Top 20 Finish

Hopefully all of you took some of my advice for last Friday's Freeroll.  Besides Hambone being out and changing that, my squad came in 15th place.  Not bad, I guess.  We were three places from being in the money but there is nothing to do on that.  Anyways we will be tuning in again next week to try and capture the cash.  Good luck all and Happy Fathers Day!

Friday Freeroll 6/16

This weeks Freeroll is a little different than usual.  If you have no clue about baseball, this is for you.  you literally need to know nothing about baseball to win.  This is a "Pick-em" league.  This league has 8 slots to pick from and for each slot there are 6-8 choices of players.  So theoretically you can pick with your eyes closed and have a decent chance of doing well.  The first tier usually has the best players including pitchers and top notch ballers, and then it decreases all the way to tier 8.  Since there is not a lot of skill in this, I will just leave you with my team to look at.  I am coming in first this week, take my word for it.

A New Era of NBA Basketball

What's not to like about this NBA Finals matchup? Perhaps the beauty of basketball is that players play both offense and defense. In the NFL, the key "match-ups" between players like Brady and Manning never truly occur as they do not line up across from each other. However, in basketball we get the two best players in the world, at the same position, defending each other for the world championship. It doesn't get much better than that.

People have high expectations for this series, and so far it has delivered. As we await Game 2 tonight, everyone anticipates the performance we will get from Lebron James. People wonder if it is his "time" to finally win a championship after years of disappointments. I'd like you to read and consider this thought that crossed my mind: throughout its history the NBA has come in eras. The 80s belonged to Magic and Bird (and for sake of argument, Isiah Thomas). They dominated the NBA throughout that era - no one else came close. Even the great  Michael Jordan, who broke into the league in 1984, had to wait his turn. He earned his first MVP (and Defensive Player of the Year award) in the 1987/1988 season however starting with that year, his Bulls lost three straight years to the Detroit Pistons, led by Isiah Thomas. It wasn't until the end of the 80s era that his Bulls would begin their run of dominance highlighted by a 3-peat from 1990-1993 and yet another from 1995-1998.

If this sounds similar to you, it should. Much like Jordan had to wait for Magic, Bird, and Thomas' era to end, Lebron has, in my mind, been waiting for another era to end. The era of the 2000s, following Jordan we saw the rise of Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, and Tim Duncan. These men dominated the NBA for the last 10-12 seasons. This year we saw perhaps the last chance for that era to win one more end when Tim Duncan and the Spurs fell to the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals.

The NBA is moving into its next era - one that will be dominated by names like Lebron and Durant. This will certainly not be the last time this decade that we see these two go head to head in the Finals - or at least we should all hope not. They no longer need to wait their turn. The 2000s' era has ended. Now has begun their time to win, their time to dominate. Now all we have to do is sit back and watch the tremendous drama and entertainment unfold.

Tonights Starting Team

Welcome to another Friday Free-roll.  This is our third week running it and hopefully we can crack the scoreboard.  Our past two weeks have been decent but nothing to brag about.  So here are my picks for this weeks Free-roll.

Sorry if this is poorly written.  To be frank with you, I have been up for a while and been dealing with my crying niece.  I wanted to post this just incase my team throws down 90 points.  So I can tell you I told you so.

Friday's Freeroll

Happy Tuesday everyone!  I know it is very early, but I am giving you a 3 day cushion to create your team.  I am doing this early because I am usually very busy on Fridays.  Here is the Link to enter this weeks contest.  I will post my picks by Thursday to help you all out.  Even though the picks I make usually don't show up to play, I still like to think I know what I am talking about.

Final Team

Okay this is my final team.

BEST OF LUCK

My DraftStreet Team

This is my team for tonights freeroll.  I have work until 11 so I will not be able to catch any game action.  I have also added and changed a player.  Pagan is now in for Braun, and Ortiz made the lineup.  Braun has been suffering tightness in his achilles and is day-to-day.  So why risk him?  Ortiz has been straight fire and has been avoiding the K as much as possible, only positive points for him.  Hopefully this lineup can crack 70 points tonight.  I will keep you posted.

Settling the Debate

So the Geese have had a debate since the beginning of the year: how to pronounce the Chinese food "General Tso's Chicken." Now I and few others have always pronounced it with a "g" like sound, while the majority claims it sounds more like an "s." So you can imagine my excitement when this commercial came on my TV. The debate has been settled gentlemen.

DFF Lineup

Hello everyone, and welcome to another DFF.  The Freeroll is running Friday night and we look to place in the top 20 this time.  I am short on time since the Mrs. is graduating tonight and ill be out until the wee hours of the morning.  Anyways, here is my team… Remember I will leave you two pitchers spots and the utility positions to you. Here is the link, do not forget to sign up, and my team is on the following page of this post. FREEROLL BITCHES

ALL OF US AUTHORS MAY ALL SUPPORT DIFFERENT PRO TEAMS...

