Opening Series Thoughts

I missed opening day but it seemed that it was everything a Met fan could hope for. I did watch all of the next two games, both losses and came to a few conclusions.

I had high hopes for John Maine this season, hearing that he was finally healthy from arm injuries that derailed him in 2008 and especially 2009. His first start of the season had red flags all over it. Everything about it echos what myself and many other Met fans said throughout the entire off season. Can this team really compete with the staff we have behind Johan Santana. John Maine was mediocre on Wednesday, most concerning was his seemingly lack of confidence in his fastball which was barely touching 90 mph. When Maine was pitching well in 2007, his fastball had a lot of life and was usually around 94 mph. Now i know it was the first start of the season but Maine has never relied on his secondary pitches to pitch well. His bread and butter has been his fastball and it failed him on Wednesday. His change up lacked the control and command needed to be successful and once again, Maine had trouble missing bats. He gave up far too many hits and once again ran up a high pitch count that only saw him throw five innings.

The funny thing about this Mets staff is that there is no 2nd 3rd 4th or 5th starter. THAT'S A PROBLEM. It speaks to the lack of skill and pedigree these guys have. Not one guy, Maine, Niese, Pelfrey or Perez sticks out ahead of the others and this wouldn't be a problem so much if these guys were good. The struggles they showed in 2009 and so far in spring training is a cause for concern. Bottom line, you need your starter to go at least 6 innings. 5 innings of mediocre pitching will not win the Mets many ballgames with the lineup this team has right now.

Again not to overreact after 3 games but nothing has surprised me about this opening series. Our horrible record in rubber match games in 2009 carried over to Thursday night where a lethargic looking Mets team showed little fight in losing to the Marlins 3-1. The offense which was pitiful last night managed only 6 hits, one being for extra bases. While there are key guys missing, certainly more needs to be done against Nate Robertson. It was unfortunate to have to waste a respectable and solid start from Jon Neise who looked pretty impressive for 6 innings. The run in the first could of easily not happened either of the two sharp grounders been played by either Tatis or Wright. I though Niese had great location for most of the night, mixing each side of the plate. The times he got hit was when he left his fastball down the middle, which got hit around the park. Unlike Maine though, Niese kept the ball in the park. As the season goes forth, I see Niese being a solid number 4 or 5 starter for this team.

I'm not overly concerned though. The Mets' most dynamic player Jose Reyes comes back on Saturday which completely changes everything about this team. While Wright is the better hitter, I think Reyes is the most important player in this offense. His prescene at the top of the order, his speed and the pop of his bat is so important in setting the table for this offense. So while the offense against the Marlins didn't really come to life, it will get its heart beat back this Saturday. Looking forward to seeing Reyes back on the field, certainly a game changer that all Met fans will remember immediately

Flexing Your Points

Ok so I am not at Dickinson right now. But I do know how to get a good meal when the caf is serving dog shit or worse...honey dipped fetus. Let's be honest, it cant be chicken caeser pita every night or hot shave roast beef with potato chowder so you need to improvise. And we are still waiting for the day when Miseno's will accept Dickinson ID's so we dont have to spend our valuable Natty money there. So if you cant bring yourself to go to the caf when your entree choices are Thai Chicken Sticks w/Mango Chili BBQ Sauce or Baked White Vegetable Lasagna....try these three grizzly meals. While they may cost you a lot of flex points, its not like you ever run out of them (unless you are a Snar Legend like Tyler Gagnon.)

1. The Rainwater Special - A Spicy Roll (6.75) and Student Meal Deal of 2 White Slices and a Coke (4.00) at the Quarry.

Who would of thought that the combination of pizza and sushi could be so fucking good. Yes there is nothing better then waking up at 2pm after a night of 21 cup and wall punching then stumbling to the Quarry after you have already slept through your 1:30 class. While I hated on Durden for bringing sushi to campus, I must say it was one of the best decisions that has been made at my time at Dickinson. I have tried all the sushi and the spicy roll is definitely the best. And if you are getting pizza from the quarry, it better be white. Also make sure to get that meal deal. I have seen too many rookies get two slices and forget to get the drink. What is this amateur hour? I swear I have seen upper class-men pull this rookie move. And of course...always remember to ask for extra soy sauce. The Quarry workers will be happy to give you more.

Bonus Quarry Tip: Never order a large coffee. Order the small and just take a larger cup when you make your coffee. You will never get caught, even if the place is empty.
Also if you are in a rush to get to class and the line is out the door with people ordering specialty shit drinks, just walk to the cups, make your coffee and leave. There is a little more risk with just taking the coffee and leaving but it has never failed for me. Just remember, only do this when it is really crowded.


