GAME DAY: Holy crap, sunlight!

Rogues @ Mr. Electric
Sunday, May 31, 2009
5:00pm @ Queensway Diamond

Well, for the first time this season, the Rogues will play a game in the sun! Our previous 5 games have all been 9:00 pm starts, and our 7pm start last Thursday was rained out. Will be an interesting transition. It's also our first game away from the Blackburn Arena this season, as we play our first of 3 at the Queensway Diamond, located near the telesat building off Blair, across the highway from the Gloucester Centre.

But it's not completely unfamiliar territory tonight. We held our only practice at this diamond, and our opponents tonight are Mr. Electric (formerly The Blues, formerly Satlink) who will be out for blood after our upset win to start the year. Rogues fans will remeber this game as one where we trailed 3-2 after 6, got down 8-2 at the top of the 7th, and came backto win 9-8 in a stunning 7-run 7th. Don't expect the Electrics to take this game lightly.

Tonight should also be an interesting match-up, as no less than 12 Rogues are expected to make an appearance. Only Chris Fauteux, who's out of town, will be absent. With 4 pitchers, it should definitely be an interesting game. Look for the Rogues to put on a good performance at the plate after only scoring 1 run last time, and keeping our heads above water in the standings by adding a 4th win.

Look for a summary tonight or tomorrow morning.

M@

ROGUES UPDATE: Blue Jay Way

We seem to be mirroring the Toronto Blue Jays almost to a tee, with their hot streak ending around the same time ours has. Two teams, currently mired in a slump, who began the season on an unbelievable hot streak, far greater than their critics would have suggested.

The worst of it was an absolute slugfest with The Good Ol' Boys, to the tune of a 12-11 loss. We led twice in this game, once 8-4, and another time 11-8. Sadly, pitching and defense was our downfall. My own pitching was brutal, arguably the worst start I've had in 3 years. Gave up 4 runs in the first, and 4 more in the 3rd. Embarrassing. Not sure what went wrong on the mound, but one or two guys remarked it seemed like I was taking something off my throws, and trying to aim it too much, instead of just firing it like early in the season.

Well, I took this into the next game, and while I wasn't scheduled to throw, I did pick up 2 innings of relief work ina 7-1 loss to the Guzzlers. I entered the game at 5-1 in the 6th, and surrendered 2 runs, (1 earned) but picked up a strike-out on a solid hitter, and had a 3-up, 3-down 7th to boot. Felt much better, got my control back....night and day compared to my previous outing. Unfortunately, the Guzzlers have 2 very solid pitchers, who've given up a total of 8 runs through 5 games this season, and 10 of our 11 players picked up a strike-out. (Oddly, out last batter didn't K). We've had lots of strike-outs in the past, but it was depressing this time around considering we went into the game leading the league in offense.

Bah well, onwards and upwards. Thursday night, should the skies hold up, we face the Knights, who're the only team we've never beaten. Then on Sunday we have the early game against Mr. Electric, the team we mounted an impossible 6-run come-back in our second game of the year.

In the meantime, keep tuning into http://roguematt.5u.com/rogues for all your up-to-date Rogues info, and http://www.bmfl.ca/, (thank yours truly for the BMFL website's new look) for any league related news.

M@

GAME DAY: Rogues @ Good Ol' Boys

Rogues @ Good Ol' Boys

Thursday, May 21, 2009

9:00 PM - Blackburn Arena

Tonight take their 3-0 record on the road as the green side play their first road game of the season. Their adversaries are the hard-hitting Good Ol' Boys, who's 1-2 record is not indicative of their power, and defensive prowess. While not blessed with the most dominating pitching, their staff is more than capable of holding opponents at bay and keeping their teams in it. It will be interesting to see what kind of an effort the Rogues put up tonight.

After going 3-0 to start the year, the Rogues have had to endure a 9 day layoff. Our bats have been as hot as ever, especially at the beginning of the season where the Rogues have NEVER enjoyed success. It will be very interesting to see if they can build on their momentum, or will the time between games mean cobwebs?

