Back in Session

"And now I rub my eyes, for he has returned
Seems my preconceptions are what should have been burned
For he still smiles, and he’s still strong
Nothing’s changed, but the surrounding bulls***
That has grown"
--Off He Goes, Pearl Jam

It's been way too long, and I'll spare y'all the apology, but an entire week of getting into the office at 5:30 in the a.m. doesn't exactly lend itself to blogging frequently. So I'm back to a relatively normal schedule this week and had a wonderfully relaxing weekend to prepare. But wow, I just noticed that my last entry was way back on June 23, so there's a little bit of catching up to do:
- Got to two Dodger-Padre games last week, a loss on Monday (though it was definitely a win in other respects) and a real win Tuesday. Somehow we've gotten through a rough June still sitting in first place, 4.5 games up and with the Dodgers fading fast (now no J.D. Drew? Big trouble). Currently getting blitzed by Morgan Ensberg and the red-hot Astros, but thankfully, the rest of the divison still sucks (Colorado over Los Dodgers and St. Louise over 'Zona last night)...
- Have I mentioned before how much I love living in Manhattan Beach? Spent Friday afternoon totally relaxing down on the sand (followed by a quality Mama D's dinner), Sunday afternoon volleyballing it up (I've found that if I can be limited in responsibility to about five square feet on the court, I can do some damage at the net; otherwise, my volleyball skills are negligible) and Monday enjoying some sunshine as well as the peace and quiet of our neighborhood...
- Heartbreaking finish to the Galaxy game Monday night: a UCLA rookie named Mike Enfield came in late (80th minute or so) and totally flubbed his first touch, a breakaway chance that could have given L.A. the lead, but then came back and scored on a diving header in the 87th minute that should have meant victory for the Galaxy. Instead, New England got the equalizer in injury time, frustrating the assembled masses and leaving Landon-less L.A. winless in its last five matches. The fireworks after the game were well worth the (free) price of admission (thank you, Fox Soccer Channel)...
- I think I've also failed to discuss last Sunday's debacle of a rec league game, our first loss of the season. Besides the whole 5:30 thing, I often choose to stifle unpleasant memories, so this is one that's gonna have to stay most of the way below the surface. I think I scored 10 points on tip-ins alone (meaning there were lots of missed shots), but we struggled (understatement) defensively and couldn't make a three to save our lives (figuratively...though what if that ever was a literal statement? Could you actually make a three-pointer if your life was literally on the line? I'm assuming that I'd choke...)
- Coldplay's new CD still hasn't left my CD player (except for once: right after the Dodger game Monday, when it was deemed necessary to blast Linkin Park & Jay-Z throughout our lengthy exit from the parking lot; X&Y returned quickly thereafter), and I'm still quite enthused by it. In addition to the tune on the radio right now ("Speed of Sound"), "Fix You" (track 4) and "Swallowed in the Sea" are amazing, and "Til Kingdom Come" (track 13) is rapidly approaching all-time top-ten status. I'm learning it on guitar as well, which is accelerating the process...
- Good show yesterday, with Torii Hunter and Jacque Jones in studio (Torii is probably my favorite non-Padre in all of baseball, except maybe Vladi), followed by hit king Pete Rose, who cracked up the entire control room when he told John Salley, "Now, if you were a betting man, you should bet against [Derrek Lee winning] the triple crown." We've been warned repeatedly to stay away from wagering references with Pete, so it was hilarious that he brough it up, then followed with, "I'm going to the Forum Shops [at Caesar's Palace] tomorrow, so give me some money and I'll put it down for you." It's sad that such a great career had to be tarnished by a gambling problem, so maybe it was a bit of tragic laughter, but he seemed to find it funny, so I'm okay with it...
- The old Summer Pro League gets underway in Long Beach on Friday, kicking off two weeks of all-day hoops at the Pyramid. Andrew Bynum should be there with the Lakers' squad (and hopefully Turiaf and Wafer as well), and the Raptors, Grizz, Heat and Mavs have squads in the league also. The rest of the teams (somewhere around 18 in all) are wanna-be pros or random groups (like the Senegalese National Team??? and the Percy Miller All-Stars--that's Master P, for those not as in tune with the hip hop culture as I am)...
- "Entourage" continues to guide me through the 24- and West Wing-less summer television schedule, with yet another hilarious episode this week. I'm quite certain that it wouldn't be nearly as funny without the cameos--Ralph Macchio and Pauly Shore last week and Bob Saget this time around. Johnny Drama's weakest episode so far, but I'm actually enjoying the quasi-suspense surrounding this "Aquaman" casting...
- Lou Piniella has evidently gone off the deep end in Tampa Bay. Since his relivers continue to suck (they blew another game last night in the late innings), he decided that he's going to start a reliever, hope they can give him a couple decent early innings, and then bring in his starter, who will hopefully get to the ninth and closer Danys Baez. I don't think bad pitchers are any better when they pitch early as opposed to late, but I guess it's easier to handle a 6-2 loss when you've been down 6-0 since the third inning than a 6-2 loss when you led 2-1 going into the seventh. It's Tampa Bay, after all, when does football season start again?
- London gets the Olympics in 2012. France lost again. Ha...