Minor League Baseball

From Bob Smizik's Blog on the pg:

The deal marks Huntington’s continuing demolition of the Pirates, and that’s
also no surprise. Since becoming general manager in September, 2007, Huntington
has traded every position-player starter except second baseman Freddy Sanchez,
who could be dealt at any minute. That list includes Ronny Paulino over Ryan
Doumit as catcher. When Huntington was named, Paulino, not Doumit, was
considered the starter. Other starters traded by Huntington are outfielders
Jason Bay, Xavier Nady and Nate McLouth, first baseman Adam LaRoche and third baseman Jose Bautista.

Note: Sanchez is gone, Traded to the Giants only hours after Bob posted and days after the Pirate Management claimed to the PG that they weren't trading Wilson and Sanchez.

Other note: Good for you Jack Wilson. I am glad you got out of the loser's hell hole created by management so that we can lose for "3-4 more years" while they "build" the cheapest team that they can and still profit.
Assholes.
On the bright side, I don't have to hold up my bet with PittGirl/Jane Pitt and write an "i love pirates" post since they will never be above .500 ball this season. Or next.

Songs that Piss me off

After spending the morning listening to the radio, (something I NEVER do) I have compiled a list of songs B94 plays that get on my last nerve.

• Any song with the words "do the Helen Keller and talk with your hips." I want to spork the singer immediately.
  

• Any song where the female lead sings about being so good "in bed" that every guy wants to "do" her. I want to tell her to shut the hell up and quit being slut.

• Any song that comprises of 3 single line verses repeated over and over, usually all about getting laid. Come on! Are you that devoid of creativity? Loser. I wouldn't "do" you if you were the last man on earth because I wouldn't want the rebirth of mankind to be saddled with your stupidity.

• Almost every Katy Perry song that I hear. And BTW Katy, you Sucked on American Idol so bad that you would have never made the top 12. Srsly.
  

Oh DVE? Your in this too.

• Any song that is more than 6 months old is not NEW anymore. So quit playing that god-awful Metallica song and calling it "New." It's not f&%$ing new any more and the end of that song pisses me off because it doesn't go with the REST of the damn song.
  

Finally, leave the Taylor Swift songs alone! They sound STUPID with a pop beat replacing the original music. You can tell its not the original recording track that she sang too and it drives me nuts.

Pirates Ball Club of SUCK

Smizik's blog said this today:

Has Jack Wilson lost his mind?

If Jack Wilson is serious in his rejection of a Pirates contract offer that would pay him $8 million for two seasons, he’s either taken leave of his senses or was being somewhat dishonest when he maintained through all the trade rumors that he wanted to remain with the team.

Wilson will not get that kind of offer in free agency. He might not come close.

Ah, NO, Bob. He is just following my advice from this post: More Pirate Bullshit
I told him to get out of loserville cause anything has to be better than losing all the fucking time. (yes f-bomb is intentional) I am sure his agent knows where he can get his player signed.

And really, Bob- "dishonest" should be applied to Pirate Management when they claim to want to put a winning team on the field. Now there is a bunch of lying bastards. Why?
Because they really low balled Sanchez and sorta low balled Wilson:

It looks almost certain the Pirates will be without Sanchez next season and possibly without Wilson. Although there are no players in the Pirates farm system ready to replace them, on his Sunday radio show general manager Neal Huntington said he felt confident at least adequate replacement could be found and stated the money saved could be used to bolster other positions.

HA, that's the funniest shit I have heard all week! Bolster, my ASS!

Pirates pull offers to Wilson, Sanchez
Huntington cites lack of counter-offers; Wilson says none were sought.

Huntington pointed to the lack of counter-offers as pivotal.

"Typically, in a negotiation, you get a counter-offer. That's how conversations continue. We've not gotten that to this point. We felt pretty strongly that our structure was in place but that we were open to some adjustments off it. Not huge differences in years or dollars. But if there was something that added value to the player, we're open to that."

Odle and Cobbe declined comment, as did Sanchez. But Wilson responded, solely on the topic of counter-offers.

"Answer me this: How can we respond with counter-offers when we were told that those were take-it-or-leave-it offers?" Wilson said. "How do you counter that?"

The Pirates' terminology in issuing the offers, according to multiple sources, was "best-shot."

Again. I am not shocked. I think Wilson should find a team that wants to win, and go there. The Pirates have no desire to win or spend money. And despite what Neal said in his radio show- I totally believe the contract offers were a PR stunt.

