunch of the crowd suddenly seemed to be leaving, but actually they crowded around the rear of the goal to watch.  This was the third week in a row for PK’s for the Locomotive and it proved one too many as they lost out.   

 

College Football

Conference-USA started their season first before the major conferences got their act together.  Because of this, their teams got two weeks of more national exposure than they’d ever had before.  The Big 10 announced early that they were canceling out of the fall season.  They assumed the other big conferences would follow suit, but they didn’t.  After some Midwestern political ads blamed Trump for no Big 10 football, he immediately started working to get them playing this year, which they are.   

 

I got to watch a couple of good games with my dad’s friend, while dad was out of town on a trip.  I’ve been making appointment time to watch college games since the season started.  Unfortunately, there have been constant cancelations and reschedules do to positive cold test results.  I’ll watch what I can get.  I’ve said that a good college game will be more entertaining than a good NFL game.  The problem is that some many of the college games are complete mismatches, so you don’t know when you’re going to get a good game. 

 

Unfortunately, there’s still been irritating social justice sprinkled into the games.  It’s the networks and the teams behind it.  Not to say that the players aren’t for it, but they have no power and no money to do it in college sports.  The networks have gone out of their way to highlight whatever subtle protests the players are part of during the game.  The more pronounced this gets, the more I reconsider my viewing. 

 

Tennis

I watched a French Open Women’s match and enjoyed it.  I’m as surprised as anyone.  I tried to tune back in for the finals, but missed them.  I’m not sure if they were on cable or if I wasn’t looking in on the right station.  (The coverage has changed networks from where they used to be.)  I’m a bit embarrassed.    

 

Boxing

I tuned in for the next “big” fight between two guys I hadn’t heard of this Saturday.  Teofimo Lopez dominated the first half of the fight with Vasyl Lomachenko.  I was completely regretting watching, but eventually the two started really mixing it up.  In the twelfth round with only seconds left, Loma opened up a cut over Lopez’s right eye.  It started spurting blood.  The ref had to stop the fight, so that it could be bandaged.  He was probably lucky that didn’t happen earlier.  Lopez ended up winning in a unanimous decision.  I felt only slightly cheated for having watched.

 

NASCAR

It was such a great thing that there were fans at the Talladega race this fall.  They got to see Bubba Wallace leading the race late.  Then they got to cheer as he was pushed into the wall.  The commentators unsurprisingly had nothing to say about the cheering.  Then I got to be irritated as the race ran long and was red-flagged for a wreck.  NBC then dumped the coverage on to their cable channel.  Where I live, the station then went right to an infomercial.  Damn.

 

The next weekend, they were racing at the Charlotte “Roval.”  While the Xfinity race on Saturday was prepared to run in the rain, a heavy downpour stopped the race.  Dale Jr. commented on the wet racing carnage, “I feel bad for enjoying this as much as I am.”  It was finished later (say it with me) on cable.  The Cup race on Sunday didn’t happen for me as neither of my NBC affiliates came in over the air.  This was really annoying, but not as annoying as when I found out that AJ Allmendinger and Chase Elliot, two of my favorite drivers, won those races.  At least I was able to watch this weekend’s races without issue. 

 

Other Racing

Indycar had their season-ending race in St. Petersburg, where they would have normally started the season.  The race was mostly uneventful for the first half, but then there were several accidents in a row, including the leader, Alexander Rossi, crashing.  Scott Dixon avoided all of the carnage and won his seventh championship.  His nearest competitor, Josef Newgarden, won the race, including passing two cars with the same move for the lead.  He did all he could.

 

Right after that race was a MotoGP race from Spain.  Two riders crashed out at the start and then the race leader crashed soon afterward.  I was watching with my dad.  He couldn’t believe the spectacle of these guys laying the bikes over sideways around the corners.  Admittedly, it wasn’t that great a race though, but at least it was short.  There was only one commercial break during the race, which was prerecorded, because the Indycar race had run long with all the wrecks.  

Part 2                      

Sketch Dump: Personality and Personal

It's getting a bit random with the sketch post themes.

This is from a Steve Hanks painting, but the model was my friend Britney.  "And the angels sigh," is a line from a James Taylor song.

