Kelly, the inadvertent cleat-chaser

Last Thursday-Sunday, I ventured to Paris, Illinois for a quick trip home to visit the fam. I had a lot of fun doing lunch and reminiscing with my good friend, Nicole, and her new baby, Aynsley, in the Indianapolis area. My dad then picked me up in Terre Haute, where we did a little shopping and then headed home to eat dinner and watch the Cubbies. It was a great weekend not only because I got to spend some quality time with the V's, but also because we were all able to watch the Cubs sweep the Cardinals in a 4-game series at Wrigley (that hasn't happened since 1972, before I was born). The highlight of the trip, however, definitely occurred on Saturday night, when we went to the Danville Dans game...

I wanted to go to Danville to see 3 of my ballplayers from Memphis compete in the Central Illinois Collegiate League (http://www.ciclbaseball.com/ ). Now it's not real difficult convincing anyone in my family to go to a baseball game, and since we had a good time there last year, we all hopped in the car for a 45 minute road trip. The game was close and the beer was cold. Although the Dans lost 5-4, but we weren't too disappointed because they put in a solid effort. Since the players had an autograph session after the game, I yelled through the fence to my guys to let them know I was in the house. They asked me to hang around for awhile since there were a million kids waiting in line. My sister, Kelly, decided to wait with me while I sent my brother, Brian, and Dad to Royal Donut to pick up donuts for Sunday's breakfast.

Kelly and I stood in the autograph line for what seemed like an eternity until we finally reached one of my former athletes, who is an assistant coach for the Dans. He introduced me to a hottie assistant coach, for which I owe him a debt of gratitude. We then saw my other two guys, who were more than a little surprised to see me. Two of the three wanted to make changes to their Fall schedules, but I regretted to inform them that I do not carry Schedule Adjustment Forms in my back pocket. While I was chatting away with the boys, Kelly decided to have the whole team sign the poster they passed out at the gate so she could give it to me. When we reached the end of the line, we heard one of the ballplayers warning his teammate not to do "what he thought he was thinking of doing." I just figured they were lusting over my baby sister because she had the girls on display. However, when we got home, we noticed that one of the Dans had written his phone number across his picture instead of his signature (I won't tell you who gave his digits in order to protect the not-so-innocent)! It was pretty darn funny as Kelly is not exactly in the market for a 20-year old horndog after finishing law school. But I don't think she minded the attention one little bit. :)

Baseball Tonight is in shambles!

First, our beloved Peter Gammons has a brain aneurysm at the end of June. Good Lord willing he's going to be OK and will be able to come back and cover our national pastime again soon. Baseball Tonight has not been the same without him. Then this afternoon, Harold Reynolds is fired from ESPN totally out of the blue. None of the sports websites are saying why, but my friend Julie sent me the following website with allegations of sexual harrassment against HR: http://www.deadspin.com/sports/top/was-this-why-Harold-got-the-axe-189733.php

I am in shock. Can this show survive without its top 2 personalities? Don't get me wrong-I love Krukie and Ravie. However, Peter and Harold were the glue that kept Baseball Tonight together. I don't know who they're going to add to spice things up. Personally, I cannot stand former Mets GM/Mr. Know-it-all , Steve Phillips. Here's hoping they have Tim Kurkjian and Brian Kenny or Chris Berman on the program more frequently (and less random weekend fill-ins like Tino Martinez). Stay tuned. There's more drama on ESPN than the soaps right now...

HOLY COW!!!

In 2006, the Cubbies have found creative ways to lose. Tonight, after getting out to a nice 5-0 lead, they gave up TWO grand slams in the 6th en route to an 11-run inning. This season, I finally started following the good advice of my parents who have encouraged me for years to change the channel when it starts getting ugly. Well, I switched to Emeril Live after the 1st grand slam and the subsequent pitching change (anytime Novoa comes into the game, it's not a good sign), so luckily I did not have to witness this offensive explosion by the Mets. It has truly become embarrasing to be a Cubs fan. However, I will still wear my Believe bracelet with pride and will try not to throw my cell phone, remote controls, etc. in disgust...

Thank goodness for VH1, which has provided a welcome diversion from this maddening baseball season with some fun summer programming. All you pop culture nuts out there, don't miss The World Series of Pop Culture on Thursday nights at 9 pm CST . It is a blast playing along at home and seeing if you can answer more entertainment trivia questions correctly than the contestants. I think this is the one "sport" where I could become an all-star. I've also thoroughly enjoyed I Love The 70's Volume 2 because it was one crazy decade. Check them out if you need an escape from reality like I do.

What are the keys to your heart?

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to good manners and elegance. In love, you feel the most alive when things are straight-forward, and you're told that you're loved. You'd like to your lover to think you are loyal and faithful... that you'll never change. You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please. Your ideal relationship is open. Both of you can talk about everything... no secrets. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage pessimistically. You don't think happy marriages exist anymore. (I don't necessarily agree with this result) In this moment, you think of love as something you thirst for. You'll do anything for love, but you won't fall for it easily. What are the keys to YOUR heart? Take the quiz to find out: http://www.blogthings.com/keystoyourheartquiz/

81 down, 81 to go

Cubs fans, we have made it to the halfway point of the season. After Dumpster's blown save in the 9th yesterday, I didn't know if I could take it anymore. But the Cubbies came back today and beat the White Sox 15-11 to avoid a sweep. 30-51 is hardly a record to write home about, but at least we're not in the basement (thanks Pirates). I honestly don't think any of the Cubs are worthy of an All-Star selection this year. However, since MLB insists that each team must have at least one representative, then I guess we will have to put our hands together for Carlos Zambrano. If interleague play is any indication, the National League should get spanked pretty good by the American League in the Midsummer Classic once again . Take heart, Cubs fans/players/personnel-October will be here before we know it. Then we can all get some much-needed rest.

Song of the day: "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor

My kind of town Chicago is...

This weekend marks the second Cubs-White Sox series of the year. The first matchup featured fisticuffs and a bench-clearing brawl. Although Barrett cold-cocking Pierzynski was certainly the highlight of the season so far, the Cubs still lost 2 out of 3 games. I'd love to see the Cubbies even the score this time, especially since they're playing at Wrigley. If we're going to have a terrible team, the least we can do is beat up on the White Sox and Cardinals whenever we have the opportunity. GO CUBS!

On a totally unrelated note, I wanted to let all of my loyal readers know that I returned to my new hair salon today without incident (see my "I'm feeling like a criminal" post if you're confused). There were no sightings of policemen or rent-a-cops in the vicinity. Maybe I've been taken off the neighborhood watch list. ;)