Pirates Notebook: Snell denies he prefers minors

No, he prefers WINNING. I think that they are winning in the Minors right? Why go back to loserville and watch everyone one you know get fuckin traded away?

Losing seasons don't deter Pirates faithful

"And if the yinzers, and that is what they are, if the yinzers who aren't coming now start coming to games when the Pirates win, they are hypocrite bandwagoners," Nemanic said. "That's what happened with the Penguins. They couldn't get anyone to go to games five years ago, they started winning and, all of a sudden, everyone is a fan. Whatever.
"That is why we are here now. That is why the people who are here now are true fans."
That "true fans," as Nemanic calls them, are still coming out to the ballpark even through all the losing isn't lost on management.

I partially disagree with this. You might think your "true fans" but all you do its prove to management that they can trash your team line up over an over and they will still make a profit. And while the Pens games weren't sellouts when they struggled - people were still going.

"One of the best things we have going for us is the passion of these fans; it is something that drives us," Huntington said. "We are working to build a winner because these people deserve it. If you cheer for a team as passionately as these people have, and you lose for 16-going-on-17 years, I absolutely understand their frustration.

Oh, I want to spork him. Liar. Oh for the record:

Because what so many in the fan base see as the first item on the to-do list -- finishing at least at .500 -- Huntington doesn't acknowledge as a goal.
"Eighty-one wins is meaningless," he said. "It is a step in the process, but that is not where we are ultimately headed. We have larger objectives. We just ask that people remain patient with us."

There you have it, "Larger objectives" should be replaced with "money to make from the profit of these idiots who still come to games."

Asshole is the word I'm thinking of here.

Random Shit

First on the list:
I have up and moved AGAIN at work. I am no longer on cast away island, surrounded by a sea of empty cubes and sometimes, darkness when a light burns out. I have now been promoted to sitting with the "cool kids" aka a daylight shift team.
I miss my old team. But I rarely saw them since they were all night and late afternoon shift.
Apparently my new seat is in the vortex of 2 AC vents. It is FREEZING at my desk. ALL the time. I have a blanket and a jacket on. It's 80 outside! So, it either needs to get hotter outside, or they need to turn the AC down a bit. I imagine I'll be using my blanket all the time. The other down side to sitting with people during the day is that when I talk to myself, they look at me funny. HEY- I was alone over on the island, cut me some slack. lol

2nd... Here is my "DUH?!" Headline of the day From MSNBC:

Stub your toe? Say ‘Sh#!’ You’ll feel better
Shouting swear words has a powerful pain-killing effect, study shows

I could have told you that! I used to be the curse queen, I still am to some extent- with a 2 year old i have to be more inventive. (Fraktard, anyone?)

Here is a quote from the article that I did find interesting:

The researchers originally thought that swearing would make pain worse by focusing a person’s attention on the injury and its implications. To prove their hypothesis, they set up an experiment with 67 college students.

The students were asked to plunge their hands into frigid 41-degree Fahrenheit water for as long as they could stand the pain. Half were told to repeat their favorite curse word while their hands were submerged. The other half were asked to repeat a neutral word describing a table, such as solid or brown, while keeping their hands under water. Then the whole experiment was repeated with the two groups switching types of word. (Favorite swear words were, as you might guess, the ones starting with "F" and "S." But since the subjects were British, the researchers also got an earful of "bollocks.")

To the researchers’ surprise, the cursing group not only reported lower levels of pain, but also were able to keep their hands in the icy water longer. The men in the study, for example, were able to keep their hands in the water for an average of 190 seconds while swearing, but for only 140 seconds when uttering a neutral word.

The difference was even more pronounced in women. While men’s pain scores dropped by a point when they cussed, the women’s dropped by almost two full points.

And a story that I think foreclosed home buyers should read:

‘Meth lab home problem’ sickens new owners
Houses with a criminal past are causing serious illnesses and financial ruin

WINCHESTER, Tenn. - The spacious home where the newly wed Rhonda and Jason Holt began their family in 2005 was plagued by mysterious illnesses. The Holts’ three babies were ghostlike and listless, with breathing problems that called for respirators, repeated trips to the emergency room and, for the middle child, Anna, the heaviest dose of steroids a toddler can take.

Ms. Holt, a nurse, developed migraines. She and her husband, a factory worker, had kidney ailments.

It was not until February, more than five years after they moved in, that the couple discovered the root of their troubles: their house, across the road from a cornfield in this town some 70 miles south of Nashville, was contaminated with high levels of methamphetamine left by the previous occupant, who had been dragged from the attic by the police.