But we all are die-hards for UMass basketball. Pajamas went in on this one. Hope you all like it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6ph4p8Z5Yg&feature=youtu.be

#UMassNation #Brotherhood

World Cup Fever

I do not know if you guys know this song, but it is quite catchy.  It is by the same band that sings "We Are Young".  Anyways this song gets me in two ways: first it makes me wanna blow on a vuvuzella and cheer on some international soccer.  It gives me a World Cup kind of feel.  Then, it makes me wanna empty my pockets of coins and donate them to starving kinds in Africa.  I don't know how far 56 cents will get them; maybe a new pair of Jordans, 5 star dinner, and a new cow, but who knows?  I heard somewhere that people in Africa can survive off of $1.00 a day?  Is this true?  If so sign me up.  I blow through money like it is running out of style.  I spend money everyday and it is more than a dollar.  If I want to drive to the Miss' house, it would probably cost $1.50 just in gas and then you know I am buying dinner and a movie.  So now im $40 deep and it is not even 9:00.  That is enough money for someone to survive for over a month in Africa.  These stats will always blow my mind.

The Green Gang takes on the Big, Bad Heat

Here on Geese Chatter we haven't had much commentary on the NBA, which has had a fantastic postseason so far, so I will be picking up some of the slack.

After Rajon Rondo made the two biggest shots of his life against he 76ers, the Celtics now advance to play the heat tonight. Everybody outside of the Miami area is rooting for the Celtics, even Elton Brand gave his endorsement after game 7. However, almost nobody is giving them a chance. Admittedly, the chances to beat the Heat are not great, but I think the Celtics have a much better shot than any "expert" is giving them. At full strength, I think they might be the favorites, but its clearly an uphill battle. If the Celtics are going to win the series and go on to face one of the two great teams left, there are a few keys:

Rondo- Rondo produced the best 5 minutes of scoring of his career to keep this season alive. He has to absolutely dominate Chalmers, which will eventually force Wade or Lebron to cover him.

KG- KG has played like its 2008 for the past month. This has to continue with no Bosh to cover him. He has to be a factor scoring and rebounding in every game against the likes of Joel Anthony and Udonis Haslem.

Lebron- The best (and most hated) player in the world has rightfully earned a reputation of checking out of the fourth quarter of big ballgames. I think there will be 3-4 very close games, so how he responds is key to the series.

Ray Allen- I think if the Celtics are to win Ray will have to be very good in 3-4 games. Ray has looked absolutely awful and you never know what you are going to get from him offensively. He is the ultimate X factor in this series: if he can play Wade decently, make him cover him, and come up with some big shots, the Celtics will be in good shape.

Ultimately I'm going to pick the Celtics in 7 because this commercial says it better than I ever could.

Happy Memorial Day Flockers

DraftStreet Results

I am blogging from my iPhone so I apologize now for misspellings and common errors.  Okay so today wraps ups our first DraftStreet freeroll.  My team produced average with a whopping 66.05 points.  We didn't come close at all to winning, but we did put up a decent fight.  A few players who under performed: A.J. Ellis, Dustin Pedroia, Zack Cozart, Drew Stubbs, and Wilson Betemit.  A perfect team is hard to create, but that doesn't mean we can't try.  Also Ervin Santana pitched like a shit head.  He let up 4 ER in 5 innings of work.  Also, did I mention that he walked 7 batters and let up 4 hits.  Without those players our team still put up about 60 points.  With 5 different starters and a better pitcher we could have easily been in the running.  Anyways, this sums up our first week of our DFF.  Hope you all enjoyed my advice, I will see you next week.

I FORGOT ROY HALLADAY PITCHES LIKE NO ONE ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH...

Look, I'm a kid who grew up in the bobblehead boom era. I love these things. Are they cheesy? Absolutely. Are they good for anything except collecting dust? Not even a little bit. Are they one of the most awesome free giveaways ever? No doubt. But not even I want this piece of shit. What's wrong with it you ask? Well, for starters, Roy Halladay doesn't smile. Second, what is the difference between that bobblehead and how Halladay really pitches...

Oh that's right, he pitches like a normal righty and puts his glove on his left hand and throws with his right. 

Honestly, what was the person who created this bobblehead thinking? The only explanation for a fuck-up of this magnitude is that this dumbass has actually never watched a baseball game. You can't even say they never played, because anyone who has watched baseball once or twice knows that no one pitches like that. 

