Monday, July 27, 2009

Ice Cream Trucks, Rising NL Teams, and Other Important Thoughts...


  • What's the maximum speed an ice cream truck can get up to, like 12 mph?? I've yet to see one cruise by at a pace where I couldn't honestly say, "Yep, I could outrun that."
  • Something tells me that even with the recent kerosene jobs by Rick Porcello, Tigers' brass is not exactly counting the days until Nate Robertson can return to the squad. If you add up Robertson's 2008 and 2009 ERA's, you wind up with a whopping 14.06. Who would have thought that after Nasty Nate's sickening 6.35 last season, that he actually had the ability to go even higher this time around? That's like Ben Wallace shooting 42% from the line one year, and then somehow managing to cash in only 33% the next. When you're that bad, the saving grace is usually that there's "nowhere to go but up." Well, Nate has proved otherwise, and you really have to tip your cap for such a unique achievement.
  • Speaking of Big Ben, it looks more and more like the Pistons will be signing the aging beast to be a reserve big man off the bench. Not that the addition will be so costly, or that Ben will be given that many minutes throughout the season, but I still think it's the wrong move for a number of reasons. The guy had his time here, and wound up leaving unceremoniously. Wish Joe D would just leave this one be.
  • Lakeview Terrace. Definitely one of Samuel L.'s most underrated performances in this highly re-watchable flick. I'm almost inclined to say I liked it better when it was called Unlawful Entry, but I actually liked this one more. Give it a go if you haven't yet.
  • Oh, nice to meet you, Yogurt Covered Pretzels.
  • If I never heard the name Plaxico Burress again in my life, that would be just fine.
  • Don't look now, but the Cubs have stormed out of the All-Star break with a vengeance, and just took over sole possession of first place in the NL Central. With Carlos Zambrano and Rich Harden starting to cook at the top of the rotation, and Alfonso Soriano coming alive in the bottom of the order, the Cubbies might be running away with this thing come the beginning of September. Look out, 101-year drought...you might be coming to an end sooner than you think.
  • Yeah, I watched a good amount of the men's slo-pitch softball championship on ESPN last weekend. You got a problem with that?
  • Was shocked to hear the news over the weekend that former welterweight champ Vernon "The Viper" Forrest was shot and killed during an attempted car-jacking on Saturday night. His fights usually made for high-quality entertainment, and I still remember the night in 2002 when he seemingly came out of nowhere to upset Sugar Shane Mosley, who was then thought to be the best boxer on the planet. I remember him appearing on Inside the NBA with Ernie, Kenny, and Charles a few weeks after the fight, and being amazed at how humble he came off, especially for someone that had just dethroned the world's top fighter. In the present, Forrest's career was still moving along, albeit not at the top-shelf pace he established earlier in the decade. And while the blame in this unfortunate incident falls 100% to the soulless assailants, it's hard not to wonder why Forrest did not just let them take his car. Apparently, the men attempted to steal Vernon's Jag while he was filling it up with air at a gas station. He then took matters into his own hands (handgun in tow) to try and prevent the crooks from doing so, and in the foot chase/wild gunfire that followed, The Viper was killed. It is impossible to try and dissect the situation from afar, and in no way am I trying to blame the victim for what happened. But one would think that had Forrest not been carrying his own weapon, and just stood back and let them speed away in his luxury automobile, he would still be with us today. Forrest will most definitely be missed in the boxing world.
  • Is there anything worse than looking down at the ground, thinking you saw a quarter, reaching down to pick it up, and realizing that it's actually a nickel?
  • A bunch of Blue Jays fans recently attended a game with giant watermelons wrapped around their heads. Gotta say, that looks pretty damn refreshing.
  • Am I the only one that never really found pinball to be that much fun?? Sure, it's good for a little run every now and then, but that's about it. Oh, and the same thing goes for air hockey, too. Never that much fun. Just nobody ever had the courage to say it. Too hard to score, and you never knew which side the puck was supposed to be on so it could slide smoothly. Don't even get me started on foosball. I don't think anyone has ever really enjoyed that game. Again, people just think they have to act like they do. I'm here to say, "It's ok. You can let your guard down and just admit it. These games aren't that much fun." Don't you all feel so much better, now?? I thought so.

The High Socks Legend can be reached at highsockslegend@gmail.com

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