goalies are a pretty big deal in hockey

as i'm writing this tim thomas just had a scorless streak of about 95 minutes broken up.  but something the NBC announcers said at the beginning of the period really stuck with me:  "thomas is the only goalie left in the playoffs who hasn't been pulled during a game yet."  that pretty much sums up all you need to know i think.  in the NHL, once the playoffs start it's kind of a crap shoot who's going to win.  but one thing i do know is that hot goalies win cups. 

why would anybody read the trader joe's flyer?

the previous tenant in my apartment subscribed to the trader joe's flyer, so once a month i get the thing in my mailbox.  and every time it makes me laugh.  i just don't get it.  it's like a dickens novel or something.  get over yourself trader joe's.  who do you think you are?  i've got news for you, you're a grocery store.  you're flyer should have 2 things: pictures and prices, and that's it.  it shouldn't take more than a minute to read the whole thing, and that's probably even too long.  people barely read the new york times anymore, why does trader joe's think anybody wants to read 3 paragraphs of news print about their barrel aged gold balsamic vinegar?   

guess who's only half a game out of the wild card?

2-10 start?  no big deal.  it's only mid may, and the sox are already right back in the middle of it.  in fact, they have exactly the same record that they did last year at this time.  this team is good.  i'm a little concerned about 40% of the rotation being on the DL, but if the other 3 guys keep pitching like they can, it won't be a big deal.

WARNING: sleeping with your star teammates mom or girlfriend may lead to premature playoff elimination

last year a rumor came out that delonte west had been sleeping with lebron's mom.  the cavs were the heavy favorite, but after being up 2-1 they lost 3 straight games to boston and got knocked out of the playoffs in the second round.  lebron seemed disinterested, and allegedly he found out what was going on just before the game that turned the series around. 

this year the lakers we're the favorites to win the west.  but for some reason pau gasol played terribly in round 2, and they got swept by dallas.  now shannon brown is publicly denying that he slept with pau's girlfriend.  coincidence?  i dont think so.

ping pong balls and plastic cups

for some reason i found myself in allston one night last week, and the bar i was at had beer pong tables set up.  there were 4 of us, so obviously we had to play.  in the prime of my beer pong career (which i'd say was probably 1999-2002) i was convinced i was the best in the world.  i also called it "beruit" at the time, beer pong was another game played with actual ping pong paddles.  anyway, i haven't played much the last several years, but i'm proud to say i can still bring my A-game when necessary.  it consists of getting cocky and hitting a cup i tell my opponent to pick for me, and also never missing the last rebuttal cup that sends the game to overtime.  if i had to i could definitely get back in game shape with a little bit of training.

and on a slight tangent, would red solo cups be extinct by now without this game?

hahahahaha

nice play arod.

literally the second i saw this happen i thought of buckner.  and if you go back and watch the clip from '86 (which i will not post), it's almost an exact mirror image.

the sox picked a great time to start being relevant again.  in case you missed what i wrote last friday afternoon, here it is:

http://lucidsportsfan.blogspot.com/2011/05/its-time-for-starters-to-dominate.html

jon lester becomes greatest pitcher of all time

after beating the yankees last night, jon lester now has a career record of 66-26.  that's a win percentage of .7173, the best EVER in baseball history for pitchers with at least 50 decisions.  seriously, i'm not joking. look it up.

what's going on with jorge posada?

m

so maybe his back hurts?  maybe he was offended to be batting 9th?  either way the fact that he asked out of the lineup yesterday seems to be a really big deal.  the media is going nuts about it, how it's gonna hurt the yankees by disrupting clubhouse chemistry or something.  that's definitely possible, but i think the yankees may have a bigger issue here:

how about the fact that their DH is a 39 year old washed up catcher who's batting .165 and just got demoted to the #9 spot in the lineup?