3 Comments

12 Days of Christmas

Posted by Jeff White on January 5, 2012 in Life

Some of you may not know that there are really twelve days to Christmas.  The 12 days mark the time from Christmas to Epiphany.  Epiphany is the time the Wise Men came to deliver their gifts to the baby Jesus.   For more information read Matthew 2: 1-12.  Some cultures celebrate Epiphany with a King’s Cake as opposed to doing the cake during Mardi Gras.  In the Disney movie ‘Hunchback of Notre Dame’ you may remember the 6th of January as Topsy Turvy Day and the Festival of Fools.  Add all of these celebrations together and mix in the song 12 Days of Christmas and you get the reasons I celebrate this joyous time of year.

If you are a friend of me personally on Facebook, (1) you may have seen my 12 Days of Christmas daily postings.  Thought I would reflect those highlights in this blog.

1st Day of Christmas:  Joy to the World, the Lord Has Come.  Let Earth receive her King.  I am proud to be a Christian and if God did not send his Son Jesus to be born of the Virgin Mary then to die on the cross, where would we be?

2nd Day of Christmas:  We went tubing.  Lyn, Josh and I went tubing while Lyn’s parents watched.  It was a lovely 2 plus hour drive to Fraser, Colorado from Monument to spend two hours sliding down a hill on a tube.  We found a Pei Wei on the ride home because Josh always wants Chinese food.

3rd Day of Christmas:  We went to Ikea. (2)  Within the last year, the Denver area got its first Ikea so we made the trek there and spent two hours or so roaming the place and realized that if we lived closer to one like we did in SoCal, our house would be mostly furnished with Ikea items.  We left with a few things for the kitchen and a cool red desk lamp for Josh.  A future trip to the one in the Chicago area with more room in the vehicle is planned.  We followed up Ikea with dinner at White Fence Farm. (3)  Nice family style restaurant experience in suburban Denver and we all had fried chicken and Josh discovered he really likes corn fritters.

4th Day of Christmas:  We drove back to St. Louis.  Even though we could have spent more time doing things with the in-laws, it probably was for the best that we planned the trip for this long.  Both the drive out and back from Colorado were smooth.  Lyn drove all the way home because she is better at seeing cops and it was just better that way.  Just trust me on that.

5th Day of Christmas:  I went back to work.  Both Lyn and I went back to work on Thursday, but I worked again Friday.  Enough said, it was slow and quiet, but got quite a bit done.

6th Day of Christmas:  My boss retired.  I have known my boss Joe for 11 years and have worked with him the past couple, so it was sad to see him go.  I planned his retirement party earlier in the month with some last minute help.  We took him out to lunch at Hodak’s and once again I had fried chicken.  It was better and cheaper than the Colorado place.  We spent the evening at our friends, the Walz’s for dinner, Christmas exchange, and spending time together.  I don’t think we spend enough time with friends.

7th Day of Christmas:  We hosted a New Year’s Eve Party. After seeing Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (4) with Josh’s buddy John who stayed over the night, we cleaned up for a party.  It was a bit too windy to do s’mores but we shared food, games, drinks, and silly string with the Pickards, Amiris, and Jim Glauert.  More friends to spend time with is always a good thing.  Highly recommend the games Anomia (5) and Likewise. (6)

8th Day of Christmas:  Happy New Year.  This is a time to reflect on how good you have it even though you may not realize it and to be grateful to those around you.  Love you Lyn!  We bought a new TV for our bedroom and spend the late afternoon with more friends at the Kolmer New Year’s gathering.  I did my Unique Design for Men’s Fraternity (7) when we got home and I am sure you will hear about it more in the future.

9th Day of Christmas:  We started off the Day with another $5 AM Cinema bargain at AMC.  This time we saw Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. (8)  Then we headed out for our monthly or so jaunt to Boone’s Crossing to cavort the strip mall.  It started with lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory and ended at Panda Express for dinner and was filled by spending time walking and being together as a family.