So my question is, how does this person get a job making bobbleheads? Why not some other useless sculpture? Leave it to the pros to create these works of art. A Roy Halladay bobblehead should be destined for the desk of Mike and Mike. But this one? It is destined for the garbage. 

Sidenote...this is a great explanation to bring back the best commercial ever: 

She's Married to Who?!

DraftStreet's Friday Freeroll

Let’s give a warm welcome to our newest member of the Chatter, Reid McIntyre.  Reid is one of our very best friends from UMass.  He enjoys long walks, growing his beard, mowing grass, playing Nintendo 64, and sweet-talking the ladies (all ages).  Reid has always been a goose and I really do not know why he hasn’t blogged for us before.  Heads up for NFL news and anything that Mr. Reid can think of.  He is also a fellow Chiver, Chive On! 

Anyways, here is my DraftStreet Team for Tomorrows Free-Roll (DFF).  I will give you my starting 9 + a relief pitcher.  You will need to come up with your own Utility players (2), a second Pitcher, and then a Utility Pitcher (this can be either another starter or another reliever)

She's Married to Who?!

 

What is Draftstreet?

For some of you that do not know what Draftstreet is, I will give you a quick rundown.  It is a daily Fantasy site which you can play for free or money.  I usually play in $2 leagues daily and then I play in the Freerolls on Fridays.  They have all sports and the best part is NO COMMITMENT.  This keeps me active during the season since I am not in a regular MLB fantasy league this year.  Why you ask?  PJ.  PJ is the reason why.  When I first met PJ we talked about fantasy baseball, the season finally came around and we got real serious.  We had 12 member league and were ready to draft and then he says "I don't want to play because I only play weekly leagues, I can't commit to daily leagues."  Are you kidding me?  Weekly fantasy baseball league?  This was straight bush league.  We got in heated arguments and instead of trying to work it out, we ended the league and never spoke of it again.  Anyways my point of that story is that PJ was being a straight vagine.  If you can't deal with daily fantasy baseball, don't even tell me you want to be in a league.  Do not even say you play fantasy baseball if you play weekly.  PJ blue balled the fuck out of me, and the only way I could keep my cool was though Draftstreet.

Draftstreet is different than the usual snake draft fantasy leagues.  It is salary cap leagues.  So you get $100,000 to spend on 14 positions.  C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF, OF, OF, U, U, SP, SP, RP, P.  Usually pitchers are more expensive and players who are hot are pricey as well.  The league has its own live scoring system, so all you have to do is draft, wait, and watch.  You never know what might happen.

For an example on prices, the most expensive pitcher for Friday is Clayton Kershaw.  Kershaw is just above $18,000.  So if you decide to pick him up, you only have about 80% of your salary left to pick the remaining 13 players.  the most expensive hitter is Josh Hamilton.  Hambone is a cool $12,000.  Picking up these players requires you to pick lower valued players who usually suck.

My advise is to spend $30,000- $35,000 on pitchers and the remaining on hitters.  If you do this, you can spend an average of $6,500 per hitter and this can get you a very good team.  Finally, if you really want your team to excel, make sure everyone is starting.  I have created plenty of teams who had potential, but have lost because of players who didn't play.  This is usually the case with catchers, so check the starting lineup before the games start, this will honestly only take 4 minutes.

Player to pick up: Jonathan Lucroy.  Lucroy is the catcher for the Brewers and is straight fire.  He bats anywhere from leadoff to fifth.  He is on a tear right now and I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't continue to hit.  If you pick him up, make sure he is starting.  Remember he is a catcher and squatting down for 9 innings a night can be strenuous.  All catchers need rest.  Good luck everyone and good night.

Draftstreet Friday Freerolls: DFF

Hey everyone, every friday (for the most part) there is a daily fantasy challenge ran on Draftstreet.com.  Here I will post the link to the free-roll.  If you come in first place out of everyone, you win cash money.  All you need to do is make an account then click on the link, the rest is yours to play with.  I will also post my team and why I am picking them (if I have time).  I usually drop absurd numbers and almost place every week.  So if you are interested please join.  The link will be up on Thursday, and my picks will be posted Friday before the first game starts (usually 7:05 PM).

Here is the first link for Friday: DFF

Also, after the contest is completed, I will post my score and my fellow bloggers scores.  My the best blogger win.

Uncle Drew

So this video has been circulating for about a week and I thought it should be up on the blog. Got to respect to Kyrie Irving who shows off his humor and creativity in this video (also his basketball skills).

