Fun While It Lasted

So I post about the Giants' miraculous comeback, then in Game 2 they go up 3-0 in the first on a Bonds homer. All looked good.

Then Brett Tomko took the mound.

The Giants, in true 2005 form, followed up one of the best performances of the season with one of the worst. Misssed opportunities and gift runs abounded, capped by an inning where the Giants gave up a walk, another walk, an error, and a grand slam. 4 runs, 1 hit, 1 error.

No surprise then when the Giants were listless in Game 3, and the Padres clinched. The Padres have been hot ever since (St. Louis, watch out) and the Giants have looked...defeated.

Entertaining game tonight, but we lose again to the red-hot D-Backs. The best we can hope for is a second-place tie by winning tomorrow and Sunday.

In spite of the incredible disappointment, at least they gave it a run and really only played four meaningless games this season (and only 19 since 1996). The brief glimpse of Bonds confirmed that we would've made a mockery of the West (more than it already is) had we had him and Benitez healthy for the brunt of the season.

Gleefully, I report the Dodgers own fourth place and recorded their 90th loss tonight. Once it became clear we wouldn't need to buy World Series tickets, my goal for the team is just to finish ahead of the Bums. Not only did they accomplish that, they won the season series 9-8 by winning the last three.

(Something Cal athletics has taught me, a lousy season can be forgotten if you crush your rival. Likewise, a great season can be tarnished by losing to The Farm.)

Unfortunately, the end of baseball season means football season, which usually is great except a) I'm not playing fantasy football for the first time since I had my own money, and b) the 49ers flat-out stink. Then we go on to basketball season (with the most blatantly awful officiating since Bush v. Gore, before spring training returns to relieve the pain.

One for the ages.

Unbelievable. That's the only way to describe it.

All season long, the Giants have struggled. Finally, Barry Bonds came back, but it still looked like we would only get a glimpse of what might have been.

A couple of late-inning comebacks and late-inning disasters from the Padres, and it's, as they say, a whole new ballgame. Coming into tonight, four games back with seven to go.

It didn't look good. We had our least consistent starter, rook Brad Hennessey, against the Padres' ace, Jake Peavy. It looked even worse when the second batter of the game hit a two-run homer. But the Giants gutted it out, like they always do, and got a run back while holding the Padres to the two runs.

If there was any doubt, Randy Winn etched himself into Giants' history tonight. With two outs in the ninth against Trevor Hoffman, his long drive to center epitomized the unpredictability which has been the Giants' schizophrenic season. Yes, it's gone! No, it's caught! Yes, he dropped it! I mean, the bells had already sounded. The fireworks guy even got it wrong (which, amusingly enough, is not the first time in the Giants/Padres rivalry).

Winn definitely has earned his place in the long lineage of improbable Giants heroes, alongside Rod "Shooter" Beck, Kenny Lofton, David Bell, J.T. Snow ('00 NLDS Game 2, we were there) and the immortal Brian Johnson.

This is not a game that will be quickly forgotten. Matheny's clutch single off Hoffman to start the rally (can anyone remember the last time Hoffman blew a save against the Giants?). The gutsy performance by B. Henny and the bullpen. Bonds pulling up lame after a running catch in the second, then gutting it out for the remainder of the game while clearly in pain. Vizquel effortlessly taking away two sure singles in the ninth. Snow faceplanting into a camera going after a foul ball, blood on his jersey. And, of course, the catalyst for the Giants' improbable run: Randy Winn.

(Peter Gammons just said Hoffman has not blown a save in September in three years.)

All those people who ripped Brian Sabean and Felipe Alou all season owe them both a frickin' apology.

I've given this team up for dead several times this season. And I was one of the optimistic ones (I didn't write them off until last month). A lot of people talk about athletes who make millions of dollars but don't try, don't hustle, don't respect the game, because it makes for good press. But the teams that keep grinding, even when no one thinks they have a legitimate shot, never get the attention they deserve. I've always said I don't need my team to win all the time, I just want them to make me believe we have a chance.

Tonight, it worked. I believe.

Everybody Hates Me

As baseball season winds down (at least for the Giants, barring a miracle), fall television season has graced us with its presence.

I missed the boat on Lost and Desperate Housewives, fell behind on 24 and Alias, and eventually fizzled on all the anime series I was watching last year. I had a good excuse though, I got married.

I have a big-time incentive to tune in this year. Two, actually. A sixty-inch TV and high-def.

The results so far:

• Kitchen Confidential was O.K. It tried hard to be quirky, but in the end it's looking like Cheers in a restaurant.
  