10th Day of Christmas:  Back to work with a new boss.  With my boss retired, my new permanent boss is located in Denver. (How convenient, huh?)  Lyn and Josh got a chance to finally meet her as we met for lunch on Christmas Eve.  I look forward to this new chapter with excitement and patience.  At least I am down to just working for two bosses now at work and one at home 🙂

11th Day of Christmas:  Please like Born Bleeding on Facebook. (9)  Let me say that I amazed that a guy with no prior published writing experience can after four months say he has over a thousand views on his blog.  I think the Cardinals run helped me and some good advice from a fellow blogger over at www.everydayepistle.com (10) has been greatly appreciated.  I look forward to the coming year with the blog going to its own website soon and more Cardinals blogs as I am getting associated with the United Cardinals Bloggers. (11)

12th Day of Christmas:  I am thankful for my true love, Lyn.  I am a difficult, stubborn, and confusing person and I am blessed that God has given me Lyn.  Remember the song, the 12 days of Christmas are about what your true love gave you.  It would take me more than twelve days to list all the things that Lyn has given me so I will just say again, that I love you Lyn.  Thank you for being who you are and loving me back!

I wish you all the Happiest of New Years and remember to Christmas is more than just one day!

 

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Permalink
2 Comments

2011- The White World of Sports

Posted by Jeff White on December 30, 2011 in Life, Whatever

I just wanted to take a few moments to reflect on 2011.  It was an exciting year in sports.  The St. Louis Rams got us excited thinking they were gonna make the playoffs to start the year.  St. Louisans got all revved up in the time leading up to that one Sunday evening in Seattle.  Boy weren’t we let down.  The year is ending with the Rams maybe ending up with the #1 pick in the next NFL draft.

Mizzou football got us excited and played well for a while.  They won the laugh of the bowl game they got into after deciding to leave the Big 12 Conference for the SEC.  Yeehaw!  More southern states to play against.  I have been a LSU fan for a few years and I know someone currently attending Ole Miss, so this could be fun.  Mizzou basketball is undefeated this year after an off season coaching change.  Frank Haith has solidified the basketball program, I hope.

The St.Louis Blues made a run to end the last season but fell short of the playoffs.  Now they have a new coach in Ken Hitchcock and are playing well so there is a lot of excitement surrounding Scottrade.  They should make the playoffs for the first time since 2003.  I do bleed a little blue in the winter.

Sports have been a big part of our lives.  My son Josh has been playing for the St. Louis Redbirds.  That is the same organization that has produced Ryan Howard and David Freese.  Josh’s coach, Paul Rymer has great faith in him and uses him in clutch pitching and hitting situations.  A trip to Cooperstown Dreams Park this past year was a highlight. Omaha and the College World Series are in the plans for 2012.

Josh also played a bit of select soccer this past year for Lou Fusz.  He no longer plays for them due to him being a baseball player first.  He ended up playing for good ol’ St. Richard for CYC soccer this fall and now he will be playing basketball for them too.  This basketball thing is wacky.

We also got Fox Soccer Channel this year and there are a few Manchester United items in our house now.  It is much different to watch after learning some things about the sport. St. Louis University has an exciting men’s basketball team at times and we still watch the Los Angeles Lakers from our time in SoCal.

Sports has played a big part in out lives this past year and I wanted to give everyone a glimpse to see that we are more than St. Louis Cardinals fans, we are sports fans.  But, baseball is by far number one in our lives

St. Louis Blues Logo

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Permalink
1 Comment

Christmas Letter

Posted by Jeff White on December 21, 2011 in Life

This is my Christmas blog.  It is going out to over a thousand or so people who have read this little blog already.  If you got a Christmas card from us, you may recognize some of the content here.

Our year started by going to Disney World with our friends the Rohmans and Millers.  Was a blast seeing the wonders of Disney through the eyes of a 5 week old and a 2 year old.  Who knew the 21 year old would be the biggest pain on the trip.  (Kidding Brad!).

