Flyers Fizzle, Josh Hamilton, and a Check Up....

The Heat is Off_____

Looks like a couple of days with highs in the 60s....not a bad thing, with the plate for a Sectional Tournament at Crestview tonight, and some lawn mowing scheduled for tomorrow.  After that temperatures are slated to head into the 70s for highs, making it sound like pretty perfect May weather.

Doc Visit____

I headed to rural New Bremen, some 15 miles away at Noon yesterday, for my post surgery check-up with the cardio doc....hoping for some good news on the blood work and a chance to maybe drop some of the damn meds I am taking....the results were a mixed bag.  He said my blood looked good, "except", despite the Zocor I was taking, my Cholesterol count was still too high...the bad stuff setting at 137.  He asked me point blank, "Are you taking your Zocor"?  What could I say, except "yes"!!  Every damn night...I thought.  So it was decided that I would go off  the Zocor and begin taking Lipitor  when the script was filled...not sure that is the answer.  I'm eating pretty good...I just happen to believe that, I may be stuck with the High Cholesterol...time will tell.

On the good side of the "mixed" news was that after some discussion he decided I could go off the blood thinning Plavix, once the current scrip is finished....guess the blood is thin enough.  This hopefully will end some of the fatigue.....hopefully I said.  Frankly however, I am not sure exactly what the future holds....nobody can be sure of that....except perhaps "Miss Cleo".

The Flyers Fizzle_____

After the Philadelphia Flyers dispatched the hated Pittsburgh Penguins in round #1, it appears they forgot about New Jersey in the next round, the Eastern Semi-Finals.  After winning the opening game in OT, the Flyers were completely outmatched by the Devils, and were swept the final four games, losing the series final 3-1 last night.  So another year without the taste of the cup.....1975 when I was bartending/managing the Red Door was the last time, now that has been a few years back.

http://flyers.nhl.com/index.html

The NHL has changed, and the "Broad Street Bullies" are no more....I have to admit, I cannot get real excited about the Western, Phoenix(3)* vs LA(8) Finals...or New Jersey(6), whose fans usually come disguised as Empty Seats against either top seeded New York Rangers, or Washington (7).  New York is the only high seed left, meaning most of the good work done during the long regular season was a waste for many teams.

* Place Seeded in Conference

Josh Hamilton, The Big Red Mistake____

A few years back, the Cincinnati Reds picked up a fallen future star off the wavier wire named Josh Hamilton.  Hamilton a Tampa Bay prospect had ruined the early part of his promising career, with drugs, booze, and tattoos....The Reds took a chance and it worked out, Hamilton became a solid Center Fielder, but the Reds management and their bean counting manager Dusty Baker, couldn't stand success.

They traded Hamilton, thanks to Brandon Phillips whining, and Dusty Baker's incompetence, to Texas, even up for a "prospect" name Edison Volquez, a right handed pitcher....fast forward a few years ahead, and Volquez is pitching in San Diego, and Josh Hamilton, still in Texas, is arguably the best hitter in baseball.  This has shades of 1965 when Cincinnati sent "aging" outfielder Frank Robinson to Baltimore for another right handed pitcher, Mitt Pappas.....Robinson won the triple crown and the Orioles the World Series the next year.....Pappas was pitching for the Cubs a couple of years later.

Last night Josh Hamilton had a game for the ages:

http://espn.go.com/dallas/mlb/story/_/id/7907243/josh-hamilton-texas-rangers-hits-four-2-run-hrs-baltimore-orioles 

And make no mistake, despite his critics, especially from frustrated Reds fans, Hamilton has already made this "trade" a massive give-away by the Reds.

More Tournament Baseball____

Tonight I finish off the Sectional Baseball season, for me at least, working the plate for the Crestview bracket final between the home standing Knights and county and NWC rival Lincolnview....the winner will move on to the Coldwater D4 District next week, which I am scheduled to work as well.  A  Freshman double header Friday is all that I have left until the three game District next week, with two games on Wednesday the 16th, and the District Final on Friday the 18th....

Time to get ready for that tournament game...running late....back later>>>>