...and I said what about a necklace from Tiffany’s?

Going to the Chapel ...

I definitely fell asleep last night before the White Sox won in 2-1 in extra innings. I can’t complain though, because I have not been able to fall asleep lately.

I (the Kanticides) am still in 1st place in my Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball league.

My cousin just told me that my other (23-year-old) cousin is getting engaged. I must say that I am a bit jealous. I stress “bit”. I’m not particularly jealous of per se, but of the whole idea of getting it “out of the way”. Anyway, unnamed cousin was taking pictures of the engagement rings of everyone who was at a family gathering I missed this weekend. I think it was to be sure that hers was bigger. She is marrying her on-again-off-again multi-millionaire boyfriend with whom she breaks up multiple times per year. Which reminds me…

Last night I was talking to my friend Craig from Cleveland on instant messenger; I asked him if he wanted to get married eventually and he said “yes, of course”. That really surprised me, but it got me thinking about marriage as a custom. Why should you have to get married to have kids? I could easily raise a child more efficiently alone than with someone to whom I am married that doesn’t give a shit. He’d just make it more difficult.

Also, should love be the main reason to marry someone? I would not have a difficult time marrying a person for whom I only had tepid feelings. Making each other happy is more important. I used Craig’s parents as an example as they have been married for many years. I wondered if Craig’s mother would be capable of loving the man in line in front of her at the grocery store more than she loves her husband. It is possible, isn’t it? Married people don’t know because they are fixed in a binding legal contract with each other.

My mother and father were miserable together. Though his girlfriend and my father are now “on the outs”, as he says, he was much happier with her than with my mom. Should they have stayed married even though they disliked each other? Or better yet, should they have gotten married in the first place? How does one measure another’s worthiness of being capable of staying in a solid, helpful, cooperative marriage?

Summer Fun

I start summer school next Monday. I'm taking a five-hour Anthropology Class called "The Human Adventure"; I'm sure it is going to f*cking SUCK.

I am thinking about going to Washington, DC for a weekend at the end of July. The Sox are playing Baltimore that weekend at Camden Yards. I want to stay near the Mall in DC or in Georgetown and hop a commuter to Baltimore for a game or two (or three!)

Is it just me or is Aaron Rowand striking out more than ever before.

Here's those long awaited hair pics that you've been e-mailing me about. I took these a few minutes after I got home from the appointment. Yes, I am wearing a Kerry Wood Cubs shirt in the photo. A friend bought it for me from a Salvation Army as a joke. I didn't care if it got bleached ;)

short message

I did care; I do care and probably will for a long time.



but good luck. I'll think about you when I'm at Filter or the next time I'm in a hospital.

I Don’t Think You Realize How Big This Really Is…

As you may or may not already know, this afternoon marks the beginning of the annual Cross-town Classic – Chicago Cubs vs. Chicago White Sox, North Side v. South Side or the Transplant Yuppies v. True Fans.

The White Sox lead the series 22-20 with a 13-8 record at home and 9-12 at Wrigley Field. The Cubs won last year's series 4-2 and swept the final three games at Wrigley. ... Twelve of the 42 games have been decided in the final at-bat.

The Sun-Times has given the Edge of the 3 game series starting in just over an hour to my very own Chicago White Sox.

Here’s MY break down:

First Base - Derek Lee over Paul Konerko. Lee’s .362 average & Golden Glove defensive capablitites surpass Konerko’s fridge-on-his-back speed and .211 batting average.
CUBS

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Second Base – Red Hot Tadahito Iguchi (better known as Gucci at Comiskey) gets the edge over Todd Walker’s (rehab assignment) replacement Jerry Hairston, Jr. Gucci is the only Sox hitter batting over .300.
SOX

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Third Base – This is debatable. Aramis Ramirez has been sucking it up lately on the field with his injuries, but Joe Crede is not much better even though he’s not injured. Crede’s batting .256 with 3 HR and 15 RBI while Ramirez is batting .248 with 7 homers and 18 runs batted in. I’d still take Crede in the field over Ramirez. Last year, this would not even be examined – it’d automatically go to Aramis.
TIE

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Shortstop - Garciaparra’s alleged ‘roids injury hasn’t really hurt the Cubs as he was hitting .157 with only 4 RBIs before he got hurt. Neifi Perez has done a good job replacing him and is better with the glove than the Sox’ Juan Uribe. My vote goes with Neifi.
CUBS

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Left Field – Scott Podsednik, my dream man #2 after Rowand, leads the league with 24 stolen bases. His average ain’t too shabby either at .283. Hollandsworth & Dubois Suck.
SOX

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Right Field – Jermaine Dye sucks. Anyone is better. Including Jeremy Burnitz.
CUBS


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Center Field – Aaron Rowand is on a streak with hits in his last 12 games. He’s way hotter than Corey Patterson, too (sorry had to say it). Corey may have a better arm, but I think Rowand covers more ground and definitely has his heart in it.
SOX

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Catcher – AJ Pierzynski deserves a lot of credit for the great start the White Sox pitching staff has had thus far. He gets my vote over Michael Barret. Barret had a rough start, but has been doing well in the month of May. AJ’s average is better than Michael’s; he’s hitting a bit under Barret with a .266 average with seven homers and 16 RBIs. He makes up for it on the defensive end.
SOX