In February we lost the first dog my wife and I got together Lilybelle.  She was 16.  In July we ended up getting a three pound puppy named Minnie.  She’s a stinker and getting better at 14 pounds and 7 months old.

Josh played another year of baseball with the St. Louis Redbirds.  He excelled at pitching this year and the coach considers him a team leader.  The highlight was a trip to Cooperstown Dreams Park in June for a tournament full of drama and injury.  He also played select soccer thru September but has put that aside and recently started basketball. He has also kept us busy by being in the gifted program at school and in December took the ACT as a seventh grader.

Both Lyn and I turned 40 this year.  I surprised Lyn and had a bunch of people come over and see her on her special day.  We also have continued to host many s’mores night events.

We were blessed to have a lovely vacation at Northern Pines in August.  It was a great time seeing friends and making new ones.  Northern Pines is a Christian family camp that advertises itself as a ‘Vacation with a Purpose’.  Find out more at npines.org.

This blog has been a highlight to the latter part of the year for all of us but the Cardinals dramatic end of the season run that ended in their 11th World Championship was a truly great experience to have gone thru.

I’d like to say to everyone that I am very thankful to have lived another year with a wonderful wife, a job that provides, and a son that continues to amaze me each day.  I would also like to thank all my friends who continue to support us and be with us as we walk along this journey of life that God has given us.  I wish we all lived on the same street so we could be together every day.

Please remember that Jesus is the reason of the season!  Merry Christmas and a blessed new year to you all!  Look forward to being with you all to enjoy the ride that 2012 will bring us.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Permalink
3 Comments

I’m Disappointed Cardinals Nation

Posted by Jeff White on December 9, 2011 in Baseball

Let me start off by saying that I was shocked when I heard Albert Pujols signed with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for 10 years and 254 million dollars.  No trade clause included.  Shocked. Stunned.  I really thought there was no way he would leave St. Louis.  Baseball is a business and if you don’t treat your employees how they think they should be treated, things happen.

I will always respect Albert Pujols as a baseball player.  Yes, he didn’t hustle every time he hit the ball.  He never did the big interviews.  He just played the game in what I believe is an honest way.  As a person and a Christian, I am disappointed in him.  Severely.  I read the Lamb & Ellsworth book called ‘Pujols, More Than the Game’ and I believed in him.  I believed there was a man who had integrity.  I am not sure I want my son to read the book now.  In 2009 he said that winning was the most important thing to him.  He said there should be no reason for a player to go somewhere else when they were playing to the best fans.  Yet here he is now gone.  He says in a letter that his home is in St. Louis.  But will that change too?  It hurts me to say that I believe Albert Pujols is a liar.  I really do not know the whole story and hope I never do.  Only God knows the purpose.

Albert Pujols will probably never have a large statute in front of Busch stadium next to Stan Musial.  He will never be known as the greatest Cardinal ever.  Heck he won’t even be known as the greatest Angel ever.  That distinction goes to Tim Salmon.  A man who spent all 14 of his seasons with the Angels.  Albert will be more like Nolan Ryan, Reggie Jackson, and Rod Carew.  They are all hall of famers that spend time with the Angels but made their names with other teams.

Do you know that only the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees won more games than the Cardinals in Pujols’ first 11 years?  Will the Angels come in third for the next 10?  Probably not.  They do have one heck of a pitching staff but they look like the San Francisco Giants when Barry Bonds was at his steroided best.  He is surrounded by a bunch of older guys in the lineup with some promising young guys that now will be playing out of position.  Albert goes from being protected by Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman to now being protected by an aging Torii Hunter.  That doesn’t make sense to me.  Remember that Albert is playing with a partially torn ligament in his right elbow, messed up feet, and knees that are hurting from the additional weight his body has put on over the years.

I am also disappointed in some of the reactions from Cardinals Nation.  I have unfollowed a few sportswriters and personalities on Twitter because of their hurtful and just plain mean comments.  I was shocked that some people I respect and hoped they were Christians told Albert to don’t let the door hit you.  Those are the nicest words I will put on here.  Be bigger than that Cardinals Nation.  The name on the front of the jersey is more important than the one on the back.

