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Tuesday, July 25, 2006
ARod
Wow, it has really been amazing to hear all the grief piled on Alex Rodriguez by his own fans. I don't recall any
other superstar getting this kind of treatment. Does he deserve it? Well, that's a tough call.
Clearly, ARod is not terribly good when the pressure is on. His numbers in "close and late" situations are
not good. Is that enough to heap all the boos on him? Probably the money is part of it. He is the highest-paid
player in the game, and thus he is simply expected to perform better than anyone else. Lots of people have thrown this
theory out there; the fans are jealous of his money, so he gets booed.
But I think it's more than that. Heck, all these guys make more money than any of us "regular"
folk will ever see, so I don't think it's all about his salary. I think a lot of it is becuase New Yorkers were told
(by the media) that this guy was the best player in the game. And as such, he was expected to perform like the best
player in the game -- especially in crunch time. Sure, he put up MVP numbers last year. That's all well and good.
But MVPs and "best players in the game" are supposed to lead teams to wins in the playoffs and help beat your biggest rivals.
In other words, ARod is supposed to do what David Ortiz does...
And that's certainly another part of it. Ortiz rises to the occasion in big games, and/or in the late innings,
and/or against his team's biggest rival. As a Red Sox fan, I can only imagine that it burns a Yankee fan up that the
Sox have a guy who kills the Yanks, but the Yankees' best player doesn't do the same against the Sox.
Will ARod ever be able to repair his image? Maybe. But I think it'll take more than one game-winning hit
in the post-season to erase a career full of clutch failures. He might need a bunch of big post-season hits to make
people think it was more than just a fluke. Can he do it? Sure, he's got the talent. Maybe someday he'll
figure out how to keep it together when the pressure is on. And I wouldn't be shocked if it happens. As I said,
he's got the talent...
And I wouldn't be shocked if he has a great finish to his 2006 season. As a Red Sox fan, I hope not.
We shall see...
On one last more personal note, today is Maggie's birthday. So, Happy Birthday to my lovely wife!
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Airport
On Saturday July 15, I ran the Teterboro Airport 5k. I had my eye on  this race for quite a while because it seemed rather unique: the race was run on the tarmac of the airport! Obviously
most 5ks take place on city streets. So finding one that has a little originality is not easy. When I saw this
one a couple months ago, I circled it and looked at it as an opportunity to try something new.
This was to be my third 5k race. I ran my first one in Westfield on June 3 44 seconds faster than my second one in Newark on June 11. I was really hoping to have a good race here, but I wasn't sure how I'd be able to do. The course was perfectly
flat. Tarmacs tend to be that way. So that was in my favor. But unfortunatley, tarmacs also have a tendency
to soak up heat. And it was a hot day. By race time (8:30am) it was already into the 80s, and Maggie says
she heard an announcement that it was 120 on the tarmac!! Yikes! I didn't hear that announcement, but I'll take
her word for it. It certainly was hot. And of course there was no shade. Runways tend to have very few trees
for providing shade.
So didn't like the odds of me getting a new PR, but I was hoping to at least beat my time from the Portugal Day race
(23:30).
This race also featured a "pace plane", which basically is a small plane that taxied in front of the lead runners.
And since I am never going to be among the lead runners, that means I basically never saw the plane. Oh well, it was
probably pretty cool.
There was decent crowd for this race. Well over 600 people. I  certainly haven't run many 5ks, but I haven't seen this many people in a 5k. As usual, I made sure I started well back
in the pack. Maybe I don't give myself enough credit, because I always seem to start off with people much slower than
me, and I find myself weaving thru traffic soon after the start. I should probably try to get closer to the front before
the start of these races.
Anyway, the race started in front of the hangars, and went for about a quarter of a mile before reaching the runway.
This stretch was rather narrow, and thus the trouble weaving thru traffic. However, once we hit the runway, it was nice
and wide open. Runways have a tendency to be pretty wide. And once on the runway, it was a long, straight stretch
down to the other end of the runway. About a mile and quarter, I guess. At that point, it was a U-turn, and
a return to the start.
