Sweet Lou

Cubs manager Lou Piniella retired yesterday.  He had already announced that this would be his last season, but yesterday he hung them up unexpectedly early.  Haters (i.e., Cardinals and White Sox fans) will say that it's just because he couldn't take any more losing, but in reality, it's because his 90-year old mom is very ill. You've gotta admire Sweet Lou for choosing family over the game he loves and has been involved in for almost 50 years.  Even though Lou didn't get to go out the way he wanted, I thought it was classy that he shared the spotlight with Bobby Cox on his last visit to Wrigley.  Fans gave him a standing ovation on several occasions and chanted his name, so shame on those sportswriters who accused Lou of phoning it in the past two seasons. Pitcher Sean Marshall said it best, "You hate to see a grown man kind of tear up.  It just shows his heart and his drive for baseball and his love for his family." No one should ever doubt Piniella's effort or determination even if the results didn't always turn out the way the fans wanted. 

On a personal note, Sweet Lou is my favorite Cubs manager of all-time and I will miss him dearly.  He tells it like it is in an entertaining way.  He was firm but fair to his players.  And no one can argue with an umpire quite like Lou. :)  Read it and weep: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100822&content_id=13777148&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

Good luck to interim manager Mike Quade; he will need it.  Lou Piniella is a tough act to follow.

I'm bringing blogging back!

Why hello there, sports fans!  As you can see, it has been over 3 years since I have blogged on this site.  I did briefly relocate to MySpace but since it is a ghost town, I'm back!  My friend Carol has inspired me to resurrect my blog, so here I am.  My first order of business is to go on a total Cubs rant.  What in the world has happened to my beloved team?  Two years ago, we had 8 All-Stars.  Right now, I don't think we could beat most single A teams with our collections of has-beens and never will-bes.  I had hope that the new owners, the Ricketts, would bring a championship to Chicago soon but it sure looks like that will now be years in the making.  The only good news on that front is that I won't be rushing to get that Cubs tatoo I promised my sister I would get when we finally won the World Series. ;)  I truly hope that some of these prospects we have received after trading fan favorites Teddy, The Riot, Fontenot, and D.Lee will pan out, but I have become cautiously optimistic over the years.  I like to refer to this painful process as "Cubbie Clearance-everything must go!"  There are only a handful of players that I would welcome back to this team next year, and they include Byrd, Soriano, Dempster, Marshall, Soto, and rookies Castro & Colvin.  That leaves 18 spots on the roster so Jim Hendry has his work cut out for him.  Considering this guy signed Milton Bradley last year, that does not inspire much confidence.  Wait 'til next year...or the year after that...or the year after that.

Disco is dead

It has been a long time since my last American Idol recap. Thankfully, in that time, we finally got rid of Sanjaya as well as some other less than stellar contestants. However, one thing that remains is the lame theme week. What makes the producers think that anyone wants to hear disco songs in 2007? The final four-Melinda, Blake, LaKisha, and Jordin-sang from the songbook of Barry Gibb this evening. Now while I must admit that I am a fan of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack as well as a few other selected Bee Gees tunes, tonight's song choices (and performances for the most part) were peculiar to say the least. I thought that Blake was horrible, and his once cool beatboxing has become annoying. My personal fave, LaKisha, was lambasted by the judges, even though I have to give her credit for at least singing a song we have all heard before ("Staying Alive"). Jordin did a great job on her first song, but I agree with Simon that her second performance was like something out of the Miss Teen U.S.A. pageant. Even Melinda was off her game tonight. What a disappointment. Hopefully next week will be better and LaKisha will somehow survive.

Call Me Irresponsible

That is not only what I have been lately regarding this blog, but also the title of Michael Buble's new album that came out this week (in the words of Emeril, run-don't walk-to the store to get yourself a few hundred copies). Anyway, I have so much to catch you up on. I have actually tried to log in a few times to update you on my la vida loca but was locked out of this account until today. Anyway, I was a traveling fool during the month of April. I was lucky enough to go with the U of M baseball team on TWO road trips (one to New Orleans and another to exotic Cape Girardeau, MO) in which my overall record is 4-1. It was a lot of fun and I actually did get to provide a little academic assistance to some of the guys.

This past weekend, I went to Savannah, GA for my cousin Chrissy's wedding. I had an absolute blast! Savannah is a beautiful city-if you have the means, I highly recommend visiting "the Lady of the South". It was great to hang out with my sister, her BFF, and the parentals. I also got to spend some quality time with my aunt, uncle, and even a little bit with the bride. Her wedding was awesome-great food, gorgeous scenery, and oh yeah, an open bar! I also got some quality flirting in with-you might want to sit down for this-a Cardinals fan. Yes, a good time was had by all. :)

This coming weekend is the Beale Street Music Fest, a 3-game baseball series vs. UCF, and graduation weekend all rolled into one. It could get crazy here in Memphis. Take care and have fun!

STOP THE INSANITY!!!

America, please hear my cry for help. For the love of God, stop voting for Sanjaya!!! I don't know how much longer I can watch if this keeps up. American Idol is supposed to be a singing competition, and right now it's a laughing stock. Last week, Stephanie got voted off, so now Sanjaya is actually going to be on tour and get paid to sing. We will have to listen to him muddle through the group numbers on the remaining shows. I never thought I'd long for the days of Scott Savol and Jasmine Trias... Thank goodness baseball season is only a week away. I need a distraction (and some Advil)!

America, you've gotta be kidding me

OK America-I'm starting to get fed up. First, you put Sanjaya in the Top 12 finalists of this season's American Idol. Now you've allowed him to survive another week! Do you realize that if you don't vote him off next week, people will be paying to see him on tour? This is a travesty. Please stop encouraging the morons who run votefortheworst.com and try voting for the contestants who actually have talent.

As for the remaining 10 contestants, I am a big fan of LaKisha and Melinda. Stephanie and Jordin are also very good. Blake the beatboxer is entertaining at times, but his voice is not as strong as the divas'. Chris Sligh has his moments (love the sarcasm, buddy), and sometimes Phil can wail. The rest of the group does not impress me. Haley should not have even made it this far, and Gina basically just screams. As for Chris Richardson, I have already grown tired of his Justin Timberlake-wannabe antics. It's going to take a lot to top last season (miss ya already, Taylor).

Dreams really do come true

I am psyched to report that Jennifer Hudson won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress tonight. She really deserves this award for her moving portryal of Effie White in "Dreamgirls". I couldn't be happier for her. I have been a fan since she belted her way through Season 3 of American Idol (and was wrongfully voted off much too soon). Jennifer had star quality even back then, but now no one can deny that she has arrived. If you haven't seen "Dreamgirls" yet, please do yourself a favor and buy a ticket as soon as possible. It is one of the best movies I have seen in quite awhile and the soundtrack is amazing. Jennifer will blow you away.

By the way, American Idol's Season 6 premieres tomorrow night at 7 pm Central on Fox. Don't miss it. Personally, I'm not a fan of the trainwrecks, but I will tune in to catch a glimpse of the people who actually have some talent.