The Hipster Glasses Conspiracy

Many things are a mystery for me. Whether I’m watching TV, surfing the internet, or just hanging out with friends, I find myself constantly perplexed. Today’s fashion, music and everything else in our society just boggles my mind. Maybe I’m just out of touch with social norms? Probably – in fact I’m probably the least hip person ever. I still refer to snap backs as “flat-rimmed caps” (which they rightfully SHOULD be called – it only makes sense). A ray band? What in heaven’s name is that? Oakley? Like the Oakland Athletics? Oh my goodness. Maybe I should just stick to Super Nintendo and call it a day.

But the one thing that gets me is those hipster glasses that all those NBA players wear. Not to steal Caleb’s thunder (which was a great read by the way), but I have my own opinion on those crazy abominations. I just can’t believe that people would willingly go out into public wearing them. It just doesn’t add up. That is why I KNOW for a fact that there must be something more to them. They represent something more than a fashion statement. 

After careful research through the Great Archives of History, I have determined that each great organization ever has had a symbol that its members identify themselves with. The World War II Marines all have tattoos. The Masons have those crazy rings that they wear. The list goes on. So, after connecting the dots, it seems that…perhaps these glasses represent a sort of Organization of Great and Important Figures.

The OGIF is very secretive about its actions and members – but they are just beginning to come out of the woodwork. Durant and Westbrook may be the most famous figures of this prestigious club, but there have been many others. They have just been very secretive about it – secretive to the point that nobody knows whom they are or where their Head Quarters is located. But that is about to change.

Here are other members of the OGIF:

Keep in mind that there ARE imposters. They want to be members of this club, but they are not worthy enough. See: LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony.

One thing that is clear, though, is this organization’s leader. The answer is so obvious that nobody could argue otherwise. It is none other than the Manager of the Tampa Bay Rays, Joe Maddon.

The evidence is simply irrefutable. In Tampa Bay, there are no fans – thus making this the perfect location for a secret organization. And why else would Maddon stay in Tampa when he could be making MILLIONS of more dollars and have MILLIONS of more dollars in resources in larger market. This is the only logical explanation. Not to mention that Joe Maddon has been rocking this look for ages – way before everybody else. He is not only the Original Hipster – he is the Almighty Hipster. The glasses Durant and Westbrook have? Clearly forged and created by Maddon using the most rare of materials – only because he deemed them worthy. This proves that they aren’t wearing those glasses to be “hip” – they wear them because they feel honored to be touched by the Hands of Joe Maddon.

The question becomes, what does Joe Maddon hope to accomplish with the OGIF? Who else will be worthy enough to join? And what does he want the members of this organization to accomplish? Is there an even greater conspiracy at work? The biggest question of all becomes, can Joe Maddon handle the power he is accumulating?

 

She's Married to Who?!

This Guy Is An Uncle

If you guys haven't heard, I (Marko), just recently became an Uncle.  This morning around 9:00 AM, my sister Sara O' Leary gave birth to a six pound, one ounce baby girl.  They named her Abigail Grace O'Leary.  This is my parents first grandchild and my brother-in-laws parents first grandchild as well.  So this is a pretty big deal.  I really don't have much to say besides Congratulation to Kevin and Sara on their beautiful baby girl!

She's Married to Who?!

And now Flock followers, the moment you've all been waiting for. The first SMTW post of the Second Coming. Enjoy.

So There's This Video...

So this weekend Saturday Night Live had Stephen A Smith as a guest on the weekend update segment.....

Love the whole thing except the squeaky bits, kinda overplayed, but they get most of Stephen's mannerisms down pretty well.  

Stephen A Smith is the father of my children.

UMass is Pulling Out All the Stops

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I present you with some great news for out beloved University of Massachusetts.  With the basketball team's potential for success being as high as it's been since the Marcus Camby days of '95-'96, UMass is going balls deep.  Thanks to an anonymous $10 million donation, we will be graced with the presence of the "Champions Center."

The Champions Center will be located right next to the Mullins Center and the ice hockey practice rink. The date for breaking ground has not been announced but construction company contracting bids are due June 5th.

Check out what it's going to look like...

Shit My Uncle Feeds Me

Well Flock followers, it looks like you are about to be graced with a second coming of the "Fresh Men." Pajamas has gotten on our backs about making more posts, so aside from my daily(weekdays that is, excluding holidays and days I just flat out forget) "She's Married to Who?!" post, I'll be making this a regular column. We've made our migrations from The Zoo, and mine has landed me in a new nest. Quite a ways south of my usual shitting grounds, I've found myself staying with my uncle in New Jersey, just outside the city of brotherly love.

NBA Glasses

There's no way that both Durant and Westbrook need glasses. Right? They both come to every press conference dressed in the most ridiculous outfits and these hipster glasses. Are these just non-prescription glasses, or do they both wear contacts in-game and no one knows about it? In any case these guys are in a position to make glasses cool.