 So it was a simple out-and-back race course. And while it certainly was a unique race, it was also a rather boring one.
Not much in the way of scenery, and the heat was certainly getting oppressive after a couple miles. I realized fairly
early on that I wasn't going to finish in 23:30. Oh well. That's fine, I can live with it. I do find it
a little amusing that I've run three 5ks now, and I only seem to be getting worse at it. But since I'm good at blaming
things, I can blame the heat again for this. So be it.
Anyway, I finished in 24:01. Gee, I would have loved to break 24:00,  but I guess it doesn't really matter. I did end up in 186th place out of 678 finishers, which sounds pretty good to
me. I'll take it.
I have finally learned that it is impossible for me to take a good picture when I am running, as evidenced by some of
these shots here, as well as previous ones from races past (which can be accessed in other areas on this site). Do I
look like this all the time when I run? Do I always look like I am about to die? Gee, I think I'm having fun out
there, but I sure don't look like it, do I?
And one last note about the race. The goody bag given to all race participants featured the most unique thing I
have ever gotten in a goody bag before: a bottle of Cattlemen's Smoke House Barbeque Sauce! The rest of the stuff was
the usual: energy bar, water bottle, pain remedies, etc. But barbeque sauce? Seems like a weird item to be given
out at a race. Maybe they figured we could grill something up right there on the tarmac. It sure felt like it
was hot enough to do that. Hmmm...
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Designated
Quick thought: Last year, Alex Rodriguez won the AL MVP over David Ortiz, largely because Ortiz is a DH and many voters
didn't want to vote for a DH. Personally, I gave my "vote" to ARod, but not because of the DH issue; I did it because
I simply thought he had a (very slightly) better year. Ortiz was better in the clutch, but ARod was just a little better
overall.
Well, I find it funny that the top three candidates for AL MVP at the All-Star break this year are all
DHs: Ortiz, Jim Thome, and Travis Hafner, in some order or another. Unless I'm completely overlooking someone, I don't
think anyone else is even in the argument at this point. And the guy in fourth place behind those three is probably
also a DH: Jason Giambi. So unless some position player has an unbelievable second half of the season
(and someone like ARod certainly could, so it's not like it's out of the realm of possibility), it will be very hard this
year for the voters to ignore a DH for their top MVP vote...
Saturday, July 8, 2006
Closers
Now it's time to go off on a tangent and rant about baseball. Here's another reason why I could never make it as
a manager... Last night (Friday July 7), I was watching the Red Sox-White Sox game on ESPN. The Red Sox had a
5-2 lead after 7 innings. The way teams are built these days, there's an "8th inning guy" to go along with the closer.
So standard operating procedure would be for the Sox to send Mike Timlin out for the 8th, and Jonathan Papelbon out for the
9th. Why? Well, because that's how you do it!
But the thing is, the White Sox had Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, and Jermaine Dye coming up in the 8th. These are easily
their three best hitters. So the way I saw it, the White Sox had a much better chance of scoring in the 8th than with
the bottom of their order in the 9th. Now, Mike Timlin is a fine pitcher having a fine year. But there's no mistaking
that Papelbon is the better pitcher right now. So wouldn't it make sense to have your best pitcher face their best hitters?
Wouldn't you want to have Papelbon pitch the 8th, and leave the "save situation" for a lesser pitcher?
This is what goes thru my mind. But I can't think of a single Major League manager that would operate that way.
Nope, the "closer" has to be in there to end the game. He has to record the save. He can't be wasted in a game
where we won't get a save, even at the risk of having a lesser pitcher cough up the lead.
Is everybody so stat-conscious that the balance of nature would get screwed up if the pitchers worked the other way around??
Would the closer -- even a 25-years old kid -- feel disrespected if someone else gets the save for once?