2. The Grizzly Snar Special - Chicken Parm (4.75) Turkey Club (4.50) and French Fries (0.90)
NOTE: Chicken Pita Melt (Vagina Melt 3.50) can be substituted for the Chicken Parm.

It brought a smile to my face when I heard they brought back the club sandwiches to the Snar. One of the most underrated meals at Dickinson. Not only declicous but healthy. A little on the pricey side but when you are this hungry who the fuck cares. While you might get a better Parm from Miseno's, the ones from the Snar are surprisingly very good. If you are not a Chicken Parm fan, you cant go wrong with a Vagina Melt. Nate Grefe taught me this after it was realized that 90 percent of the females that go to the Snar will order this menu item. I swear, next time you go just pay attention. Before I graduate, I promised that I would order it by its correct name (I just need to make sure that a male is operating the grill. But how funny would it be if I said "can I get a vagina melt" and he just started making me a chicken pita melt. ) Anyway, this is one of the most filling meals you can get at Dickinson.

Snar Tip: It is a lot harder to steal from the Snar than the Quarry. You might think you can get away with an egg on that sandwich or bacon and not tell the lady but you have a good chance to get caught and that shit is embarrassing. The easiest snag is the water when you first enter.

And while they like to be stingy on drinks, if you are thirsty, make sure to get your drink first and just down it while you are in line ordering. You can keep refilling it while you are there.


3. The Nate Grefe Devil's Den Theft Special - Pack of Red Bulls (Free), Snacks (How ballsy are you)

While this isn't really a meal, it still is very valuable. By far the easiest place to steal food on campus is the Devil's Den. Especially when there is only one worker and it is someone you know (Kali) If you are gonna steal the pack of red bulls, you will need a backpack. Single's can be stuck into pockets. While I may pride myself on my skills, there is no one better than Nate Grefe at stealing red bulls. He once came back with 3 packs of red bulls. That would cost over 20 dollars but it was free. That was like me once stealing 13 cokes from Grab n Go when they still had cans. Or the one time, Jack, Nate and I stole 29 coke cans from Grab n Go with a serious team effort.

The Devil's Den is great for that break during your 3 hour class or late night essay breaks. Suggested snacks include bag of popcorn, sun chips and fruit snacks.

Enjoy!

Side note (I do not endorse stealing, that shit is wrong. But when you are hungry and trying to get grizzly....anything goes. And as long as you are stealing from Dickinson and not someone else, its cool. I mean come on, I am paying over 50 thousand to go there, im not paying the 2.20 for a red bull...fuck that)

Music Review - Ted Leo & The Pharmacists: The Brutalist Bricks

Since their second album The Tyranny of Distance (2001), Ted Leo & The Pharmacists have been playing guitar driven politically motivated lyrical pop sounding jams. Throughout the decade, they have reached musical highs with their 2003 effort Hearts of Oak and one of my personal favorite albums Shake The Sheets (2004). It was songs like "Me & Mia," "Counting Down the Hours," The High Party" and "Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone," that pulsate the ears and immediately attract the listener to Leo's riveting guitar work and songwriting prowess.

At some point, Leo cranked everything out of proportion with the unbalanced and drawn out clunk sounding Living With The Living (2007). Besides a couple songs, Leo seemed to jam pack a million things into one album that is far too long and muddled together with pretentiousness and verbose lyrics. The album closer "C.I.A" is the only true redeeming quality from this lackluster effort.

A new decade might have brought Ted Leo & The Pharmacists most complete and well rounded work. The Brutalist Bricks, released on March 9 puts it all together and is a continuation of what Leo does best. It is sharp sounding pop numbers with a splice of punk from start to finish with Leo delivering on almost every track with some of his best lyrics. Leo strums his signature guitar sound on each track with blistering fury. The opening track "The Mighty Sparrow" lets the listener know whats in store with Leo bursting forth "When the café doors exploded, I reacted to, reacted to you." It is a return of what Leo does best. He is able to bring forth a sense of passion and frenzy while his lyrics remain poignant and evocative.

The albums first half is fast paced that present classic sounding Leo tracks like "Mourning in America and the albums first single "Even Heroes Have to Die." There are the best examples of what Ted Leo, Jersey pride and all, is about. Catchy sounding melodies and bouncy guitars.

It is the middle of the album that Ted Leo takes his music to the next level. The stretch of songs "Bottled in Cork," Woke Up Near Chelsea" and "One Polaroid a Day" are the bread and butter of the album and it presents some of Ted Leo & The Pharmacists finest work. "Bottled in Cork" will immediately become a favorite with Leo repeating the melodious chorus "Tell the bartender I think I'm falling in love."

