Slugger: Threat or Menace?

Lots of topics for a Sunday night

1) So I was at the Royals game this weekend where they were celebrating Slugger the Royals mascot tenth birthday. Given that Slugger is the best thing going for the Royals right now it was a pretty big celebration. That said, someone did raise the following point. The Royals have had one winning season in Slugger’s ten year reign as mascot and, well, you just have to expect more out of your mascot. So since we’ve already fired coaches and general managers I’m now thinking that Slugger should make sure that his resume is up to date.

2) That said, it’s got to be tough to be the upbeat mascot for a team that is competing for the worst record in the history of baseball. It’s got to get tiring. You can even tell it in the voice of the Royals announcer, who seems to start drinking in the second inning. I’ll go into more detail on this in a few weeks when I go to live blog a game at the K. The idea is I’m just going to take a random Tuesday night game and go to the park and keep notes. No, I will not be bringing my laptop though I expect people will wonder who the guy with the notebook is. I’ll just claim that they closed the press box for lack of interest.

3) Watched a good amount of the World Cup. Watched England score their only goal by having Beckham hit a guy on the other team with the ball. And Mexico beat Iran, which I know makes my friends in the mafia happy. They are probably also looking forward to Mexico’s next game against Angola. Personally, I’m holding off on judgment on Mexico’s team until they play a nation that I’m confident actually has grass.

4) Still, best moment so far were the shots of the crowd after Sweden and Trinidad and Tobago played to a nil-nil draw. (Trinidad and Tobago are one squad, which seems to be entirely unfair. Can any country decide to compete as a tag team). Anyway, after the final whistle they show the stadium and you see the Trinidad fans jumping up and down in celebration while the Swedish fans are crying in disbelief. This despite the fact that the game was a zero-zero tie. Yes, you can have exhilaration and desolation in a game in which technically nothing ever happened. This is why American’s will never get soccer.

5) Forgot to mention this about game 1 of the NBA Finals. Jack Ingram sang the national anthem, which was really disconcerting to me since I was in a bar at the time and looked at the TV and went, “Wait a minute, I’ve drank with that guy.” Again, people I am fans of should not be allowed to become famous. Or at most be like Liz Phair and sing a horribly off-key version of America the Beautiful at the World Series.

6) Finally, I picked up The Ditty Bops new CD and it said “Catch their Bicycle Tour 2006” on a sticker so I hit their website to find out what was up. And they are going to tour in support of their new album by riding cross country on bicycles and playing in cities along the way. I am not making this up, go to www.thedittybops.com and see for yourself. I’ve heard a lot of touring stories over the years but this is a new one. That said, if someone asked me to name a band who would decide that cycling across country would be a good way to promote their new disc my answer would probably be: The Ditty Bops.

The five random CDs of the week:
1) Richard Buckner “Impasse”
2) The Dirty Dozen Brass Band “Open Up: Whatcha Gonna Do For the Rest Of Your Life”
3) Scott Miller and the Commonwealth “Thus Always to Tyrants”
4) Bruce Robison “Wrapped”
5) The Sundays “Static and Silence”