Heck, I'd think you could paint it as a show of MORE respect. "These hitters are the best on their team, and you're
our best relief pitcher, so we need you to pitch the 8th". Wouldn't that stroke the ego of a closer more than just one
more number on the stat sheet? In addition, you'd be making that setup guy happy because you'd be throwing him a bone.
Let him get the stat for once...
So yeah, I was a wee bit annoyed (but not at all surprised) when Timlin came out for the 8th. Of course, I was
proven (yet again) to be an idiot, becuase Timlin took care of the White Sox' three best hitters very easily. (Thome
on a weak groundout to first, Konerko on an easy fly ball to center, and Dye on a grounder to third).
The Red Sox then scored two runs in the top of the 9th to push the lead to 7-2, thus eliminating the possibility for
a Papelbon save. At this point, I was thinking that they should just leave Timlin in for the 9th since he was the only
guy still able to get a save at that point. But no, Julian Tavarez came in for mop-up duty and got the last three outs
(allowing one single). So as I said, Terry Francona did the exact opposite of what I would have done. TWICE.
And it worked out beautifully for him. Hey, good for him, and good for my team.
I am 99% confident that the better baseball move would be to have your best pitcher face their best hitters. But
as I said, NO manager operates that way. What do they know that I don't know? I'm sure plenty. In this case,
I'd like to know what that is. If anyone reading this has a clue, please contact me and let me know...
Wednesday, July 5, 2006
Long weekend in Boston
This past weekend featured a nice trip to Boston. Maggie and I both took Monday off from work, so we each had a
4 day weekend, thanks to the Fourth of July holiday. We took the opportunity to visit Boston, which is one of our favorite
places for repeat visits. It helps that we usually have a free place to stay when we go there. My buddy Dan Valentine
(friend from college) lives in Waltham, not too far away. So we left to drive up to his place Saturday morning and arrived
early afternoon.
The first thing we did was head to Faneuil Hall, where we then met up with another college pal, Scott Aftuck. The
four of us took in some  food and adult beverages at various establishments in the area. The first picture shows me, Scott, Dan and Maggie at
the Salty Dog at Faneuil Hall, which was our dinner choice for the evening. The next picture is just a shot of Maggie
with my blueberry beer at the Boston Beer Works on Canal St later on.
 On Sunday, Maggie, Dan and I took the high speed ferry to Provincetown. P-town is a very interesting place. If
you don't know why it's interesting, then you probably don't want to know. But it has some nice shops and restaurants
and such, so it's not a bad place to visit. I just don't think I'd be able to handle staying there for too long.
Unfortunately, the weather wasn't great. It was mostly cloudy and quite windy, as evidenced by Maggie's hair in the
third picture. (Another advantage of being bald is that there's nothing for the wind to mess up). Anyway, we had
a nice time, and took the ferry back to Boston in time for a late dinner on Newbury St.
On Monday,  we basically spent the day road-tripping. First we drove to Salem, MA (of witch trial fame) and took a brief look around
town. Then we hit the road again and headed north. We ended up making stops at the outlets just over the border
in Maine and at one of the New Hampshire state liquour stores. (Cheap booze!). And we made back to Boston in time
to meet up with Scott again for another meal and some more adult beverages.
While Tuesday was the actual July 4th holiday, we spent that day in the car on the ride back to NJ. Overall, it
was a fun, relaxing trip. It's always nice to see friends that I don't get to see very often. And if I ever get
around to it, I'll post more pictures from the weekend. I'm intending to eventually open a new page on my web site specifically
for use as a photo album of all our trips. We'll see if I ever get around to that...
And now, we're back in NJ and back to work. Ugh.
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Welcome to Bob Mann's web page. I was looking around the internet recently and I thought to
myself, "Gee, there aren't enough blogs out there. What the world really needs is one more idiot throwing his every
moronic thought into cyberspace." And thus this page was born.
Of course, this site is a work in progress, and probably will remain so for quite a while.
Please feel free to poke around as much as you'd like. And please send me any comments you may have. Idiots like
me who make these sites couldn't possibly make them better without input from idiots like you!
-RBM 05/30/06
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