This wouldn't be a first. The NBA is unique in that the players can make a previously uncool trend cool as fuck. It started with MJ and baldness. Then you had the whole baggy clothes and bling of the AI era. Now you have these two rising superstars rocking glasses and goofy outfits. And Anthony Davis has a chance to make the unibrow cool as well. So regardless of whether Durant and Westbrook need glasses or not, I got to show respect for their ability to set this trend: I can only imagine the spike in hipster glasses sales.

PS. I definitely need to figure out who makes these types of glasses and buy their stock ASAP. Jew life at work right there ladies and gentlemen.

Homer

Since I missed all the MLB games today due to work, I had to watch highlights to catch up on todays action.  I stumbled across this video.  Homer gets hit in the head.  This poor mascot who is just meeting and greeting fans gets plunked off the dome by a foul ball.  Sure he has padding in that thing, but it still must hurt, right?  And to add to the fact that he was not watching the game at the moment of impact, anything that hits you by surprise makes it hurt 12 times worse.  I am kind of disappointed that I didn't see anyone rush to his aid.  Homer was probably concussed and dizzy as hell, but still no one came over to see if he was okay.  If that was any fan who got hit by a ball, event staff would be at the scene of the incident before the ball hit the ground.

Anyways, this is my first post of the Second-Coming of Geese Chatter.  It is short, but I just wanted to show PJ that I will blog when I have a chance.

~ALSO~
To all writers and followers, since we are not Fresh men (Freshmen) anymore, do we change our title to "Just a Bunch of Sophomoric Men?" As in being immature?  Just something to ponder at night when you lay in bed.

NATIONAL BROADCASTS MAY OR MAY NOT BE THE ABSOLUTE WORST...

Let's face it, folks, when your teams are playing on national TV, it is supposed to be a sort of honor. A sign that shows that your team is performing at a level so high that everyone around the country should be able to watch. However, when this happens, are you ever really happy?

In the NFL, it sucks because the games are moved from a nice, 1 o'clock or 4 o'clock, to a fucking obnoxious 8/9 o'clock game that won't end until way past D Schneid's bedtime. In the NHL, you get stuck with having to listen to Pierre McGuire and potentially, if you were unlucky enough to be a Flyer's fan this season, Kenny freaking Albert. Kenny Albert? I was waiting for Moose and Goose to chime in the entire time. But no, just Pierre.

Don't even get me started on Joe Buck calling baseball games with Tim McCarver. No one's happy about that. I'm pretty sure Tim McCarver doesn't know anything about baseball. All you Phillies fans out there know that he still can't pronounce the name Ruiz. It's not that hard and you'd think someone who broadcasts baseball, a game that has a strong presence of players named Ruiz, that he'd be able to figure it out. But no. He insists on calling him Carlos Ru-is.

During the NBA Playoffs, I've had to watch TNT and ESPN while they put their JV squad on to cover the Sixers. For all you Celtics fans out there, you feel my pain. Chris Webber? Pretty sure he's still stealing from the 76ers. I thought that was the last straw until last night when they stuck me with Doris Burke. The worst. The absolute worst. Every time Paul Pierce scored I'm pretty sure she was ready to pull his pants and get onto her knees right there at center court.

Whenever we're forced to watch these games, all the local fans are thinking is..."why can't I get my home broadcast?" Sure, they're biased, too biased for national TV, but who the hell cares? They are our announcers. They say what we want to hear and know the teams better than anyone else. Plus, then we wouldn't have to hear Doris fucking Burke.

Holly Rowe is Valerie Voorheis

Holly Rowe

Val Pal

Wannabe macroeconomics professor by day, creepy ESPN sideline reporter by night.  Just throws those fakeout plastic glasses on to make us think she's an intellectual or something.  Looked like she wanted Doug Collins' D just like she wanted Marko's back in February.  Good thing we all aced her class without even going.  

P.S.  How much does Dave Pasch's life suck?  Dude must be suicidal after having to work a game with Doris Burke and Holly Rowe.

Where is the Love for Aroldis Chapman?

This guy throws 100+ mph, is a lefty, has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 5:1, and has an ERA of 0.00 in 20.1 innings! Why have I heard next to nothing about him?  Dude is only 24 years old!  Enough with the Stephen Strasberg live look-ins on Baseball Tonight, I want to see Aroldis Chapman instead.  

Why is he not starting?  You can't tell me that he's not better than 4 out of 5 guys in the Reds rotation.  Who do they have starting?  Johnny Cueto, Bronson Arroyo, and three other scrubs.  I love me some Bronson but hands down this guy needs to be in there before him and the three other guys.

