mad dog in the fog

Bonds ties Aaron

This photo is from the Giants/Braves game on 7/23/07

I checked out FanFest at the 2007 Allstar Game in San Francisco and saw this cool batting cage. Check out the life-sized video of the pitcher. The release point of the ball is perfectly synched with the video.

I’ve always been a sucker for a good bicycle kick. This goal by Maceo Rigters in the 89th minute tied the game. The Dutch went on to win on penalty kicks.

Inexcusable.

Baron Davis dunks over Andrei Kirilenko towards the end of game 3 of the 2nd round NBA playoff series between the Golden State Warriors and the Utah Jazz. The Warriors go on to win 125-105. The Jazz lead the series two games to one.

Update:

The Chronicle got it right with their headline. UNBELIEVABLE. It’s the first time that an 8 seed has defeated a 1 seed in a seven game NBA playoff series. And they did it in a blow-out victory with Baron Davis limping around on one leg. Next up – the winner of the Utah Jazz / Houston Rockets game 7 on Saturday night. Bring it on!

Photo by Kat Wade / SF Chronicle

Barry Zito has reportedly signed a 7-year $126 million contract with the San Francisco Giants. I think this deal makes a lot of sense for the Giants and I love the fact that Zito is not going to either of the New York teams.

My alma mater UCSB doesn’t have a great history of success when it comes to sports. Sure, we do pretty well at diving, water polo, volleyball, and ultimate frisbee but it isn’t too often that we have something to celebrate. A couple of weeks ago the Gauchos soccer team upset UCLA and won the national championship. The Gauchos celebrated this rare national championship in a very unique way. They carried the goal out of Harder Stadium (the game wasn’t even played there; it was played in St. Louis), carried it across Isla Vista (half a mile???), threw the goal over the cliffs down to the beach, and finally, threw the goal into the ocean. The mob was singing O-le, O-le O-le O-le, GAUCHOS, GAUCHOS the whole time. All I can say is: Only in Isla Vista!

“This is what happens when your school never wins national championships.”

Over the cliff!

Into the ocean!

Well, it’s over now. The A’s were outplayed by the Tigers and their season is over. Milton Bradley was one of the few bright spots for the A’s in this series. He batted .500 in the four-game series, had 35 % of his team’s total bases (17 of 48), and he played hurt during the final game (strained quad). Tip of the cap to the Tigers who played great fundamental baseball, had outstanding pitching, and got the timely hits. And they did all of that with a low payroll.

The A’s were smacked around again by the Tigers today and they are on the verge of being swept out of the playoffs. This quote from A’s third baseman Eric Chavez really bothered me:

“We’re running into a better team, and they’re knocking down everybody in their path,” A’s third baseman Eric Chavez said. “It’s not frustrating, they’re better than we are.”

That is absolutely the wrong attitude, even if you are down 3-0. Save the concession speech for when the series is over.  Eric, you should be frustrated with the way that your team has played.  Very frustrated.  There’s some heated discussion about this ridiculous quote on Athletics Nation.