• My Name is Earl wasn't too bad. I had really high expectations since it had good word-of-mouth, and Jason Lee. I thought it was funny enough to watch again next week.
  
• The Office is still on the DVR.
  
• Lost didn't disappoint. Had to watch the Destination Lost special to catch up, since I've only seen two or three episodes from Season 1. It was, in a word, nuts.
  
• Invasion wasn't too bad. It suffers from the misfortune of essentially being a hour-long hurricane scene on the heels of the worst natural disaster in American history. It also suffers from following Lost, which makes its scare tactics seem almost pedestrian.
  
• Finally, Everybody Hates Chris not only lived up to expectations, it exceeded them. I wasn't sure how well a Chris Rock show without Chris Rock (he only narrates the show, but is surprisingly effective) would work, but it's very, very funny. The cast is terrific, the writing is sharp, and fans of Chris will find all sorts of references from his stand-up act (such as the big piece of chicken). Other than Lost, the best thing I watched all week. Too bad it's not in HD on Comcast.
  

No 24 until January, sadly.

UPDATE: The Office was very funny. It's the only British-imported sitcom that has been halfway decent. This, of course, means it and Earl are probably too smart for the masses, and are destined for cancellation. Hopefully, the success of The 40 Year Old Virgin will keep that from happening.

Yay for Arianna

I never thought ten years ago I'd say this (when her then-hubby tried to unseat Dianne Feinstein), but you should check out Arianna Huffington's website, The Huffington Post. It's scathing, Michael Moore-esque stuff. It's absolutely imperative that someone take the press in this country to task for pandering to the right wing (if you still think the media in this country is liberal, you should have your pulse checked).

I don't know when exactly she switched over from the dark side (it must've been before the California gubernatorial election, in which I realized she actually made a lot of sense), but more power to her.

Stupid Jeff Kent

Can't blame him really, the Giants had some chances to score, including a golden opportunity in the tenth with runners at the corners and one out.

Lots in the news today:

• Barbara Bush shows her sensitive side.
  
• FEMA dragged its fast on responding to Katrina (duh).
  
• Alan Dershowitz throws William Rehnquist under the bus. (Meanwhile, some Stanford Law guy whined on KTVU News tonight about The Farm's diminished stature on the Court. Boo Friggin' Hoo.)
  
• Karl Rove is trying to throw Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco under the bus. (I hope someone throws the phrase "blame game" under the bus.)
  
• Bush is now pushing John Roberts to be not just a Supreme Court justice, but the Chief.
  

Thanks for the memories, Flash.

Ending on a positive note.

Oh how, I've waited for this post.

After withstanding a lot of trash talk in April because of the Dodgers' hot start and the Giants' abyssmal one, the Giants have finally surpassed both the Dodgers and Diamondbacks in the span of two nights. And we're back in second place.

Supposedly, Bonds is rejoining the team next week in Los Angeles.

Think the Padres are scared? They should be.

Cal 41, Sac State 3

That score doesn't tell the whole story. Cal scored 31 unanswered in the second half. They had a 10-3 lead at the half.

Did I mention starting QB Nate Longshore broke his leg and may be out for the season? Or that our backup QB, Joe Ayoob, went 0-10 and did more overthrowing that the Bush administration? Or that we finished the game with our third-string QB, who played fullback for us last season? We also had a lot of trouble handing the ball off to Lynch - don't these guys practice?

The funny thing is we'll probably move up, as several teams ahead of us lost. And next week's opponent, Washington, lost already. Maybe we won't have too much trouble with them.

Could be a long season if Ayoob doen't step up. I don't think Lynch has much of a Heisman chance if we can't win at a regular clip.

Late Registration

(Katrina is frustrating. I can't give blood right now because I donated platelets too recently. Going to have to give good ol' American cash.)

Anyone catch Kanye West on the telethon last night? Holy crap!

Kanye West Rips Bush at Hurricane Aid Show

West went off the script and said, "George Bush doesn't care about black people." He also said America is set up "to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off as slow as possible."

Good for him.

It takes major guts in this country to stand up to the administration. Kanye has new album out. Remember what happened to the Dixie Chicks? It was like career suicide when they came out against G-Dub.

I don't care if maybe it wasn't the right time or place for him to say that, or if his comments are off base. The fact is he said what I know lots of people are thinking. Just because he's doing a benefit for charity doesn't mean he should keep his mouth shut like a good boy and stick to the script.