Also, does this guy have a nickname?  I'm debating between the Cuban Assassin and Fidel's Flamethrower.

What to Make of the Whole Youkilis-Bobby V Situation

A report today by Ken Rosenthal and 98.5 The Sports Hub said that “[Bobby] Valentine wanted Youkilis out as far back as spring training, viewing him as a liability.” It has also been publicized that instead of coming up to join the Red Sox for this weekend's series in Philadelphia (which was the plan initially), Youkilis will stay in AAA and play third base for Pawtucket this weekend.  It should be noted that Youkilis was 1-2 with a walk and a double in his most recent game for the PawSox on Wednesday.  Meanwhile, the Red Sox are in last place and Will Middlebrooks has cooled down quite a bit, having gone 0 for his last 9, with 7 strikeouts.  Although the Red Sox have won 6 out of 7, it's safe to say there is still plenty of tension in the clubhouse. 

First off, I'll say that I don't in any way think that this situation was handled properly.  Maybe I'm stuck on the Terry Francona mindset, but I don't believe that the manager should ever publicly speak out about wanting to get rid of his players. However, given the way the situation has unfolded, something has to be done.  You might say that this is just a report and that it might not be true, but with the comments that Valentine made about Youkilis earlier in the year, and the fact that he's not calling him up at a time when Middlebrooks could probably use a break, it's pretty clear to me that Valentine came into Boston with a plan to run Kevin Youkilis out of town.  Is this the right way to go about managing? It's not how I would do it, but the fact is that the management hired Valentine and now they need to support him. John Henry and Larry Luchino brought in Valentine to change the culture of the clubhouse.  For that reason, you can't expect the new manager to do things the way that the older manager did them, otherwise Francona would still be here. This is how Bobby V manages his team. He ran Todd Hundley out of town when he coached the Mets, and he came in with an agenda to do the same to Youkilis. Whether it's right or wrong, it's the way it is. The manager has to be supported and with the way he does things.  Youkilis has to go before this becomes an even bigger problem.


Who could the Red Sox get in exchange for Youkilis?  Sending Youkilis to Cincinnati (where he grew up and went to college), might be a good trade for all parties.  The Reds are just 2.5 games out of first place in the NL Central, and could use some help at third base.  Starting pitcher Bronson Arroyo (2-1, 3.25) and relief pitcher Logan Ondrusek (3-1, 2.76) could be good pickups for Boston.

Time to Get this Shit Rocking Again

The excitement of Big Dave's birthday is just the catalyst we needed to get this thing going again for the summer!  Happy birthday to everyone's favorite Redskins fan.  

Anyways, I've been sitting around on the couch for the past week and I need something to do so this is me being productive.  The Geese enjoyed a great year on Web-6 and are now back in their nests, scattered throughout the northeast.  The main contributors of the Resident Jew, Marko, James, and myself are all in the heart of UMass Nation, while Big Dave is holding down the capital city, and Merce and Tanvir's boyfriend are down south in Philly throwing in the towel with 76ers coach Doug Collins:

Summer 2K12 inbound, and the Geese are flying strong.  Keep reading us every day!

A Little Trip to Fenway

I woke up and all I had to do was make it through English class and I was off to Fenway.  But of course the day couldn’t be that easy.  We planned on going to a Red Sox game a week before and had all our plans squared away.  But the morning of, shit hit the fan.  The one person we were relying on the most, because he had a car, bailed out because he was “sick.”  Honestly, you must be on your deathbed if you’re going to bail out on going to Fenway Park.  Fenway is the most historic park of all time, built in 1912 (the same year that the Titanic sank) and is the oldest park still around today.  So if you have tickets and don’t go, you must be on crack (especially if you have never been before).  So now, we had 7 tickets and no ride.  We acted fast and called everyone we knew with a car asking if they wanted to go with us, or if they would rent us their car for the night.  No one was around.  We were shit out of luck and were stuck paying for a game that we would not be in attendance for.  Luckily we got a text within an hour of our original departure time saying we could borrow his car, but it only could fit 5.  One of our friends dropped out and this allowed us to go.

What kind of car did we just get offered, you ask?  A Prius: a mother fucking Toyota Prius. 

Allen Gamble: It’s my car. It’s a Prius. 
Terry Hoitz: I feel like we're literally driving around in a vagina.

(Scene from The Other Guys)

We all squished in and started our trip to the lovely city of Boston.  Boston is 93.24 miles from Amherst and about a two-hour drive.  The only thing that sucks driving anywhere out of town is getting to the damn Mass Pike.  You honestly drive for 35 minutes of back roads to get to the Pike, that was the worst of the journey.  During the two-hour ride, we bonded, talked about our significant others, had some boy talk, and of course sang.  We sang harder than any boy band out there.  Anything from “Call Me Maybe” to back woods country, if we knew the lyrics it was mandatory to sing them.

