A decent week, with nearly every day falling between 6000 and 7300 steps. The two outliers were Tuesday, which nearly hit 12,000 steps thanks to an after work trip to US Cellular Field to see the White Sox defeat the Rays, and Friday, which fell below the 6000 step goal.
Total steps: 50,094
Daily average: 7156.3
Rick Renteria was officially named the 40th manager in White Sox history this morning, replacing Robin Ventura. Renteria had spent the 2016 season as Ventura’s bench coach. Many players sang Renteria’s praises, including Jose Abreu, Chris Sale, and Adam Eaton. How many of them will still be on the roster when Renteria’s first squad takes the field next April remains to be seen.
Renteria will become only the second man to manage both the White Sox and the Cubs, following Johnny Evers, who led the Cubs in 1913 and 1921 and was the White Sox skipper in 1924. Renteria spent one season leading the Cubs in 2014 before being replaced unceremoniously by Joe Maddon.
Six months ago, as the 2016 baseball season was scheduled to kick off, I made my annual predictions as to who would win what. Now that the regular season has come to an end, it is time revisit those predictions and see what, if anything, I got right.
East: Blue Jays
After winning their first division title since 1993 last year, I thought the Blue Jays had what it took to repeat. I certainly didn’t see the Red Sox bouncing back from 2 straight last place finishes to take the AL East crown.
Central: Indians
My first correct prediction, as the Indians won their first division title since 2007.
West: Rangers
Another correct prediction, with the Rangers winning their second straight division title.
Wild Cards: Red Sox, White Sox
Well, I kind of flip-flopped the first two slots in the AL East, as the Blue Jays managed to take the first Wild Card slot. The other pick looked good for the first 6 weeks of the season, as the White Sox sat at 23-10 before completely falling apart. Instead, the Orioles took the second Wild Card slot, making it a good year for the AL East.
AL Champion: Blue Jays
Cy Young: Chris Sale
MVP: Mike Trout
All three of these may still be possible, with the Blue Jays still alive and Sale and Trout putting up superb numbers.
With the 2016 baseball season wrapping up today, the White Sox announced that they would hold a press conference Monday morning and speculation is they will announce that manager Robin Ventura will not return in 2017. Earlier in the week, reports surfaced that the team was willing to extend Ventura’s contract if he wanted to return, but Ventura refused to announce his intentions, preferring instead to wait until the season comes to an end. In his five seasons as manager heading into today’s finale, Ventura has put up a 375-434 record, including 4 straight losing seasons following an epic September collapse in 2012 that cost the team a division title.
Former Cub manager and current White Sox bench coach Rick Renteria is expected to be named as Ventura’s replacement. How much control he will have over his coaching staff and what direction the team will go next year are unknown at this point. But, this move looks to be a step in the right direction.
We kick off October with a photo of the birthday girl to be from one of her skating exhibitions last fall.
The Persistence of Memory – David Mack
As the Star Trek franchise celebrates its 50th anniversary, another trilogy of novels from David Mack was available on the cheap from the Kindle store on Amazon, so I picked them up. The first of the trilogy, The Persistence of Memory, follows the events of Star Trek: Nemesis and, after a mystery about the whereabouts of some stolen androids, brings Data back to life.
Had the powers that be known that Nemesis would end up being the final film with the Next Generation cast, the impetus to kill off Data, Brent Spiner’s advancing age, would have disappeared. But, thanks to some retconning to the end of the fourth season episode Brothers, Mack finds a creative way to bring back the fan favorite character. Unfortunately, the entire middle section of this book was merely set-up for that return.
We’ll see if any of that set-up comes back into play in the next 2 installments of the trilogy. If they do, then that may change my opinion of this outing. As it is, there was a lot of seemingly wasted time.
