Author / admin

by admin

FB10: Week 21

A warm and expensive week saw things fall off a little bit.  Things got off to a good start on Sunday thanks to a trip to see the White Sox battle the Red Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field, which gave me 5100 steps.  Things went down a bit on Monday, falling to 3500 steps.  A small increase on Tuesday left me 23 steps away from 3800.  A broken air conditioner and 90-degree temps on Wednesday put me a single step shy of 5000.  31 additional steps on Thursday would have given me 4800, as I monitored the goings on of the new AC install.  A break in the weather, and another day of AC installation, led to needing 30 more steps to get to 4200.  Things went sideways on Saturday, ending the week on a down note with exactly 2900 steps.

Total steps: 29,419

Daily average: 4202.7

by admin

The End?

A year and a half ago, Jose Abreu signed as a free agent with the Astros after nine seasons with the White Sox.  At the time, I wrote about the decline he showed during that last season on the south side:

For the Astros sake, you hope that was a blip and not an indication of decline as Abreu plays through his mid-30s.

A blip it was not.  Abreu struggled from the start in Houston, before managing to turn things around in September and October, providing some key home runs during the Astros run in the post-season.  He has not been so lucky this year.  After starting the season with just seven hits in 71 at bats, he agreed to be optioned to the minor leagues to reset and rework his swing.  He worked with Astros legend Jeff Bagwell to regain the timing and the swing that led him to the 2020 MVP award.  Once he returned to the Astros roster, however, the results, while improved, were still well below expectations.  Yesterday, the Astros pulled the plug, releasing the 37-year-old first baseman and eating more than $30 million.

Where does Abreu go from here?  Some team may be willing to take a flyer on him at league minimum, but, barring injuries, there doesn’t appear to be a clear favorite.  It may be that this is the end of the road for the Cuban-born slugger.  If so, he has left behind a lifetime of memories in Chicago and a year and a half worth of regrets in Houston.

by admin

Post Mortem – Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty

NBA legend Jerry West, who passed away earlier this week at age 86, objected to his portrayal in Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, saying it was “cruel” and “deliberately false.”  Which is totally how the Jerry West played by Jason Clarke in the show would have reacted.

The Showtime era of Lakers basketball, led by Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and coach Pat Riley, featured an up-tempo offense and resulted in five NBA championships and four additional Finals appearances.  Winning Time, with a changed name because its home network of HBO competed against Showtime, dramatized the early days of the era, starting with the drafting of Johnson and the first championship won during his rookie season of 1979-1980.  A second season, covering the next four NBA campaigns, aired starting in August of 2023.

With Kareem retiring in 1989 and Pat Riley stepping down as coach the following year, the Showtime era came to a close in 1991, following a Finals loss to Michael Jordan and the Bulls and Magic Johnson retiring after testing positive for HIV later that year.  Winning Time came to an end in September of 2023, when HBO announced it was cancelling the series after just two seasons.

by admin

Book 23 (of 52) – The Girl In The Eagle’s Talons

The Girl In The Eagle’s Talon – Karin Smirnoff

This November will be 20 years since Stieg Larsson, the original author of the Millennium trilogy and creator of the Lisbeth Salander character, passed away at the age of 50.  Karin Smirnoff is now the second writer to follow Larsson, hired to start a new trilogy to continue the adventures of Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist.  The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons is the first effort under that arrangement.

A wedding and a long-lost relative bring both Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander to the north of Sweeden, where they once again find their paths intersecting.  They work together to track down Mikael’s kidnapped grandson and Lisbeth’s niece’s kidnaped mother, both taken as part of a plot to strongarm a local assemblyman.

It’s been over a decade since I read The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, Larsson’s last take on the characters, and five years since the last book overall, so the previous authors’ feel for the characters were not exactly at the top of my mind.  That said, Smirnoff’s portrayal of Salander felt particularly off.  Almost like all of the hard edges had been sanded off to make her a more relatable character.  It certainly feels like these books are now being produced simply to cash in on the world Larsson created rather than because there was a story that needed telling.

by admin

Post Mortem – The Blacklist

The tenth and final season of The Blacklist aired last spring and summer, wrapping up in July on NBC.  The original storyline, revolving around FBI agent Elizabeth Keen and her mysterious relationship to criminal mastermind Red Reddington, wrapped up after season eight when Megan Boone, who played Keen, left the show.  A revamped plot, with many new characters, was implemented for the final two seasons.  The main mystery behind the show, what is the relationship between Keen and Reddington, was never definitely answered.

by admin

FB10: Week 20

A week of baseball helped pick up the slack after a bad start to the week.  Things started poorly on Sunday as I finished with just 2600 steps.  Things improved somewhat on Monday, jumping up to 3900 steps.  A big falloff on Tuesday dropped me back down to 2800 steps.  Things picked up on Wednesday thanks to another round of crosstown baseball at Wrigley Field, which left me 10 steps shy of 7100.  The baseball action moved to the south side on Thursday, as another game put me 9 steps away from 6600.  A third straight game on Friday had me needing just 6 more steps to reach 5500.  A haircut, but no baseball, saw me drop to 3500 steps on Saturday, ending the week on a down note.

Total steps: 32,073

Daily average: 4581.9

by admin

Fifty Years Of Music – 1995

Fifty years ago, I made my first appeared on the Earth.  In celebration, we are going to take a look at the year-end Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for each year of my life and see what songs resonated with me at the time and if they continue to do so to this day.

We continue our look back at the music of my lifetime with 1995, the year I finished my third year of college, started working at the bank during the summer, returned to West Lafayette for my fourth year of college, and celebrated my 21st birthday.  This is also the year that my CD player boombox, that I got for Christmas back in 1991, started to die.  Despite numerous attempts to repair the cassette heads, nothing seemed to work.  With 44 songs that remain familiar to me today, we have fallen below 50% for the first time since 1987.  29 of them appearing in my collection in one way or another.