I like Kanye's first album, College Dropout. In my circle of friends, I was alone in that respect. I felt it was a good album, but that the effort behind it - to return hip-hop to a better state - was admirable. Lately, I've been getting excited about his follow-up, Late Registration. West's been talking about wanting his album to be our generation's Song in the Key of Life or What's Going On. He's called for an end to gay-bashing in hip-hop, something that's always bugged me when trying to turn people on to hip-hop. His first single, "Diamonds of sierra Leone," was a socially-conscious take on the diamond industry (when's the last time you remember a socially conscious hip-hop song since Public Enemy stopped making good music?). Sure beats the typical 50-Cent-beef-with-everybody and generic-crunk-rapper-of-the-week flavor that's out there now.

If you liked Dropout, Registration doesn't disappoint. It's the most ambitious hip-hop album in some time. I think that's what I like the most about Kanye; it's that he's not afraid to push himself and others to make better music and to get away from the staleness that is pervasive in today's corporate radio world. He doesn't always succeed (he's gotten better, but his mic skills still need work) but that doesn't stop him from taking risks.

It's not the greatest hip-hop album ever, but compared to what's out there, this is the best thing going. Hip-hop is in a serious rut, hopefully this will shake things up and create some competition.

Katrina

Lots of things on my mind this week, but I'll start with the most important.

It's been a pretty rough week for America. Hurricane Katrina left its mark on our country, destroying one of our most culturally-rich cities in its wake. It's unfathomable that thousands of people survived the hurricane, but are stranded or dying because they cannot receive help. This event has deeply saddened people all over the country, and all over the world.

But not me. I'm furious.

When the hurricane blew through, initial reports indicated Biloxi, Mississippi had been hardest hit. Then details surfaced about New Orleans and the winds from Katrina tearing holes in the roof of the Louisiana Superdome. But the storm blew through and although property damage was widespread, it seemed that would be the end of it.

Then the levees broke.

The streets of New Orleans began to fill up with water. People at the Superdome began to get antsy as power failed and the bathrooms backed up. Oil rigs were destroyed and a pipeline was on fire. Reports of looting started to come in.

And the government did nothing.

The next day, anarchy supposedly broke out in New Orleans. There were rapes and looting and people attacking the cops. New Orleans cops shifted from rescuing people to fighting looters. How could this be happening in America. The most prosperous nation in the world? I asked Rhonda, "where the hell is the National Guard?"

Oh yeah, Iraq.

I started to get angry. It seems like we have no problem sending people to foreign nations (that we invaded, of course), but we don't have troops to send to our own country when something goes wrong.

The next morning, Bush sent in the National Guard. So you think I'd be happy.

Well, where the hell were they three days ago?

Finally, the Guard arrived and New Orleans is a ghost town (literally). But now comes word that people in rural Louisiana may be stranded and in even more danger, as they have neither communication with the outside world nor the National Guard in their town.

Katrina is the worst disaster since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. But this wasn't an earthquake. And it's not 1906. We knew about Katrina in advance, and we knew it was going to be huge. So what went wrong?

Most of the people stuck in Louisiana still are Black. But they're also poor. On CNN, they said 27% of people live in poverty, and 29% don't have a car. Even if they do have a car, has anyone seen the price of gas lately? Those people couldn't leave on their own if they wanted to.

For all the talk of looters, there were probably some people taking advantage of the situation. But the media reporting of the situation was completely skewed from the beginning. Many, if not most, of the looters were taking away food and water. If they weren't Black, would they have been labeled as looters?

Why was our government so slow to act? One theory is that we were tapped out because of the Iraq War. But if that was so, where did we find those 7,000 troops that got sent a couple days ago? Is it because the victims are poor and Black and not the type of people who vote in every election? When the Twin Towers fell on 9/11, we sure got there real quick. I hate to think that could be the reason, but it's probably worth considering.

The best theory I have is that after 9/11, America has shifted it's entire focus to fighting terrorism. We are prepared for the worst attack on our sovereign nation, but not for far-more-frequent natural disasters. (Why is FEMA in the Department of Homeland Security?) I have been reading Steven Levitt's Freakonomics lately and it's a fascinating read. Levitt says a child is 100 times more likely to die in a house with a swimming pool than a house with a gun, but that since a child dying from a gunshot is more traumatizing than drowning, it receives much more attention. It is a perfect analogy to what is happening in America under the Bush Administration.

Katrina and the disintegration of New Orleans needs to call attention to the actions of the Bush Administration over the past five years. It may be too late to elect someone else, but it's not to late for our Congressional representatives to start doing their jobs and challenging the policies of our President.

This can't continue. If there's an earthquake in the Bay Area and I'm trapped here for a week, will the National Guard come to help me, or will they leave me to die?