Here's one of Britney from a photo.

This one wasn't so great, but I do love that red ink pen and the detailing.

This was a sketch of a co-worker.  I don't think I ever saw her dressed as a Goth, so this was probably somewhat imaginary.  Not a bad look for her though.

This is her without the makeup.

Here's two of singer Susanna Hoffs.  The top drawing is someone else, maybe Psylocke from the X-Men.

 

Another co-worker.  She is pretty glamorous in real life.

Sketch Dump: Models

This is a grab bag of sketches of girls.

The first is a charcoal drawing.  Not the greatest, but I like the animation.  

Nice clean lines here.

The one on the right is way too manly.  It's an old drawing.  I had trouble drawing necks.  The one on the left is of a Mexican actress.  Again, not great, but fun animation.

Cool hair.

That's old drawing on the left.  I can tell since there's no date on it.  Not the prettiest drawing on the right, but nice detailing.  I probably erased whatever was on the right of this page and drew on it later to "recycle" the space.

Same thing here with the "recycling."  It's not the same girl, but nearly the same hairstyle.  

This is a real old drawing.  It's from an SI Swimsuit issue.  Again, the neck issue.

   

Another old image.  This was from a swimsuit magazine, not SI, but inspired by it.

Sketch Dump: Different Style 3

This is the last of the different style as far I know.  (I'm still going through my old drawings.)

This is a nice elvish-looking one.

This one might be the best of the bunch.  The eyes in a lot of these are a little vacant-looking.  This one has some personality.  Love the hair.  No idea who this is.  If I could draw like this all of the time, I'd do it.

I hope you like the fingers in this one.  They look like I labored over them for a long while.

I think the next two are details from Steve Hanks paintings.  He drew a lot of girls with their eyes closed.  Admittedly, that makes them easier to draw.

Sketch Dump: Different Style 2

 Continuing on with the sort-of-Steven-Hanks-inspired sketches.

I like this first one a lot.  I know the fingers aren't great, but they're way better than I normally do. 

This one is a detail from a Steve Hanks painting.  I remember I almost bought a print of this at an art shop in Old Mesilla.  It was $250.  I instead bought the $75 book, which had this painting in it.  I don't exactly regret it, but I'd still like to have that print.  (I'm not sure that art shop is even still around.)

This one is a Playboy model.  It's a detail of one of my favorite pictures.  I'd identify all of these drawings if I could.  

For example, I wish remembered who this was.  I like this one a lot.

Sketch Dump: Different Style 1

It was probably after getting an artbook by Steve Hanks that I started drawing differently.  However, he does photo-realistic paintings.  I just do sketches in pencil with occasional ink and color.  (He also does pencil sketches.  They're photo-realistic, too.)  My artwork doesn't really look anything like his, but he did inspire me to try something different.  These sketches mostly took up the entire page and were just close-ups.  I tried to make the the drawings look very clean.  

I don't know why I stopped drawing like this.  It's not very realistic, but not very comic book-ish either.  Perhaps it was too in-between to carry on with and be satisfied with.  I might consider going to back to something like this someday.    

The first one here is a black ink drawing on copy paper.  Out of all of the sketch books I've had, I don't know why I kept falling back on using copy paper on occasion.

  

This was a Patrick Nagel painting.  Talk about a contrast in styles.  Nagel did his great figure work using a very stylized abstract technique.      

This is a detail from a Steve Hanks painting.    

Sketch Dump: Flash Girls 3

 The last of the Alex Raymond Flash Gordon women for now.

Here's the Mongo jungle queen.  

Dale Arden in a luxurious robe on the left.  Don't let the innocent look fool you.  The girl on the right was an enemy spy Flash got mixed up with on earth.  Even back home, Flash kept running afoul of beautiful dangerous women.

There's a classic swimsuit pose from the 40's.

There's Dale doing her version of a "Hang in there," poster on the left.  On the right, Raymond was just a clinic on how to draw women from behind.  

Here's the Mongo undersea queen.  I'm not sure if she came out before or after Aquaman's wife, Mera.

The undersea queen in battle garb.