Cox is probable for getting the start on the mound tonight with Musicka working very effectively ina relief role for the team. Look for Wilson to get the start no Sunday vs the Guzzlers, a team he dominated in 2008, going 3-0.

See you tonight!

M@

Grading the Season Finales

OK. Not sports or even GM related, but I thought I'd share my long-winded thoughts on some of the TV season (and in one case Series) Finales. Enjoy. Or don't. Whatev.

AMERICAN IDOL
I’m leading off with this show, not because it was the best one (far from it) but because it affords me the opportunity to brag. I CALLED IT. Kris Allen wins, upsetting the heavily favored Adam Lambert. With 8 people left in the show, I predicted Allen would win. "America will NOT let another Archuleta lose" was my quote. Last season the 12 year old girls of the USA were devastated when David Cook beat David Archuleta. They were NEVER gonna let that happen again, so I had a gut feeling the baby-faced Allen would survive over glam-rocker Lambert. Now, I brag because I was right, but don’t be confused. The wrong person DEFINITELY won, as Allen was talented, but Lambert was head and shoulders above and beyond anyone else on the show this season. It shouldn’t have been close, and America got it wrong this season. Plus all the lucky contestants got to sing along with classic rock legends like Queen, KISS, Santana, and Steve Martin. C-

THE OFFICE
The Office wound things down in fairly typical fashion. A Company Picnic where the Scranton branch went toe toe toe with other branches in a beach volleyball tournament. While it gave the opportunity for Dwight to be Dwight, Meredith to do her thing, Pam to do something unexpected, etc etc, it wasn’t as fall-down hilarious as many of the episodes this season, concentrating more on Michael and how he would react by seeing Holly again. (For the uninformed, Holly was transferred early in the season by Corporate after she and Michael started dating.) The reunion was as cheesy and awkward as one would expect from the show, as their sketch of "SlumDunder Mifflinaire" was both squirmingly awkward and funny, and had an unexpected and chaotic finish. (Add to the pile another instance where in real life, Michael Scott would be fired on-spot). At any rate, the show sacrificed laughs for plotline, but it was good plotline, and the surprise ending with Jim and Pam was well done. For an regular episode of the Office, I’d give this one a B+, but as a finale, I’d have to go A.

SURVIVOR
This show is amazing. After 18 years of fundamentally the exact same format, it never gets old for me. Human nature at it’s best. It never lies, despite the amount of actual lying and backstabbing that goes on. The most honest and emotional part of the series was Stephen admitting he’d have taken Erinn to the finals. I don’t think JT was that good of an actor. There was real heartbreak on his face there, no matter what he says in the reunion show about pretending to be upset to sway the jury. I’m sure he and Stephen are best friends now, since time heals all wounds, and it’s been months since they left the island, but for me, it’s the true human nature that makes the show so riveting, and infuriating. The next day, they were showing a Season One marathon on TVtropolis. I watched a few episodes. Remarkable how, aside from production value, the core of the show is exactly the same, yet no less watcheable. Even knowing the results of the show I found myself drawn in. One of my alltime favourite shows. I’d do Survivor in a second if given the opportunity, though my wife says I’d last no more than 3 days. I don’t necessaily disagree. A.

HOUSE
Second last episode, House finally seals the deal with Cuddy after almost 5 seasons. Come to find out he’s losing his mind as his addiction to Vicodin is messing with his mind, and it turns out the affair was a dream, or a hallucination. The visions of Amber return in the last act, along with Kutner too, and the episode, and season, end with House checking into a psychiatric hospital. I kind of always thought this was how the series would end, not just a season, but it should be interesting to see what direction they take next season. Is House still in the psych ward? Do we get to see his interaction with other crazy people? Or does his trip to rehab cure his addiction to pain meds, and he comes back to Princeton Plainsboro a new man? Considering the show’s fairly rigid story arc from episode to episode, I don’t expect things to change too much next season. Overall, I wasn’t a huge fan of the "it was all a hallucination" twist, but it ended well, which is what you want out of a finale, so I got to give it an A-. Oh, and Cameron and Chase got married.