Albert Pujols gave the Cardinals the best first 11 years any player has ever had.  The Cardinals have now maybe 21 million dollars to spend on other players.  I have heard talk that they may be in on names like Jimmy Rollins (wants a longer contract than the Cardinals are willing to offer), Carlos Beltran (who I never thought I would see in a Cardinals uniform), Michael Cuddyer (hear he’s a good guy), and even former Cardinals Ryan Ludwick could come back.  I want to make it clear that I am a St. Louis Cardinals fan.  No one player can top that.  Even the 1964 Cardinals won the World Series the year after Stan Musial retired.

Earlier today, three NBA teams had a trade in the works that would have in theory made each team better.  The NBA commissioner blocked the trade because the small market New Orleans Hornets would have lost Chris Paul and he is more valuable to the NBA with the Hornets.  NBA owners are saying that you need a guy to market their team.  This is why I love the St. Louis Cardinals and Cardinals Nation.  I was born bleeding Cardinals Red and forever will be a Cardinals fan no matter what player is on the team.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Permalink
5 Comments

I’m a Muppet of a Man

Posted by Jeff White on November 30, 2011 in Life, Whatever

Ok, let me say I really really enjoyed the movie ‘The Muppets’.  If you saw my Facebook comment on it right afterwards, I called it ‘The best movie of all time’.  After a bit of reflection and being talked down to earth by my wife, I will have to say that it is now just one of the best movies I have ever seen.  Really, you might ask?  Yes, really.  The movie made me laugh, cry, and laugh some more.  I got such pure joy of seeing The Muppets on the big screen again, I am that excited.  Now if you haven’t seen this movie yet, I highly recommend it (shock) for adults actually more than kiddos.  However, if you have been a smart parent like me and you have educated your child on the three seasons of ‘The Muppet Show’ on DVD or taken them to see ‘Muppet Vision 3-D’ at Disney Hollywood Studios in the Walt Disney Resort in Florida, then the kids will be fine.  We saw a 7:30 pm show and the theatre was filled with a lot of college students.  For those who have not seen the movie yet, may I say ‘spoiler alert’ even though I hate that phrase.

Let me first give thanks to Jason Segel, for bringing his dream of making another Muppet movie to life.  It was 12 years between movies with Muppets in them and he didn’t want to go any longer.  It really is a classic story of how a group of friends need to get back together to remember why they are so special.  That’s the basic premise of the movie.  Add the fact that Jason plays Gary who grew up with his brother Walter (who is a Muppet) as the biggest Muppets fans on the planet.  Gary and his girlfriend Mary (lame but funny name) who is played by Amy Adams are supposed to go on a getaway toLos Angelesto be alone on their anniversary but Gary bought an extra bus ticket for Walter, so all three go.  This starts the first musical portion of the movie, ‘Life’s a Happy Song’, and you see a peek of the cameos that are coming as Mickey Rooney has one.  I didn’t read any of the reviews on the movie other than knowing it was supposed to be awesome, so I had no clue who else I would see in this movie.  Boy would I be in for more surprises.

The threesome decides they are going to tour Muppets Studio first when they arrive inLos Angelesand they find it old and run down.  The tour guide suggests to Walter that Kermit’s office is the best place to see and he sneaks off to see it.  While there, Tex Richman and the bad guys come in and say they are going to tear down the studios because there is oil below it.  Walter, who is now hiding under the desk, hears this and a screaming scene happens until he calms down and to tell Gary and Mary that they need to get the Muppets back together.  They go visit Kermit and after some coaxing and another song, he agrees and they are off in a car driven by an 80’s robot.

They find Fozzie Bear in Reno playing with a bad Muppet tribute Band called ‘The Moopets’.  Good to see Dave Grohl playing drums as their version of Animal.  They also find Gonzo who makes toilets, Animal who is in a mental rehab place with anger management issues, and travel by map to get Miss Piggy in France.  She originally turns them down but because of another song, later decides to join them.