My only question is why it took 5 years to figure out it was the house. Don't these people watch TV? One of the first things House M.D. does, is send his people to check the living areas for environmental causes.... sheesh.

A Piggy Colony

Sorry, I can't figure out how to rotate this stupid image from where I am. I didn't think my post made it to blogger last night.

This is a colony of Piggies that I found at the Rite Aid down the street from my house a couple weeks ago. I actually forgot the pic was in my phone until last night. I bought an extra one and tucked it in my drawer. Insurance. I don't want another Piggy incident. EVER.

Things That Piss Me Off: I'm Bitchy Today Edition

Its a full moon and the crazy is out. I will admit I am a little crazy myself. (Hello? I made the bed at 230 am so I could sleep in it.) But I am also a whole lot of pissed off at stupid people and stupid shit. Here is a brief list of things that are pissing me off today:

• People who send emails with out subjects. I **hate** that. It takes 10 seconds to put something in there for goodness sake. Especially at work. When I have to search emails and i have a bunch with no subject, I want to scream.

• AOL and the idiot customer base that they enable to sign on the the web. I shouldn't have to explain that ".com" is an important part of the website address. If i have to explain that- you should not be allowed to access the web and AOL should be punished for letting you dial in, in the first place.

• Iraq. You wanted us to start pulling out of the country. So, we finally start and what do you idiots do? You start blowing yourselves up again. WTF! STOP IT!! Its like grounding siblings for fighting and the minute they are ungrounded- they start brawling again. You can't have it both ways Iraq! We can't be there and not be there. Get your shit together and figure out how to stop being a whiny bitch and start policing your terrorists! Maybe its the 10,000 degree heat that makes you act retarded... I don't know.

• My Headset. I hate it. I hate that the cord gets in my way. I hate that it pulls my hair, tangles it, frizzes it out. I can't stand having this thing attached to my damn head all the time. I want a wireless one.
  

• Pirate Management. I saved the best for last. Having so far traded away what they could- they are trading away another player. Why? Because he is good enough to be on the All Star Team. What management is really doing is trying to field the best Minor League team they can for as little money as possible. You morons prove me right over and over again and i hate you for it. In fact, I think people should boycott a game as protest. Just 1 game where not a single person goes would be nice. Don't buy tickets. Don't go. If only.

iPhone killer? Shut up already!

I am a regular follower of cell phone news. Partly because it helps me with work and partly (read:mostly) cell phones fascinate me. Ever since I got teased about my Nokia Luv a couple years back with my admittedly ghetto phone at the time, I have made it a point to start following the industry. When I needed to know more about phones for work- my obsession blew up.

I follow 7-8 website sites now to keep track of reviews, what is new, what sucks... You get the point. Well one thing I am getting extremely tired of seeing is this term: "iphone killer"

Phones called possible "iphone killers" in the recent past
Nokia 5800 music express
BB Storm
LG Viewty (come on LG- that is such a stupid name)
Nokia N97 (with out an official US carrier- no)
HTC Touch
Palm pre (jury is still out)
Toshiba TG01 (this is their 1st cell and it's not released yet, I don't see it killing anything)

The latest? LG's new Chocolate/Prada has been assigned the designation

Listen.
There is no such device.
It will never exist.
Nothing has killed the iPod, nothing is going to kill the iPhone. This is a special brand of people, they put up with At&t's shitty service, overpriced rates and other bullshit just for that stupid phone.

To be an iPhone Killer. You have to do EVERYTHING better than Apple. That is just not possible. People are brand oriented. Apple is coolness. Coolness simply happens. You can't fight coolness. You can't DO coolness better than Apple.

So shut up already with the iphone killer shit. Quit being delusional.

Dear Twitter, I'm Sorry.

That is right. I said I was sorry to twitter. I discovered a program on facebook called Selective Twitter. And I made some friends on twitter too. (That helps.) I am firmly in the "twitter is cool" camp now. Don't judge me.

When I wrote about twitter here: Odds N Ends I didn't really understand it. My problem was I was trying to use it the way it was presented. "What are you doing?" That, I learned is the stoopid way. Now, I am a twitter fan girl, but I am not a power user like some of the people I follow who use hash tags, post pics, and such. I use twitter like AIM/YAHOO IM.