#100: Van Halen – Can’t Stop Lovin’ You
iTunes stats: 0 plays

The final Van Halen track to crack the Top 40, it peaked at #30.

#99: Soul Asylum – Misery
iTunes stats: 21 plays

Reaching #20 on the Hot 100, it sat atop the Modern Rock Tracks chart.

#95: The Pretenders – I’ll Stand By You
iTunes stats: 14 plays

The second single from the group’s sixth studio album, it went to #16 on the Hot 100.

#93: Rednex – Cotton Eye Joe
iTunes stats: N/A

Based on a traditional country song, it topped out at #25.

#90: Melissa Etheridge – If I Wanted To
iTunes stats: N/A

Peaking at #16 in March, the song was the final single from Etheridge’s breakthrough fourth studio album.

#85: Better Than Ezra – Good
iTunes stats: 17 plays

Written in late 1990/early 1991, this lead single from the group’s major label debut reached #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, #3 on the Album Rock Tracks chart, and #30 on the Billboard Hot 100.

#82: Crystal Waters – 100% Pure Love
iTunes stats: N/A

Appearing on the year end chart for the second straight year, it was one of the longest charting singles in history at the time of its release.

#81: U2 – Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
iTunes stats: 22 plays

Featured on the Batman Forever soundtrack, it went to #16 and received two Grammy nominations.

#78: Annie Lennox – No More I Love You’s
iTunes stats: N/A

The lead single from her sophomore solo effort, it topped out at #23 and was used in the first episode of The Sopranos.

#70: Bon Jovi – This Ain’t a Love Song
iTunes stats: N/A

Peaking at #14, the ballad was the lead single from the group’s sixth studio album.

#67: Sheryl Crow – All I Wanna Do
iTunes stats: 24 plays

Ranked by Billboard as the 405th best pop song of all time, it charts for the second straight year.

#63: 69 Boyz – Tootsee Roll
iTunes stats: 15 plays

Topping out at #8 in January of 1995, it makes the year-end list for the second straight year.

#61: Tom Petty – You Don’t Know How It Feels
iTunes stats: N/A

The final Top 40 hit of Petty’s career, it reached #1 on the Album Rock Tracks chart and #13 on the Hot 100.

#60: Natalie Merchant – Carnival
iTunes stats: 30 plays

The lead single from Merchant’s solo debut, it topped out at #10 and remains her highest charting solo single.

#58: Skee-Lo – I Wish
iTunes stats: 14 plays

The first and last charting single from the rapper, his debut track went to #13 and earned a Grammy nomination.

#56: Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson – Scream
iTunes stats: N/A

The first single in the history of the Hot 100 to debut at #5, which ended up as the highpoint for the duet between the Jackson siblings.

#55: Del Amitri – Roll to Me
iTunes stats: 18 plays

The highest charting single from the Scottish band in the US, it peaked at #10.

#54: Corona – The Rhythm of the Night
iTunes stats: N/A

Released in 1993 as the group’s debut single in their home country of Italy, it eventually reached #11 in the US.

#53: Dr. Dre – Keep Their Heads Ringin’
iTunes stats: 39 plays

The lone single released from the Friday soundtrack, the song topped the Hot Rap Tracks chart and cracked the top ten at #10 on the Hot 100.

#52: Jamie Walters – Hold On
iTunes stats: 15 plays

His solo debut following the cancellation of The Heights, it topped out at #16 and was his one and only charting single.

#50: Boyz II Men – I’ll Make Love to You
iTunes stats: 21 plays

Having spent fourteen weeks at #1 in the fall of 1994, it spends its second year on the year-end chart.

Continue reading →

by admin

It’s Over

With 2005 World Series champion Mark Buehrle in attendance, the White Sox snapped their franchise-record losing streak last night at fourteen games, defeating the Red Sox 7-2.  Of course, they couldn’t do it easily and ran into some interesting moments along the way.

Garrett Crochet had little problems with the Red Sox, save for the third inning.  Two botched throws to first, one on a comebacker and the second on an appeal, gave the Red Sox the lead.

With the White Sox at bat in the bottom of the fourth, play was paused after a number of mini liquor bottles were thrown onto field.  The Sox were able to handle their liquor issues and plate three runs to take a two-run lead.

Finally, with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, the streak looked as it was about to fall.  A lazy flyball to left field seemed poised to end the game.  Unfortunately for everyone, rookie Duke Ellis, called up earlier in the week for his first taste of major league experience, booted it, extending the festivities.  The next batter, though, grounded out and the losing streak had finally, mercifully, come to an end.

by admin

Call Your Sons, Call Your Daughters

Embattled rookie play-by-play man John Schriffen kicked off last night’s broadcast with a prediction.  “I feel good,” he said during the open.  “Tonight is the night the losing streak comes to an end.”  Two pitches into the game, the White Sox were trailing 1-0.  It did not get better from there.

When the damage was done, the White Sox fell to the Red Sox 14-2, setting a single-season franchise record with their fourteenth consecutive loss.  The overall team record is fifteen straight losses, which happened with five losses to end of the 1967 season followed by another ten straight to start the 1968 season.  The 2024 incarnation will attempt to avoid tying this mark tonight.

by admin

Tragic Number 13

After blowing a 5-1 lead for the second consecutive night against their crosstown rivals, the White Sox tied a single season franchise record last night with their thirteenth consecutive loss.  The previous thirteen-game losing streak occurred in August of 1924, a season in which they finished 66-87.

This year’s version of the White Sox have lost 17 of their last 18 games en route to their worst start in franchise history.  They will try to stop the bleeding tonight at home against the Red Sox.