The Muppets, now together again find out they only have like two days to get the ten million dollars needed to save the studios.  They decide they need to do a telethon and pitch the idea to the networks.  The last network they visit has a two hour cancellation that same time, so they get their air time for the show.  Of course they clean the theatre to music and kidnap Jack Black to be their celebrity host.  Before the telethon begins, Mary decides to go back home and leaves Gary with Walter hours before the telethon.  The best song of the move comes next.  ‘Man or Muppet’ is where I get this blog title. Garydecides he needs to be a man to get Mary, but he still needs to be fun loving and youthful so he is a Muppet of a man.  Walter decides he needs to be strong yet be the Muppet he was meant to be; hence he is a very manly Muppet.  The human version of Walter is played by Jim Parsons, who stars as Sheldon Cooper on ‘The Big Bang Theory’.  Love that show.  The whole theatre is laughing hysterically at this point.

The Muppets Barbershop Quartet performs ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, Gonzo gets a bowling ball stuck on his hand and Camilla and the Chickens perform ‘Forget You’.  This was laugh out loud funny to me because I saw Cee-Lo Green’s award show performance earlier this year when he performed with knock off Muppets, if you saw it you would understand.  Anyway, Kermit and Miss Piggy make up and perform ‘Rainbow Connection’ as a duet and Walter decides to perform ‘The Whistling Caruso’ and he is recognized now as a Muppet.  Mary and Gary make it back in time to save the show from the bad guys.  (Gotta love traveling by map.)  The bad guy says they were too late and the stars all walk outside saddened but are greeted by thousands of fans who welcome them back and cheer them on.  Gary asks Mary to marry him and she answers with ‘Mah Na Mah Na’  The rest of those who have cameos join in and all is well after Tex Richman decides to give the studios back to the Muppets after Gonzo hits him in the groin with the bowling ball that just became unstuck.  Gotta love the happy ending.

You absolutely gotta love the fact that a well written musical made over $30 million opening weekend.  But remember, this is ‘The Muppets’.  I think they are relevant again if they never were before.  I believe the Muppets never went away and they will never go away.  I love them all, but I think the cook and comedian in me makes ‘The Swedish Chef’ my favorite.  I am fine with the fact that I am a big kid.  I am fine with the fact that I am youthful inside and have come to grips that I am a Muppet of a Man…

Almost me as a Muppet

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Permalink
Leave a comment

Songs, Muppets, and Thanks

Posted by Jeff White on November 22, 2011 in Life, Whatever

Many people know that I have a ‘different’ taste in music.  I primarily listen to country, mix in the lovely 80’s, whatever is on the variety station, and add a touch of weirdness.  Mainstream radio is not always my friend and I wish they would just stop talking and play more music, then I might not switch the channel on them.  If they played more music, maybe they would play more variety, but you never know.

In the past I have ranted on chat boards and Facebook my current choices for off the wall songs, so I figured I would do that here since I have started this blog.  All of these songs may not be current but they are songs you should give a listen to.

Eye Candy by Curtis & Luckey (1) – This song is just fun.  Talks about a single guy who is looking at girls and they remind him of candy.  Purely a song that is just that, fun.

Smokin’ Hot Wife by Sawyer Brown (2) – Who knew these guys had another song out there?  Another fun song that all of our wives want us to sing.

Red Solo Cup by Toby Keith (3) – Ok so I am doing a bunch of fun songs so far.  The video to this song is awesome with lots of cameos.  The Warren Brothers helped write the song and appear in the video.  I have only heard this song once on the radio but I know it is tearing up iTunes.  If you have ever been to one of our smores nights, we use red solo cups.

One More Drinkin’ Song by Jerrod Neiman (4) – This is my favorite song on the radio right now.  I will take a Marga-daquiri-screw-olada-on the beach any day.  Ok, I must be in a fun mood for this go around, so I will keep that theme on the last one too.

Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me by Weird Al Yankovic (5) – Now I love Weird Al.  I have been a close personal friend of his since before Eat It.  I do like most of the songs on his latest album ‘Alpocalypse’ but this one is my favorite because of the video.  It is all words.  Those of you at a smores night earlier this fall late into the night watched it.  CNR, Skipper Dan, Party in the CIA, and of course Polka Face are also stellar songs and videos off this album.

So, continuing on the fun thought, I really hope everyone, and I mean everyone, not just kids, goes to see ‘The Muppets’.  I have been really looking forward to this movie.  I just have no clue when I am going to see it this weekend.  May have to pay full price to go see it so there won’t be as many 4 year olds in the theatre.  My personal favorite Muppet is the Swedish Chef.

Thank you to all that read my crazy writings.  I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving.  I am thankful for many things and people and I ask that you do the same thing that I hope to do this holiday season and make sure they all know it…

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Permalink
6 Comments

Google Yourself

Posted by Jeff White on November 16, 2011 in Whatever

Have you ever Googled yourself?  I mean have you gone onto www.google.com (1) and typed in your name and hit search?  Some people recommend that you do this to keep up on what may be considered the fact or fiction posted on the World Wide Web.  You can even set up Google alerts and get an email each day if your name ever pops up in a news story.  A media relations buddy of mine does this just to see if his name is out there anywhere.  I am going to sign up to get weekly emails because there are lots of people out there with my name.

What about the Jeff White who is an artist?  His website is www.jeffwhiteart.com (2).  He paints about items in nature that relate to things that affect him.  Apparently there is a Jeff White in Las Vegas, Nevada that is a custom jeweler.  His website is www.jeffreywhite.com (3).  He apparently has a cool jewelry lab that can make fancy things.  I like shiny things, so I might look him up whenever I stop by Vegas.  This next guy gives me the willies.  He is also a Jeffrey C. White and he is a Research Entomologist.  What the heck is that?  It’s a bug guy. www.bedbugcentral.com/about/profile.cfm/jeff-white (4) He works for a company called Bedbug Central and hosts Bedbug TV.  This guy treats bed bugs.  You know those little guys that were in the news last night and that your Grandma warned you about.  Eww.  There are a couple photographers out there.  www.jeffsphotos.com (5) and www.jeffwhitephotographer.com (6).  Each of them does some nice work.

Other more famous Jeff White’s included a movie visual effects guy www.imdb.com/name/nm1578635/ (7), and a musician www.jeffwhitemusic.net (8).  Now these guys are pretty cool, but I think I have found my three favorite other me’s.  This first guy is an Australian Rules Football Player and apparently one of the premier ruckman in the league for the Melbourne Football Club.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_White (9) I bet this guy is huge in Australia.

Then you have this group of other Jeff’s.    www.santabarbarasurfer.com/index.php/news/article/santa_barbara_legend_jeff_white/ (10) speaks of a legend in Santa   Barbara who touched many people.  www.bu.edu/recognizes/gift-impact/scholarship-fellowship/white-scholarship/ (11) talks about a man who left this world way too early and fulfilled his final wish.  His parents then decided to honor him.  I know I will make my own mark on this wonderful world still, but just to honor these men’s names would be awesome.

Now I also found real estate agents, mixed martial artists, a knife guy, car dealers, mechanics, heck even doctors.  Google came up with 84,400,000 results in just .29 seconds.  What is out there on your name?

 

Tags: , Permalink
2 Comments

Things I Just Don’t Understand

Posted by Jeff White on November 9, 2011 in Life, Whatever

Well baseball season is over, but there are still a lot of things that need to be decided in St. Louis Cardinals baseball.  So I am gonna go away from them for a blog here to cover a few things I just don’t get.  Now let me be straight with you all. I am not the sharpest stone in the river, but I can usually explain a lot of things with ease.  My son may have more college credit than me when he graduates high school.