I talk to my new friends. I post my blog links. I rant (when I can, and believe me that takes some thought and creativity when you only have 140 characters). I give advice. I cheer for my team.
I can't wait for football season now. LOL.
Yeah.
Hook.
Line.
Sinker.

You got me twitter. :-)

A WTF Kind of Afternoon.

What the F*&% is wrong with people? These are recent headline that have made me sick and made me wish could assassinate these sick, twisted, freaks. Crimes against children upset me more than anything. especially since I have a 2 1/2 year old now.

From MSNBC
Police: Volunteer Firefighter Pretended To Be Woman, Sexted 12-Year-Old

State police say at first, 32-year-old Mickey Ashbaugh, of Smithton, (PA) pretended to be an 18-year-old woman when he first made contact with the Armstrong County victim in early June.

When the girl's mother later found the messages, she gave the phone to investigators.

According to police reports, investigators continued texting Ashbaugh, who still believed he was talking to the victim.

Police said Ashbaugh then admitted to being a man, saying he was 22, and asked to meet the victim for sex.

Of course Mom took the phone to the cops. And thats how he got busted. But seriously? Your 32. she is 12!!! WTF? Can't you find a girl your own age? Come on! LOSER.

From the PG:
Johnstown man admits raping girl, 6

EBENSBURG, Pa. -- A man faces up to 40 years in prison for twice raping a 6-year-old girl in his home, holding a pillow over her face when she cried and then forcing her to bathe to get rid of evidence of the attacks.

But Cambria County prosecutors say they found DNA evidence that nonetheless linked 45-year-old John Snyder, of Johnstown, to the rapes in October. That's because bed sheets that Mr. Snyder threw over a river wall were found and recovered by police.

Prosecutors say Mr. Snyder led the girl from a friend's home to his residence where he attacked her.

Mr. Snyder pleaded guilty yesterday. He remains jailed until he's sentenced Sept. 30. Prosecutors hope to have him classified as a violent predator, which means he'd have to tell police where he lived for the rest of his life.

6 YEARS OLD. Damn it! OMG! I want to say every curse word I know, and make up a few, as I remove any possibility of this monster ever doing this again. 6!

From MSNBC: I'll summarize in quotes
Ruling disappoints MySpace victim’s mom

Tina Meier had hoped to see her neighbor and former friend, Lori Drew, go to prison for her role in the online hoax that caused Meier's 13-year-old daughter, Megan, to end her life. But even though a judge is throwing out Drew's conviction, Meier believes Drew didn't get away with anything.....

“I wouldn’t want to be in Lori Drew’s shoes and live her life. I think she’s already basically living a life conviction right now,” Meier said Friday on TODAY....

Meier’s daughter, who had suffered from attention deficit disorder and depression, committed suicide by hanging herself in her suburban St. Louis bedroom in 2006 after a boy she had met on the MySpace social networking site told her “the world would be a better place without you.”

The boy, “Josh Evans,” and his MySpace page had been created by Drew as a way to find out if Megan was spreading rumors about Drew’s daughter, Sarah, who had once been Megan’s friend. After befriending Megan, who became infatuated with the boy, “Josh” turned on her.

The last message Megan typed to “Josh” was: “You are the kind of boy a girl would kill herself over.”.....

Here comes the part that pisses me off. It was 2 adults: Ms Grills, Ms Drew and Ms Drew's 13 year old daughter who cooked this up over possible rumors. As the MOTHER, Ms. Drew should have been the ADULT PARENT and told her daughter to talk to Megan about the perceived problem. Honestly at 13, we are all hormonally unstable which is WHY we have parents who are supposed to help us. Instead they created a fake boy to build up an online relationship with Megan, tell her that he loved her and then break up with her by saying :

“the world would be a better place without you.”

ADULTS did that. People who should f*&%ing KNOW BETTER! OH- It gets better:

Drew issued a statement through her attorney that read: "In my view, it was proper that this case was dismissed, primarily because I simply did not do what the U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles accused me of doing. All members of my family share the Meier's grief in dealing with the loss of Megan. I hope Judge Wu's decision today will be a turning point for all families involved in returning to a more-normal life."

Notice the LACK of remorse? None. She doesn't think that she did anything wrong at all. And to suggest everyone get back to Normal? This is not a broken leg, Megan is dead. Megan's Mom will NEVER be normal!! 2006 was a different time. I am sure she wishes she had know about My Space, but it was still new and most parents of 13 yr olds had/have no experience with this problem since the term cyberbullies was unheard of until this case.