We made it into Fenway with an hour and a half to spare and 2 extra tickets.  Since we needed gas money and parking money we decided to sell the tickets.  We found buyers in no time and took in an extra $40 to use on our expenses.

Things to do when you go to Fenway:

1: Get there early and watch batting practice.

2: Walk around the stadium and check out everything.  Even though its old, they have been adding and improving it for the past decade.

3: BUY A FENWAY FRANK.  If you don’t like hot dogs, then you are un-American.  Fenway Franks are the most delicious food.

4: Go to right field and see the Ted Williams Seat.  This marks the spot of the furthest recorded home run hit at Fenway.

5: Enjoy the game.

6: Have the peanut hawker toss you a bag.  If he sees your hand up and you’re 15 rows away, he will throw them to you.  These guys have that job for a reason.

7: Sing ‘take me out to the ballgame’ during the 7^th inning stretch.

8: Sing ‘Sweet Caroline’ during the middle of the 8^th inning.

9: Partake in the wave!  You may think it is childish, but it may be one of the greatest perks of being at the game.

10: Take photos, these are memories that you will never forget and you will want some mementos to keep.

I can’t tell you how many games I have been to, but I can tell you that every game I attend someone gets engaged.  It is as if Fenway pulls out the romantic side in every guy.  I can’t imagine that the girl enjoys this though.  First of all, she is put up on the jumbo-tron in front of 35,000 people; next she pretty much has to say yes, unless she wants to face embarrassment, and finally who wants to get engaged at a baseball game?  No prince charming can ever woo a lady at the game, it is like asking a your girl friend to marry you at a fucking farm.  To all the Romeos out there, don’t propose to your girlfriend at the game, drink a beer and have a frank.

So this particular game I went to on April 17 against the Texas Rangers was an absolute blowout.  When I say blowout, I mean it.  I’m talking about a good old backyard beat down.  The final score was 18-3, and the Red Sox didn’t win.  But that was okay by me.  The fact that I was at the game with my friends made it okay.  A good thing about blowouts is everyone leaves early.  So after it got out of hand, we got seat upgrades.  Our $18 seats turned into $200+ for an hour or so.  We were field level; two rows back watching the last inning of the game.  Nothing wrong with that, if you’re going to spend money on tickets, why not gets the full value out of them.  Overall the Sox got spanked, but the experience was great.

Way To Ruin The Game Boomer

Of course Boomer can dunk, you're not gonna see the Bowdoin polar bear shattering that backboard.  I'm just sayin.

Mile High Arthritis

I was looking at yesterday’s MLB transactions and noticed that Jamie Moyer had been signed to a minor league contract by the Rockies.  Seeing his name there got me thinking about his career compared to other pitchers, specifically his chances of making the Hall of Fame.  Dude’s been pitching forever and has a few pretty impressive stats, realistically looking at any one of his seasons he is by no means a Hall of Famer but at what point does the compilation of stats mean more than real dominance? 

In general I’m at odds with how pretty much everything in baseball’s awarding system works.  Too many inconsistencies to really know what to expect, MVP and Hall of Fame voting are the worst.  The part about both of them that really gets to me are the inconsistencies, Verlander winning the MVP was understandable if we didn’t already have an award for the best pitcher.  So many pitchers have had comparable seasons to Verlander and been denied the MVP.  If I could have my way there’d be a Cy Young award, a best hitter award (Babe Ruth award?) and an optional superlative award.  The superlative award would be for outstanding an performer and would require a certain percentage of votes to be awarded. 

The Hall of Fame voting mostly sucks because of how long it took for Jim Rice to get in, really embarrassing for them.

Half of me thinks that if Jamie Moyer gets into the hall of fame it would be kind of a life-time achievement award.  Some of his stats (wins, Ks) are Hall of Fame for sure, but his ERA is crazy high.  Nobody in the HOF is there anyone with a 4+ ERA (closest is Red Ruffing, 3.80) but it makes me wonder what the actually importance of stats are in the voting process.  Legitimately rewarding players for not being associated with steroids during the steroid era is stupid, dudes should be held even tighter to their stats being as they are really the performance they naturally gave. 

Calling it now…Moyer will make it into the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility……2030

Dry blog but stuff like this is always on my mind and I don't care what you think

P.S. I'm with the Jew on this one, lets use some common sense

P.P.S.  I'm here to blog, not write a research paper, I'll use all the bad grammar I want

P.S.S.S. MY NAME IS JAMES AND I LOVE COCK IN AND AROUND MY MOUTH...
the ruler of this blog is absolute shit. 