On October 1st, Occupy St. Louis plopped themselves down in Kiener Plaza here in downtown St. Louis.  On Monday November 7th, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay announced that the city is going to enforce the curfew law that these protestors have been breaking every night for the past six weeks.  The law states that the park where they are located cannot be occupied between the hours of 10 pm and 6 am.  I know they do not enforce it super close because many Cardinals fans have walked thru that park after a late game.  But these people have been living there in tents for six weeks openly breaking the law.  Let’s say a nice young couple staying at a downtown hotel went for a moonlit stroll and sat down in Kiener Plaza on a bench to see the beauty of the Gateway Arch at night.  If a St. Louis city police officer sees them he would shoo them on their merry way and not much would be thought of it.  But if I get a group of people together and pitch tents and stay about a month, that is just fine.  I get the right to assemble.  But please do it without breaking the law.

Moving on…  Let’s say you run an organization that has departments in it.  One of these departments organizes a group off undraisers, gets people from the whole organization involved in organizing and working the event then keeps the profits for themselves.  Then they, and only they, decide to where to spend the profits within the organization.  It could go to anything they see fit.  Wouldn’t it make more sense that whatever is made in the organization, no matter what department raises the money that said money would go to the whole organization or leadership to decide what to do with it?  I understand if the department did something like a bake sale to raise money for a trip somewhere and advertised that upfront.  Just blows my mind that people from outside of the department that work the events have little say where the profits go in the organization.

One thing that has bothered me for years is why radio stations start playing Christmas music the day after Halloween in St. Louis.  It’s not just one station, it’s two, because you have to compete.  Christmas time is my favorite time of the year but how many times do you want to hear Andy Williams sing a song when nobody will play his music the other ten months?  I am all for starting this idea even the week before thanksgiving, but geesh, November 1st?  Really?  Really?  Really?

Many many things bug me; these are just a few that cause me to bleed inside.  Please let me know what you think.

Tags: , , , , , , , Permalink
2 Comments

The St. Louis Cardinals Are Your 2011 World Series Champions!

Posted by Jeff White on October 31, 2011 in Baseball

Let me say that I am proud of you Cardinals Nation, you rose up!  99 percent of the people I have talked to said they stayed up to watch all of game six! My body picked a terrible night to get sick.  I watched the 8th inning on lying in bed with my head poking out over the covers.  I got to see it all though.  Wow, just wow!  I believe game six of the 2011 World Series may be the best World Series game I have ever seen.  It was not always the most well played game, but it was the hardest fought by both teams and my Cardinals came out on top.  Heck I would have been happy if they would have won the worst game in World Series history to advance to game seven, as long as they won.  The way the Cardinals battled back with walks, hits, and finally a final David Freese homerun proved to everyone that these Cardinals were passionate and hungry to win the World Series.

Game seven opened with the Rangers scoring two in the top of the first.  It hurt when that happened but during that, Yadier Molina picked off Ian Kinsler at first base, you knew the Cardinals weren’t done yet.  Those would also be the last runs Texas scored in the World Series.  David Freese drove in the first two runs in game seven.  When Yadi walked to score Allen Craig and Rafael Furcal was hit to score Albert Pujols, I knew the game was over.  Just had to deal with all the drama of the last outs of both teams.  The future of the Cardinals made the last three outs of the game.  Jon Jay caught the first out, Daniel Descalso threw to Pujols for the second, and Allen Craig caught the final out of the World Series.  The place went wild.  All of the twenty or so people that were over at our house went wild.  I heard that streets around the stadium downtown were gridlocked until three in the morning.  It was a great night in Cardinals Nation!

In 2006, we went and saw the parade.  We stood at the two corners and got great pictures.  In 2011, we decided to get tickets to go into the stadium and be a part of the victory celebration.  Since a friend of ours had her baby with her, this was the right decision.  The girls were in one set of seats and Josh and myself were in another.  The Clydesdales leading the World Series caravan was the major highlight to me.  It brought the history of the Cardinals together with the present.  I guess we were about 20 rows up, so I hope we got good pictures.