24
This season was up and down for me at times. Every episode was ludicrous, but it was at it’s best when it felt like I was watching The Fugitive, as Jack Bauer struggled to not only save the world, again, but also avoid getting apprehended for being framed for murder. Some good stuff there. The Finale did all the things a frustrating but successful finale should do. Tie up the immediate stuff, but leave the ongoing serial stuff as a cliff-hanger. Will Jack live after being exposed to the nukes? Will his daughter be able to save him? Will the red headed chick go off the handle and torture the bad guy? What’ll happen with Tony? I guess we’ll have to tune in next season. A solid B+.

PRISON BREAK
I confess I did not see the finale of the show, but since I did follow the show all the way through, I’ll comment on the Episode summary I read online. Ummm, yikes. I think I would have been pretty pissed had I watched it. It did all the things a Series finale should do. It righted all wrongs, all the bad guys ended up dead or in jail. All the good guys got exonerated. They brought back series regulars from seasons past (Sucre, C-Note and Kellerman in a shocking twist). But what pissed me off the most was that the whole reason people watched the show was to see Michael and Linc go free. Not Michael and Linc go free but Michael dies soon after from some genetic illness he supposedly shared with his mom. It felt like a kick in the crotch after putting up with a mostly exhausting 4th season. (Not as bad as season 3 in Taco Hell, but pretty bad. Seasons 1 and 2 were what the show was supposed to be. It should have ended soon after. Killing the main character in the final sequence was a horrible decision. No one would have cared if it was Linc that died But why Michael. D.

LOST
Once again Lost answers a question and poses 3 more. Typical fare for the mystery series, as one character is left to certain death, the island supposedly gets blown up, and if everything went according to Jack, everyone should end up back the way the series started, on an airplane, heading safely to LA. Why do I get the feeling that come January 2010, we’ll find out this is not infact what happened. I won’t even begin to theorize what’ll happen next as there are Lost fans out there that will tear me to shreds. I long ago gave up trying to piece everything together, and just try to enjoy it on a show-to-show basis. Half a year off before a new season will give me time to clear my head and get ready for the final season. B

SNL
Since Will Ferrell was host, and it was Daryl Hammond's last show, they did one last Celebrity Jeodardy. "And finally, we have Sean Connery with a score of 69." "I scored in a 69 with your mother last night Trebek!" Classic. Don't really remember any of the other sketches. Doesn't matter. A++

WORTH MENTIONING:
I also saw the finales to 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation. They came off mostly as normal episodes, not really like finales, but solid nonetheless. I also saw the season finale of Big Bang Theory, where the gang’s heading up to the Arctic for the next few months. Well, oddly this was the first ever epiosde of this show I’ve ever watched. And will likely be my last. Ever since I first saw The Office and Arrested Development, and after that 30 Rock, My Name is Earl, Parks and Rec, etc, etc, I just can’t get into a laugh-track comedy. How shows like Sit Down, Shut Up die because of ratings, but tired sitcoms like Rules of Engagement, Til' Death and every other horrible CBS and ABC sitcom live on stiffles me. I guess it’s why I’ll never work in television.

M@

PS. Family Guy and Simpsons were OK. Kinda disappointing for finales. Plus I slept through parts.

GAME DAY: Rogues vs Warriors

Warriors @ Rogues

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

9:00 PM - Blackburn Arena

The Rogues take their undefeated record (2-0) into tonight's game against the winless expansion Warriors (0-2). The Warriors have had a rough go of it out of the gate, dropping their inaugural BMFL contest to Mr. Electric 8-1, then dropping another contest 11-3 to the offesively gifted Good Ol' Boys.

The Rogues are coming off one of their biggest games in their 11 year existance, coming back from a 6-run deficit in the 7th inning. It will be interesting to see whether the Rogues can ride this momentum, or has a week-long layoff been enough to cool the engines? One thing's for sure, it's going to be a long season if the Rogues get into the habit of surrendering 5 runs late in the game.

Look for better offense more spread out during the game, the same tight defense, and possibly a tighter leash on the pitchers.