"One Polaroid a Day" presents a rare gruff sounding Leo substituting his usual falsetto, on a bass driven banger about the fleeting highlights of someones life "But in the time it takes to turn the cameras on, you can keep on clicking but the moments gone." He executes this change of pace flawlessly.

The five songs that conclude Brutalist Bricks are above average sounding works from an accomplished and mature songwriter. The two that really stick out are "Bartolomeo And The Buzzing Of Bees" and the album closer "Last Days."

While I feel this falls just short of Shake The Sheets, Ted Leo & The Pharmacists return to prominence with their most well balanced and musically diverse album. There is a heart and soul in Brutalist Bricks that was absent from his previous album Living With The Living. Leo brings a focus and new energy in delivering his usual pop/rock numbers that he first introduced in 2001. A new decade and an invigorated Ted Leo is just what I needed.

Overall Rating: 3/4

Sunday March 7th

Best day of the year by far. HP Allstarz draft and the Oscars in one day. My picks for the pool are

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
Best Director: James Cameron
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges
Best Actress: Sandra Bullock
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz
Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique
Animated Feature: Up
Foreign Language Film: A Prophet
Original Screenplay: Hurt Locker
Adapted Screenplay: Up in the Air
Score: Up
Song: Crazy Heart
Cinematography: The Hurt Locker
Documentary: The Cove
Art Direction: Avatar
Film Editing: The Hurt Locker

Taking some gambles but this show should be exciting. The acting races are more or less set which means seeing one upset would be pretty cool. The real decision comes in the Best Picture and Best Director race which has not been this close in a while. Avatar vs. The Hurt Locker make these awards worth watching.

Changing subjects to baseball... (I actually once talked about the Mets here)

I know it's just one game in a Spring Training game but Mets pitching prospect Jenrry Mejia looked impressive in his first appearance of the year. His stuff was electric and showed that he has a chance to make the opening day roster. The final slider he threw to strikeout Cameron Maybin was downright nasty, 95mph on the black. We might have something here. But like I said, it was one spring training appearance in early March.

http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100305&content_id=8694714&vkey=news_nym&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym

Bloody Mary at Regionals

To me it would seem incredible if any 6 players could come in 10th place out of 23 teams at a regional level tournament after being seeded last. It becomes even more improbable when 4 of those 6 players are new to the sport and are playing in their first ever tournament. Bloody Mary, a group of players from Queen Mary that was literally put together a day before the tournament won 4 games over the weekend to finish in 10th place at the South Eastern University Regionals, playing with only 6 players the entire weekend!

While we did have 4 players new to the sport, we had two vets who might of been the best two players at the tournament. Including myself, we were led by Rob Schumacher, one of the top players for Fire of London and potential player for the German National team. Rob and I knew we could carry our team for at least our first two games and see what happens from there. After waking up at 6:30AM on Saturday, Dan and I got to Victoria Station and had some McDonalds for Breakfast (first time abroad.) We met up with Rob, Andy, John and Lawrence to complete the squad, sadly realizing that we were going to be playing with 6 all day. On the train ride, Rob and I came up with the zone defense for the weekend and we spent the rest of the time playing Mao, a really sweet card game that will also make a great drinking game

We got to Chichester around 9:30 which was a little early for our 11:00AM game. We decided to hit up Witherspoons for a little more breakfast and a pint. Wanted to stay loose for the first game. After finding the fields, we saw that we were matched up against the Kent B team, who had numbers and jerseys as opposed to our 6 players with reddish shirts. Kent B was nice enough to start with 6 players on the field although I knew they should play with 7. They struggled to move the disc in the windy weather and we got a lot of quick scores working the short field. We jumped out to a 4-0 lead by the time they put 7 on the field.

They ended up scoring 1 point but not managing much else. It was a good warmup game for us as Rob and I were getting our throws in while trying to find the new guys in the endzone. I barely played any defense because I felt bad...this team didnt stand a chance. The final score ended up being 13-1.

Next we had the number 1 seed in our pool, Reading. This team was a lot better and was led by a super tall kid Alex and and super ginger handler known as Ginge. This game required a little more effort. We kept Andy and John on the handlers while Rob and I defended the middle and Dan and Lawrence watched deep. Ginge was moving the disc around and we were having trouble holding the force, something that is detrimental when you are playing a man down. We battled and after being down 5-2, we battled back to close the gap.

In the second half I realized that their offense ran through Ginge so I decided to just mark him. This was very successful and it limited them to only one score the rest of the game. After tying the score, we were set up with the disc on universe point. After a long huck went out of bounds, we had them trapped on their endzone sideline. We got the disc back and were able to punch it in with myself hitting Dan for the the game winning pass on a short bullet over the middle to take the game 10-9. Our win moved us into the 16th seed from the 23rd and set us up for our crossover with the 9th seed. Reading did not seem too happy to lose to a team with 6 players.

