I trust everyone had a nice Labor Day Weekend. Whether you did or you didn't today is back to work day and I'm having trouble with the fact that it is Tuesday and not Monday. Seriously, when I went to read Paul Krugman in the NYT I found that he wasn't at the top of the Op-Ed page as he usually is on Monday morning. Oh shit - it's Tuesday, not Monday. I suppose I should have read him yesterday, but yesterday felt like Sunday, so I didn't even look for him. This may seem like a minor problem to most but, shit, yesterday was Monday. The LSF will be confused about the day of the week all week, and I don't like being anymore confused than normal.
So, there I was at the 6200 block of Pine Street's annual Labor Day Block Party yesterday and I couldn't help but think at how sad it is that those who grew up in the suburbs missed the block party tradition. As you know, the suburbs don't normally have block parties. There is no reason why cul-de-sacs and tree lined streets of stone houses couldn't have a block party - they just don't. What a pity. At the Pine Street fest the aromas of ribs and chicken slowly cooking on charcoal grills was tantalizing and made one want to do nothing but eat. The sounds of soul music blared from several boom boxes and we danced in the street. My mother grew up on that block in West Philly and I doubt that she and her neighbors did anything remotely like the electric slide in the middle of the street, but she would have had a good time doing it.
After dancing, I sat down and played pinochle - something I hadn't done in years. The brothers I played with beat me up pretty bad in the game which saw the conversation turn to the upcoming NFL season. Guys talk about sports so talking about football is nothing out of the normal. To me, what has always been out of the normal are the number of Philadelphians who love the Dallas Cowboys. What's up with that? I have hated the Cowboys almost from their inception, but here I was playing cards with a guy who not only was wearing a Cowboy shirt, but had a gold Cowboy helmet dangling around his neck and a watch with the Cowboy logo on his wrist. How sad.
There were a bunch of games played over the weekend and I did get to watch a few of them. The Phillies looked like shit against the Marlins. There is no reason under the sun that Florida should ever take a series from the candystripers, but they did. I wrote last week that I hoped the Phillies wouldn't look past the fish to the series with the Braves, but they must have, and I was more than a little bit nervous about the Braves coming to town. One of the things we have seen lately is the damage done to Halladay in the first inning of games he starts. It happened again this weekend. The pattern has Halladay giving up runs in the first before settling down and going through the other team's line up like shit goes through a goose. The offense shuts down and the Phillies lose a game they shouldn't. Perhaps given this disturbing trend, Charlie should take a different approach when Halladay is scheduled to pitch.
When Halladay is scheduled to start Charlie should deal with the first inning like it was the seventh or eighth and start one of his set up men instead of Halladay. He should use one of his closers in the second and bring Halladay into the third. That way Roy can't fuck up the first inning and can bring his team another win. Hey, it MIGHT work.
And what can I say about Cliff Lee? Awesome just doesn't seem enough. The guy made the Braves look like a certain local vintage "base ball" squad as the Phillies offense erupted. Watching the game last night was a pure joy, especially the incredible catch made by Ryan Howard of a foul ball. The guy showed some great hustle on the play making a sliding catch that should have been shown a bunch of times on all of the highlight shows. He also hit home run number 31 and was on base all night. I still don't like the guy but, in the spirit of fairness, I must give him credit for a great game. I notice that he has hit five homers in the last nine games. Let's hope he can continue to do this until the end of the season, but we'll have to wait and see about that. My guess is that he won't given the sub par season he has had but, if he does, I'll salute him.
That's it for now as I have some shit to take care of this Monday - I mean Tuesday morning. I'll leave you with a warning. If you care about your children, stop worrying about Chaz Bono and focus instead on not allowing your children to see the new uniforms that the Maryland Terps are wearing. Without a doubt they are the ugliest uniforms I have ever seen. Check them out in the Washington Post - but be careful as you may laugh all day when you see them.
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