M@

GAME SUMMARY: Rogues vs Mr. Electric

Mikey! Mikey! Mikey!
Walk-off comeback win leaves Mr. Electric singing The Blues

Mr. Electric 8
Rogues 9

May 5, 2009

This will have to go down as one of the biggest games in Rogues history. A close affair featuring lots of small-ball and strategy, until the 7th, when things got ridiculous. You really had to be there.

Cox took to the mound top of one, and got off to a less than desirable start, surrendering a smoked single to the Mr. Electric leadoff batter. Luckily, a line drive to short resulted in a pick off over at 1, and the Rogues were 2 outs with no one on. That's when Gary Larocque smashed a solo shot to right. The Rogues responded in the bottom half as Wilson hit a leadoff single, and Rob moved him over to second with a sac bunt. Wilson then moved to third on a pass ball, while Barry drew a walk and stole second. Fauteux then cashed Wilson with a groundout, tying the game.

The former Blues responded in the 2nd with an ROE and a single to take the lead. Things stayed this way til the 4th. Cox got into trouble after getting one out, he loaded up the bases. Musicka came into the game at this point and shut the door, saving the game, and Cox's ERA in the process!

Mr Electric would collect another run in the 5th on 2 singles, to make it 3-1. Bottom of 6, and the Rogues would scratch back one more run, as Peters reached base on a fielders choice, and was cashed by a huge triple by Musicka.

Top of 7, and Musicka surrenders a solo shot to Nick Bowman, extending their lead to 4-2. After striking out Larocque (clearly feeling the effects of a huge collision with Matt Peters in the 6th!), all hell kinda broke loose. A walk, followed by 6 consecutive singles, all of which were hit into little holes, or infield hits beating out the throw, poor Chucky had no luck as Mr. Electric poured it on. (It should be noted that by the time it got to 7-2, the Blues had eased up and stopped any attempts to steal home, which they very likely could have. This display of good sportsmanship would unfortunately come back to haunt them.) Wilson came into the game with 1 out, and collected the last 2 outs in about 7 pitches.

Bottom 7, and the Rogues are now batting for fun, to get some BP and work on their hitting. Mike Edmunds leads things off with a solid stroke up the middle. Wilson delivers a single, and Robbie singles to load them up for Barry. Emmerson hits a 2 run single, and Fauteux follows it up with a 1-run blooper. Chuck would cash Barry with a hit, and Fauteux would come in on an over-throw, cutting our deficit to one. Cox would tie the game with a ground-out to first, where the 1st baseman threw home to try and get Nick charging home, instead of recording the out. Nick beat the throw, sliding home and tying things at 8. After PB reached on error, Mikey Edmunds came to the plate for the second time in the 7th. With the bases loaded and one out, Mikey smacked a single to left field to cash Chucky and win the game and the impossible comeback for the Rogues!

Well, it took til our 11th season, but for the very first time, the Rogues have begun a season 2-0! Amazing we've never pulled the feat off in our history. But it was well-earned. Hopefully the Rogues can continue this mind-set heading into their next game vs the expansion Warriors next Tuesday at 9:00pm

GAME SUMMARY: Rogues vs Exit A's

Rogues solid in home opener
Tie A's 1-1, but win through technicality.

Well, it wasn't the way the Rogues wanted to get their first win of the season, but it was still a fun night, and a good start to the season.

Exit A's only had 5 players from their current roster. Utilizing 3 spares, they had enough to field a team. Unfortunately, the rules state you need 6 Roster players to make the game official. A tough break for the A's, for sure.

With only Emmerson not in the line-up, the Rogues fielded 12 players on the night. Cox took to the mound against the A's and got off to a less than desireable start, getting his one beanball per season out of the way with the first batter. Cox would settle down and K the next batter, and followed that up with a walk, another K and another walk to load them up. A ground out to Brad at 3rd ended the threat.

The Rogues had a much easier second and 3rd, allowing no runs on 1 hit as Chuck came into the game in the 3rd. In the 4th, the Rogues gave up 1 unearned run to give the A's the lead.