Our matchup in the crossover was with Kings, a legit team that are established in the region. We actually warmed up for this one and I felt the best I had felt all day but it didnt seem to matter in the beginning. We started to play a little more conservative which was not working and Kings jumped out to a 3-0 lead.

Now let me introduce you to Huck Fest 2010, England Style. Rob and I would work the disc to around the middle of the field and I would take off. They had a couple solid players but I made a couple nice grabs to bring the game closer. We still had trouble on defense, as a better team knew how to work the disc with only 6 defenders, especially when we just couldnt hold the force. I was getting a little frustrated, especially when I didnt come down with a couple of the hucks in the first half. Finally focused and angry, I started to come down with everything that came my way. I even had a dirty flick huck that Rob made a beautiful catch on to keep us in the game. However it looked like the magic was about to end. With the score at 9-6, we scored to close it to 9-7 only to have the horn sound. Game to 10!

While not taking things too seriously, I told our team that this point would be our last of the day so we cant save anything. Rob and I stressed holding the force and to run our asses off. We got a turn and I made the first of three consecutive posterizations in the endzone to make it 9-8. Starting to believe, we got another D and I had one of my sickest catches over 3 defenders to tie the game. 9-9 pulling the disc. Kings was very cautious and worked the disc all the way up the field to about the goaline. What seemed like the game, Rob made a HUUUGE layout block in the endzone. I knew this was it. We worked it up and Rob sent another floaty flick that I was determined to come down with. Another sky and a little celebration! We couldn't believe we pulled off the comeback victory. Kings seemed even in more disbelief. The spirit circle afterward you could tell they couldn't believe what happened.

We thought we were done but we ended up having another game. We were tired of enough playing with 6 people all day, it didnt seem like we had it for this last one. We actually jumped to an early lead with some hucks from Rob to myself as Kent A were a little surprised by our team. Eventually they realized our plan and started to take it away. I still had some nice grabs as well as Rob but it wasnt enough. Kent was a cool team and they gave us our props but we fell 13-8. This put is in 9th place going into Day 2.

I headed back to London for a legendary all you can eat Sushi dinner and then headed back to campus to get some sleep/stay up till close to 3am playing a little drunk twister. Whatever! I woke up a little before 8am to meet Dan downstairs. Unfortunately, Dan decided to be a fucking pussy and not wake up. So I took the subway and the train to Chichester myself. Luckily we had reinforcements with Sytske so we would still have 6, but if only we could actually get 7 players. I got there late and got to the fields to see that we were down 4-1 to Mohawk B, playing with only 5 players. After Mohawk scored again I rushed onto the field and proceeded to wreck shit. They didnt realize who this guy was and we scored 4 quick points to tie the game. I was pretty driven and angry giving my usual douche comments on the line like "I dont lose to B teams" and "Dont let that kid even think that he can actually D me." I think our team found it funny.

Either way with the wind calm, we were able to get more of our team involved and we took the lead. Mohawk B battled to keep it close but they couldnt stop me and we ended up winning something like 11-9. This set us up with the rematch against Kent I. And this is when it stopped being fun. They knew what we were about and they had two guys hanging deep, and three people on the handler. Sytske made some nice grabs for a couple scores but we couldnt hold the force and Kent scored easily every time. We pretty much gave up and didnt really appreciate Kent going nuts every time they got a D and scored. Good job guys, you are scoring on a team with 6 players who have never played together before...cool. Rob and I were not happy as we ended up losing 15-3. We ended up having to play one more game for 9th place which I didnt really want to cause it was freezing but fuck it.

The team we played also only had 7 but they had some talent. I got a little pissed off in this one as I didnt come down with a couple hucks that I should have. Once I took the pants off it got serious. We battled to take half and the game ended up being to 9 as the horn sounded. We had the disc on universe point and Rob hit me with a huck 10 yards outside the endzone. I hit Sytske who caught it right outside the endzone who then hit Andy for the win. However Sytske threw from the endzone so it was called back. She ended up turning it over after the kid crept closer to me during the stoppage. i could of called a violation but I just really didnt care at this point. We ended up losing 9-8 to finish the tournament in 10th.

Overall I was pissed we lost but we still finished 10th place out of 23 teams at Regionals with only 6 players the whole weekend. Incredible! 4 of those players never having played in a tournament before. Even more incredible! This may be my only tournament with Queen Mary/Bloody Mary but it will be something I will always remember. Once of those ultimate tournaments you will never forget.

And to think if we actually had 7. Maybe a match up against Matt Hartwig's St. Andrews in Nationals.

1-2-3 BLOOD