Earlier today, Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa decided to retire from managing.  I think the fact that he battled shingles earlier this year, watched pitching coach Dave Duncan’s wife get sick, being 67, and missing his youngest daughter grow up were all factors in this decision.  Tony becomes the first baseball manger to retire after winning the World Series.  The question for Tony and the Cardinals is what’s next?  Who is going to manage the Cardinals?  What about Albert Pujols?  The next few days here in St. Louis could be fun because even though they are no longer playing baseball games, baseball is sure not over yet.  Actually, baseball is year round when you reside in Cardinals Nation!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Permalink
Leave a comment

Rise Up Cardinals Nation!

Posted by Jeff White on October 25, 2011 in Baseball, Life

I have spent the last two nights with a group of friends that has included a Yankees fan.  He has to be that one guy in the crowd that goes against the system.  He has to be the one who wants to hold the spoon to stir the pot.  He was rooting for the Texas Rangers in my house.

This has been an interesting World Series so far.  I believe that with the right breaks here and there, the Cardinals could of already of won this World Series.  The first game greeted the World Series faithful with cold and drizzle most of the evening.  The ground was too wet for the Clysdales to go around the field at Busch Stadium.  Chris Carrpenter pitched well and Master Allen Craig hit a pinch hit off of Alexi Ogando in the 6th inning to score David Freese and the Cardinals held onto that 3-2 win.  In game two the same scenario presented itself and Craig won again and the Cardinals were up 1-0.  Jason Motte and the Cardinals bullpen could not hold the lead.  I personally don’t believe that Motte should not of been taking out because Josh Hamilton had not shown he could catch up to a high 90s fastball.  Rangers win 2-1.

I call game three ‘The Texas Pujols Massacre’.  Albert Pujols had one of those games that defines a career.  He became the third player (and first non New York Yankee) to hit three homeruns in a World Series game.  He finished the game with five hits, four runs scored, and six runs batted in.  Let me also give a little praise out to Yadier Molina who went 2 for 3 with 4 RBIs himself.  It was a glorious evening.  Josh and I spent that game with a buddy and some of his family and friends in his basement.  Saved me a lot of text messages since the guy I normally text during a game was sitting in the same room.

Game four was referred to by St. Louis radio personality Chris Duncan as ‘Derek Holland’s Opus’.  After scoring sixteen runs in game three, Holland held the Cardinals to two hits while striking out seven.  Those two hits were by Lance Berkman who was batting from his ‘inferior’ right handed side.  Holland was masterful and it turns out he is also quite funny doing Harry Caray and others during the game five broadcast.  The Rangers beat the Cardinals 4-0.

Game five was fairly painful to watch.  From the not pleasant rendition of the National Anthem by Demi Navato to the twenty-two runners the Cardinals left on base.  Yeah I said twenty-two.  You can’t win a game leaving that many runners on unless your pitcher is masterful and Chris Carpenter was just that for pretty much seven innings.  The bullpen could not hold the game together and apparently there was a problem with the phones from the dugout to the bullpen.  Really?  Former Cardinals pitcher Mark Mulder even said that Tony LaRussa has used a cell phone in the past to call down there when they weren’t sure who was warming up.  Why didn’t they do that last night?Heck why didn’t they call time and send one of the guys sitting on bench down to the bullpen to make sure the right guy was ready?  I dunno.  Let’s move on.

In the 1982 World Series, the Cardinals were down 3-2 to the Milwaukee Brewers coming home to St. Louis.  Rookie John Stuper took the Cardinals on their back and the Cardinals won game six and they came together as a team to win game seven.  In the 2004 NLCS, Brandon Backe and Brad Lidge held the Cardinals to one hit in game five and the Cardinals came back to win game six and seven at home.  I was at that game six.  I hugged many of strangers that night thanks to Jim Edmonds.

See, it’s possible.  So rise up Cardinals Nation, come forth and give this team your loving support.  Show the World that you support your team no matter what.  Remember that they were 10.5 games out just about two months ago and now they are in the World Series!

Sign in my house headed to our basement

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Permalink