Bottom 5 and the Rogues would tie things up. Peters drew a 1-out walk, and moved to 3rd on a solid hit by Lalonde. Chuck would then reach on error to drive in the run to tie things up. That's where the offense shored up. Kevin pitched a solid 5th, and Jim Blakely came in to throw the 6th and 7th to shut'er down.

Great first game, looking forward to getting right back at it Tuesday night against Mr. Electric.

Read this game summary and much more Rogues information at the Official Rogues website: www.roguematt.5u.com/rogues

GAME DAY: Rogues Season Opener vs Exit A's

Rogues vs Exit Realty A's

Sunday, May 3, 9:00

Blackburn Arena Diamond

Anatomy of a game day, part TWO.

12:35: Bring gigantic equipment bag downstairs. Clean 5 batting helmets covered in sand and dust. Air dry on basement floor. Have Jays game on while doing this. Very exciting stuff. I can't believe I'm blogging about it.

1:00: Chill out and watch Jays.

3:00: Laura returns home from dress shopping. M@ grabs quick bite to eat, Nathan gets up, and dad heads out on a spending spree!

3:30: Hit the beer store for a case of beer for tonight's big game, hit Staples to buy card stock for score sheets, and some pens (we always seem to lose pens. Again....I'm blogging about this. Incredible.) Then it's over to Wal-Mart to buy a sleep noise machine for Laura - but they're out. Then $190 on groceries. Cripes. How can something so small make the grocery bill so big?

5:00: Return home with piles of groceries.

5:05: Play with Nathan in living room and basement while Laura tends to dinner and puts away food. Kid becomes increasingly annoyed with everything. Constant whine begins.

6:45: Dinner. Pork Chops and brocoli are good, but little guy has not stopped whining for a couple hours straight now. Teething's a biatch. Poor little guy.

7:30: Whining has evolved into all out temper tantrum / cry-fest. Mom & Dad wrestle him into his PJs and get him ready for bed. Laura finally gets him to sleep.

8:00: Dad, now one hour removed from opening pitch, begins cleaning kitchen. Gigantic mess. But, in 10 minutes, I do a serviceable job straightening it up. Laura comes down to finish up, I go get my uniform on and head out.

8:15: I'm on the road to Blackburn, after a very tiring day of parenting.

8:40: Arrive at Blackburn Arena. Only to find out the lights are off!!! NOOOOOooooooo!!!

8:50: After 5 minutes of complaining with teammates, we discover someone from the City is coming to turn the light on after all. Thank Jeebus.

9:15: Lights are on. Game on!

GAME DAY: Rogues Season Opener vs Exit A's

Rogues vs Exit Realty A's
Sunday, May 3, 9:00
Blackburn Arena Diamond

Anatomy of a game day:

6:30: Wake up. Not because of the excitement of it being game day, but because almost-one-year-old Nathan decides to wake up, and mommy decides daddy will watch him while mommy sleeps in. Makes sense to daddy.

8:30: Mommy rolls out of bed, daddy goes for a shower while mommy watches the little guy.

9:30: Mom leaves to go bridesmaid dress shopping for her friends wedding in the fall.

10:10: Dad pops Nathan into the Kia Sedona and heads to Timmies.

10:30: Dad and jr return from said trip, and dad enjoys coffee, breakfast sammich and choc chip muffin (Game day staples) while Nathan plays with his brand new empty timmies cup. So many toys, and this is what he wants.

10:50: Head out on walk around the neighbourhood. Must work off Timmies breakfast. Nathan is happy for most of the walk.

11:14: Put cranky Nathan into high chair, and begin feeding him. Corn, green bean mush, yogurt with blueberries, mushed up egg yolk, milk. Decide I will not have the same lunch as Nathan.

11:50: Clean up messy yogurt-covered child, take him upstairs, change diaper, wrap him in sleep sack, rock him to sleep.

12:15: Decide I need to go through my teams equipment bag and make sure everything's in order for tonight's big game. But before doing that, decide to procrastinate, grab a Gatorade, and do a blog post.

(Anatomy of a Game Day will continue tomorrow....)