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Pitching – I’d take 8-win-Garland, Buehrle, Freddy, Hermie (has not allowed a run this season, 9 for 9 in save attempts AND on my Fantasy team), El Duque, Mr. Zero over Head Case Zambrano, Wood, Ryan Dempster, Chad Fox and Borowski (who the hell is that anyway) and everyone else the Cubs have tried ANY DAY OF THE WEEK
SOX BY FAR



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Managing – very objective, but Dusty Baker sucks. He’s not going to be around much longer. And screw his toothpick, too. Ozzie Ball seems to be working for the Sox. He has a bad mouth, but he shouldn’t have to park in the McDonald’s Parking lot on Addison during the Sox series at Wrigley. He’s gotta right to be pissed!
SOX

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I am wearing my Aaron Rowand jersey today at work. I just walked over to City Hall and got three high-fives for my attire. "You Go Girl!"

I can't wait 'til tomorrow!

“… and when it comes to baseball we’ve got two favorite clubs – the Go Go White Sox and whoever plays the Cubs” - Arranmore

Fuck Jay Mariotti

My favorite prick Jay Mariotti writes for the Chicago Sun-Times and is the definition of a Sox hater.

Somehow, sizzling Sox getting the job done

May 6, 2005

BY JAY MARIOTTI SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

You want to reach out and shake the White Sox just to confirm they're real, to make sure they aren't so many transparent Shoeless Joe Jacksons in ''Field of Dreams.'' That is the working curse, isn't it? If we always dwell on a goat in Cubdom, the fact is the Sox haven't won a World Series since they threw one in 1919, and any threat to such a wicked drought must stand the test of fraudulence.

So before I sit here on May 6 and recklessly say, sure, Hawkeroo, get that detached retina adjusted because the Sox are going all the way, allow me to remind you they've compiled 17 of their 21 victories against losing teams. And that six have come against the Kansas City Royals, baseball's losingest club and the only big-league flagship that might be inferior to its Class AAA affiliate. And that the Sox, for all their celebrated emphasis on manufacturing runs the right way, rank 24th in the majors in on-base percentage and -- imagine this -- dead last with a .217 average with runners in scoring position. And that 20 clubs have scored more runs so far. And that their two most accomplished run producers, Paul (.190) Konerko and Jermaine (.202) Dye, really stink right now.

I cite these numbers not to rile up the Blizzard of Oz and have him call me an Italian (bleep), but to remind everyone it's a long, long season amid a long, long history of Sox heartbreaks. The happy news is, this team is 21-7 despite its offensive problems, which suggests Ken Williams' daring transition to thinking-man's baseball -- Small Ball, Smart Ball, Snail Ball, Ozzie Ball, Anti-Magglio Ball, Ducksnort Ball -- is his most successful gamble yet in an otherwise lukewarm career as general manager. The shaky news is, can you really expect the Sox to maintain three trends that blow the mind and seem like myths waiting to be exploded?

Somehow, they have held a lead in each of their 28 games, breaking the record of the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers, a team that won the World Series and was dearly followed by a college student named Jerry Reinsdorf. Do you really think a team hitting .254 can maintain this? Isn't it a streak waiting for a five-run first inning and 9-0 awakening?

Somehow, they have won 12 of 15 one-run games, including a hocus-pocus, 2-1 victory over the Royals on Thursday. Can a credible bullpen continue to be out-of-its-mind efficient, especially when Shingo Takatsu is the closer and still capable of blowing leads -- eight saves with a 6.23 ERA? -- that give new meaning to those ''GONNNGGG!!!'' sound effects?

And somehow, the starting rotation has relinquished one run or fewer in 13 games, which ranks among the best streaks of early-season dominance in baseball history but simply isn't going to continue in any season, real or PlayStation. The Sox have a quality rotation, but any comparisons to all-time staffs should be tempered until they start facing the American League's best lineups.

Maybe this is long-overdue payback for 87 years of pain, a futility run that has been ignored nationally amid Red Sox literature and Cubbie tragicomedy. Maybe this is a magically conceived team with purring chemistry and the perfect attitude. ''This is not a fluke,'' reliever Dustin Hermanson declared. ''We're not playing well for just the first month.'' Or maybe it's just an unbelievable run of luck that will bite them in the butt when they start playing the best teams.

Read more...

It doesn't help that I already hate this guy. My mom called me this morning to tell me to read him and said I should write a response. I wrote this:

Dear Mr. Mariotti

My mom called me this morning to advise me to read your pessimistic
article. It really upset her and she said that it put a damper on her
Friday. She suggested I write to you; I thought it was a good idea
since I have been holding in too much for too long. In honor of
Mother's Day, did your mother ever tell you "if you don't have
anything nice to say, don't say anything at all"? Your attitude about
the White Sox is sickening to many of your readers. Sox fever is among
us; take a look around. We'll see if we continue these winning ways.
If not, we'll just rag on the Cubs.

Kristy XXXX, 21
Clear Ridge, Chicago

If it's published, it'll be in the paper on Mother's Day.