A good week, as I managed to surpass the 6000 goal mark every day for the first time in a month. The week started with a great day on Sunday thanks to a trip to Busse Woods with Hayley. We never did find our way to the pow wow she was looking for, but I ended up over 11,000 steps. Monday was the low point of the week, finishing just above 6000 steps. Tuesday was nearly at 8500 steps, with the remainder of the work week hovering between 6400 and 7500 steps. Saturday benefitted from a trip in to the city to see the Adam Carolla Show tape a podcast at the Vic and the requisite parking quite a ways away.
Total steps: 53,272
Daily average: 7610.3
A pretty good week, despite a horrible day to wrap up the festivities. Things got off to a good start on Sunday, with nearly 7500 steps, thanks to a trip to US Cellular Field to see the White Sox battle the Royals. I kept it up on Monday, surpassing 8000 steps, before hitting the high point of the week on Tuesday thanks to the Sprint & Stride. While I may not have finished the race, I still ended up with nearly 15,000 steps. Wednesday through Friday were back down under 7000, with each day slowly approaching back to my daily goal of 6000 steps. Saturday was the big disappointment, as I barely managed to cross 3000 steps.
Total steps: 52,742
Daily average: 7534.6
Two weeks ago, Allstate held their annual Sprint and Stride event, a 5K race around campus to benefit breast cancer research. After successfully completing the race the last 2 years, I signed up again this year, along with some co-workers, to get out in the afternoon sun and enjoy getting paid to exercise.
Sadly, things did not go as smoothly this year. For a myriad of reasons, including a sore back on my part, my racing companions this year did not seem into the whole thing. We arrived at the starting gate well after the big throng of people had been sent on their way and, around the 2 mile mark, found ourselves the last group on the course. It was at this point we made the decision to bail on the rest of the race and head back to the finish area to cash in on the free water and bananas.
Will we do it again next year? Who knows. The future is a bit murky right now, so it’s hard to tell if this was the last hurrah for this group of racers.
Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime. The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since. So, given those guidelines, it is time to look at the most prolific actors that have starred in the movies that I have seen in the first half of this decade.
2011
| Name | Films |
|---|---|
| Natalie Portman | 4 |
2011 was a big year for Natalie Portman films, as I took in nearly a quarter of her starring roles that I’ve seen overall thanks to The Other Woman, Black Swan, Thor, and No Strings Attached.
2012
| Name | Films |
|---|---|
| Jonah Hill | 3 |
Jonah Hill scored the top spot with starring roles in Moneyball, The Sitter, and 21 Jump Street.
2013
| Name | Films |
|---|---|
| James Franco | 3 |
| Joseph Gordon-Levitt | 3 |
| Jennifer Lawrence | 3 |
A 3 way tie for 2013 thanks to the stunning work of James Franco, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Jennifer Lawrence. Franco hit with roles in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Spring Breakers, and This Is The End. Gordon-Levitt made a splash with Looper, Premium Rush, and 50/50. Lawrence more than doubled her starring roles to date in Silver Linings Playbook, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and House at the End of the Street.
2014
| Name | Films |
|---|---|
| Emily Blunt | 3 |
| Scarlett Johansson | 3 |
| Liam Neeson | 3 |
| Shailene Woodley | 3 |
For the first time in a decade, we have more than a 3-way tie for the top spot. Emily Blunt leads things off with her roles in Edge of Tomorrow, Your Sister’s Sister, and The Five-Year Engagement. Scarlett Johansson makes the list thanks to Don Jon, Captain America: Winter Soldier, and Under The Skin. Liam Neeson utilized his particular set of skills in Unknown, Non-Stop, and Taken 2. Shailene Woodley finishes things off Divergent, The Spectacular Now, and The Fault in our Stars.
2015
| Name | Films |
|---|---|
| Jason Bateman | 2 |
| Ashley Bell | 2 |
| Tom Cruise | 2 |
| Karen Gillan | 2 |
| Kevin Hart | 2 |
| Leslie Mann | 2 |
| Paul Rudd | 2 |
| Sharon Stone | 2 |
| Aaron Taylor-Johnson | 2 |
| Shailene Woodley | 2 |
A 10-way tie for the top spot as nobody managed to star in more than 2 films that I saw last year.