Got Matsui!

Hideki Matsui, proudly drafted in a fantasy baseball scene in Knocked Up.

There's a funny scene (one among many) in Knocked Up where a wife thinks her husband is cheating on her, so she follows him to a mysterious address. She sneaks in the house, preparing to catch him in the act, but when she flings open the door, she finds him sitting in an Orioles jersey with 20 other dudes drafting players for fantasy baseball. Not amused, the wife walks out. "Got Matsui!" the husband cries, hoping to win back his wife's affection. (It didn't work.)

Last year, I played in only one league of Fantasy Baseball. This year, I'm in three (fortunately my girlfriend doesn't mind...she even plays with me in one of them). Last year, I won my league going away. This year, I've got some catching up to do. All three leagues are ten team leagues, and I am in 3rd, 5th, and 6th places.

In one league, Pops and Karen are also playing, and they are #'s 1 and 2 in the standings. I can't let my girlfriend beat me (can I?).

Anyway, I love playing fantasy baseball.

Another little fantasy baseball thing I'm doing is on mlb.com. It's called "Beat the Streak," the object being to choose a player every day, in hopes that your chosen player will get a hit. If you beat 56 games in a row (Joe DiMaggio's MLB record hit streak), you win a million bucks! So far, my longest streak is 6, but I'm still trying. Someone got up to 39 games...that's the longest streak so far this season. Haven't picked Matsui yet; maybe I should...

Of Brats and Weiners

Karen, her kids, and I had a nice Memorial Day on Monday. We finished the grill-work before the rains came, then enjoyed the good eats (my apologies to Alton Brown).

The plump brats and polish sausages were scrumptious, topped with a creamy cole slaw. If I recall, a few bottles of fine ale were also consumed.

(Thanks Karen, for purchasing only the finest ales and stouts in the land!)

Back to the daily grind!

So sue me, I took a break from blogging.

"I'm blaaaaaaaaccckkk..."

South Beach, Miami, Florida

Okay, I know it's been a while since I've blogged, but, in the words of the immortal (and hilarious) Chris Rock, "I'm Blaaaaaacckkk."

Speaking of Chris Rock, I was reminded today of Allen and my trip to Miami four years ago. In one of the most spontaneous acts I have ever entered into, my cousin and I drove (yes DROVE) from Huntsville, Alabama to Miami, Florida. That's 851 miles. It takes about 5 hours to get to my parents home in southeast Alabama; Orlando is about 7 hours from there; and I remember seeing a sign in Orlando that read something like: MIAMI 282 miles.

At the time, my life needed a bit of a kick start, so off we went. I went down there with long hair (what I had left), and returned with a shaved dome. Allen and I had some memorable moments down there.

Some of the more memorable:

• Eating dinner the first night down there. We ate at a local Denny's; the waitress came out, flashing her gold teeth, and piercing my fluffy pancakes with her long and grimy fingernail. I almost hurled.


• Sleeping till noon every day.


• Watching Chris Rock's Never Scared on HBO. "Kracky Kremes" anyone?


• Cruising the main drag in my Accord (not exactly a sportscar, but it got the job done), listening to Depeche Mode's Violator. (It was hearing a song from that album today that jogged my memory).


• Eating more than once at Rascal's Deli. Allen ate bizarre dishes like Beet Bortsch, while I dined on Rueben's and the like. They had delicious pies with 6 inch meringues.


• Walking and visiting shops in South Beach. Beautiful people everywhere. Did we fit in? That's not for me to say...


• A couple of other clandestine stops we made (all in fun).


• Also, we made a few other stops along the way: Tallahassee, Jacksonville, St. Augustine...nice towns, all.

Feel free to add any other memories copus...