Meier, who said she has not decided whether to pursue a civil suit against Drew, said the statement did not constitute an apology and was woefully inadequate.

“Her making the statement that she shares my grief – absolutely not. She can’t even come close to it,” Meier told Morales. “Lori Drew did play a role in it. Bottom line is: for all families to be able to return to normalcy, that’s impossible. The children and people in their families who are dealing with cyber-bullying issues – you cannot return to normalcy just because of this case.”

I say file a civil suit against both Grills and Drew. These 2 women are horrible people. I have no hope that Drew's daughter will have any morals or conscience when she grows up since her mother appears to not have either of these things.

More Pirate Bullshit

I wasn't intending another Pirate post so soon, but a news piece in the PG this morning set me off.

Wilson apologizes for remarks

Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson did an about-face yesterday -- and he insists no one urged him to do it. Rather, he dug down deep within himself and knew an apology was what he should deliver.

Tuesday, in the wake of the latest round of trades made by the organization, Wilson was critical and, among other harsh things about management, he said he was "beyond, beyond tired" of such moves.

Jack, listen to me. You have NOTHING to apologize for. In fact, I want you to go to your agent and ask to be traded. You deserve a better team, better management. Your loyalty to such a piece of SHIT organization should be rewarded with a ticket out of the hell hole.

This is what he said:
Wilson says he is 'beyond tired' of such trades

This time, Wilson, the Pirates' most tenured player, described himself as "beyond, beyond tired" of such moves.

"We know that they're looking to the future, which doesn't say much about 2009," he said. "That's probably what's so shocking. We're five games out, and we lost two or three of our everyday players."

That was a reference to the June 3 trade of center fielder Nate McLouth.

"That's what hits us the most," Wilson continued. "You can understand if it's the end of July."

And then Neal made me want to spork him with this LIE.

General manager Neal Huntington, as he did after the McLouth trade, expressed limited empathy.

"The reality is, anytime you take away one of their friends, you take two or three away in a short period of time, it's unsettling. The human element of the game is something we can't ignore," Huntington said. "But our goal is to put an excellent team on the field and not just a bunch of nice guys out there. We hope to find talented people that are very good people, as well."

Neal....You LIE. Your not even fucking TRYING to put a good team on the field you asshole. You have already given up this season. again. I am SO sick of this management.

1 damn season over .500 and we would be thrilled. Yet, they continue to undermine that chance and the player's morale. This is all such bullshit.

Pirates: Still Sucking Awesomely

See, here it is. Proof in the USA Today that the Pirates are officially a national JOKE.

Once again, Pirates waiting 'til next year

....six games under .500 and in last place, six games out in the NL Central, the Pirates became the first team to raise the white flag in 2009.

For the second time in less than a month, the Pirates dealt a starting outfielder for players they hope can help them down the road. It's wait 'til next year — again — for a franchise that hasn't won since the days of Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla and Doug Drabek.

Tuesday, the Pirates traded left fielder Nyjer Morgan and former No. 1 draft choice Sean Burnett for two players who failed to lock down jobs with the worst team in the league, the Washington Nationals. The Pirates, who are on pace this year to set the major professional sports record of 17 consecutive losing seasons, received enigmatic outfielder Lastings Milledge and reliever Joel Hanrahan.

Even the non biased reporter there thinks this is such bullshit.

Last year the Pirates dealt starting outfielders Jason Bay and Xavier Nady before the trading deadline. Somewhere, Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell must be rolling in their graves. This is no way to build a winner.

Gee. You think? So does most of Pittsburgh, pal.
How much longer do you think Andrew McCutchen will remain a Pirate? He ran the bases in 11 seconds!!! I am betting he won't make it to the end of the season before they trade him for more shitty, questionable "prospects."

Now I don't know much about baseball. So, I am going to make a statement here not knowing all the playing positions of the players traded away.
If we still had:
Jason Bay
Nate McLouth
Xavier Nady
Added to Andrew McCutchen and the LaRoche brothers... Could we have a winning team? It is possible to have all these players playing together at the same time?

And if I see a variation of this statement one. more. time. I am going to spork someone.

According to Huntington, these are risky deals, to be sure. But he insists that there is a lot of upside if just two or three of the newly acquired players develop to their fullest. The Pirates are hoping to use their new young talent and combine them with their developed players and create a solid foundation for a team.

NO. They AREN'T. They keep trading every f*&%ing talented player we have away!!! There is nothing to build on you assholes! The team morale is destroyed. AGAIN. I hate the pirates management. They suck.