Geese Blackout in Protest of SOPA... Oh Wait

So yesterday, many high profile websites such as wikipedia and reddit blacked out  their websites in protest of the SOPA bill that is being reviewed by Congress. Now while I admittedly don't know much about SOPA, what I do know is that a high profile website such as Geese Chatter should have stood tall with our internet brothers and deprived our readers of fresh material for 24 hours. I understand that many people would be devastated across the world not to read the fresh insight we provide for a day, but I think (more like thought) we owed it to the other high profile websites to show solidarity against internet censorship. So it is safe to say that I was disappointed when I saw that AMarko posted just after noon today. And then PJ (the sheep of the flock) followed his lead and posted just 6 hours later. Our blackout lasted just about half the time it should have and ended again halfway to its conclusion. (Insert premature ejaculation joke here.) I am disappointed in the lack of discipline shown by the Geese today, and despite the anticipation and need of millions to hear the Chatter on the daily, we will stand with our brothers during future internet protests- it is our duty as a high profile, high-traffic website.

Welcoming My Boy James

Just wanted to give a quick welcome to my buddy James a.k.a. Jimmy/Jimmer/J-Money from Ohio University.  He's basically the biggest bro ever and we have a nice little bromance going with 80 pictures together on Facebook, so haters be jealous.  James has already contributed nicely with two posts, and I expect that he will add a little bit of a different perspective, being that he's not living with the flock.  Welcome to the V-Formation.  #FlockNation.

Ayo Marko! Don't talk about spelling and grammar errors if you're going to have one in the title of your post... Just sayin'.

He Who Calls Himself "James".

I just read your blog and a piece of me almost clicked the delete button.  I almost threw up in my mouth.  First of all, it was absolutely disgusting and poorly written.  Did you even put any thought into it?  Next I don't even recall seeing one word capitalized.  Finally, you bring such a bad name to us.  Here at Geese Chatter, we actually have some self respect and honor, so clean up your writing.  And if you were wondering,  I do have the authority to delete anything I don't like.  Here are some guidelines to some future posts.

1.  Always capitalize the first word in a sentence.  I am not sure if you are in college or in preschool, because your grammer sucks.  Is it that hard to push the shift button to capitalize one letter? Or if you're that lazy, go into a Word Doc. and type it all out, then push 'Spell Check'.

2.  Make sure you spell out every single word.  What I mean by this is.  Do not use 'u' instead of 'you'.  We do not want any Text Message spelling.

3.  Overall, I do not care what you blog about.  I do not care who you blog about.  Just keep it neat, keep it organized, and above all, keep it classy.  Other then that, welcome to the Flock.

The New Face Of The Red Sox

Great pick up by the sox yesterday, Padilla will no doubt be an invaluable part of the sox world series season this year....who wouldnt want a guy like Padilla?  Mid 40's in age, mid 4 ERA and the do anything to win attitude of a pitcher that gave up on the 02' All Star Game.  Gotta like the direction the sox are going in, but to be honest their other pick up yesterday, franklin morales is a good move god knows we need relief pitching.

Hope im not gonna be the only one posting, I expect great things from everyone associated with geese in any shape or form

P.S.  resigning salty was a must but I've gotta say Lavarnway is the future. Varitek has one more year then he should do us all a favor and retire, saying that hes my favorite player of all time.

Geese Chatter Ohio

What's up geese?  

Geese Chatter Ohio up and running as of this morning.  Looking forward to bringing this barstool knockoff to the next level of barstool knockoffs.  But ummm yeah im not a midwest guy and I wont have midwest opinions because other than a few area the midwest takes a big dick, red sox coverage all day.

Oh and good luck next year in the MAC didnt know you guys actually had a real football team.  

Love, James

Football Jesus vs the Boy Wonder Pt 2

So unless you live on another planet, you know about Tebow Mania that is once again sweeping the nation. But once again, the Tebows will run into the Bradys- and just like last time Tebow Mania took over, he will be brought back to reality by the greatest quarterback ever. Now I know the Bradys haven't been so successful in the playoffs lately, but this year the man is on a mission. I mean, check out this video from a game this year. And this is not some isolated incident- hes been doing this even in blowouts and no one is safe from his wrath.

So even as Tebow grips the nation after his greatest game as a pro, he will once again become mortal after he takes on the Hood and the Boy Wonder. In week 15, the Bradys won 41-23 on the road (fyi- i predicted they would win 34-17). There is no way the Broncos D keeps this game at a low enough score for Tebow, especially on the road this time. i think he'll fair better than the last game, but he will still fall short.

The Bradys 38, The Tebows 28

P.S. Tebow called Brady a Prophet. That's enough for me.