Miscellaneous Ramblings

• My Grandpa got a phone call from Lou Holtz the other day! OK, it was a pre-recorded campaign message for Bryan Flannery, but I was still pretty fired up about it. You can here the message at the Flannery for Governor multimedia page. (Unfortunately, I wasn't invited to any of the "Meet the Bloggers Debates."


• Recently local Cleveland chocolatier Malley's unveiled the Travis Hafner "Pronk" Candy Bar. Hafner earned his nickname from being "half project, half donkey" (or, according to a certain softball teammate and Avon Lake resident, he earned it because a certain part of his anatomy drags on the ground). He didn't want his name on a candy bar until he tasted it and discovered it was the "best candy bar I ever tasted." When passing out free samples to his teammates, "I was pumped. I felt like a proud papa." The Pronk Bar may be the best Cleveland-themed chocolate bar since the Bernie Kosar Bar or my imaginary creation, the Matt Bahr. (Packed with football-shaped almonds!)


• Congrats to Klondike for pulling a fast one on all of us. In the KankaMatic baseball draft, Klondike's final selection was "Ramon Perez." The only problem? There is no "Ramon Perez in or anywhere near the major leagues, and it took six days before anyone noticed! Well done.


• Recently, Pedro Martinez hit three Washington Nationals in in one game, including Jose Guillen twice. Guillen was fined for walking towards the mound and causing the benches to clear after his second plunking. Pitcher Felix Hernandez and Nationals manager Frank Robinson were ejected and later suspended when Hernandez hit Paul Lo Duca with a pitch after both teams had been warned. What was Pedro's punishment for being responsible for three of the six Nationals hit in the series, and for hitting Guillen now five times? There was no punishment. Why not, obviously Pedro's a veteran with great control? Hey man, don't blame Pedro. Blame Pedro'stoe.


• In his first start at the AA level, Orioles prospect Adam Loewen struck out 12, walked none, and gave up 1 hit and no runs in 8 innings of work. I've come very close to adding Loewen to my fantasy team in a super-Gammonsesque move. But considering what usually happens to Orioles starting pitchers on my fantasy team (Rodrigo Lopez last year and Daniel Cabrera currently), maybe I should do Loewen a favor and keep him off my team. Why is it that being an Orioles pitcher on my team is a curse, while being any non-Met on Dave's fantasy team makes it likely you'll sign with the Mets as a free agent (as Pedro Martinez and Carlos Delgado already have)?


• Ever wanted to build a better mousetrap? How about a working "lifesize" version of the game Mousetrap?


• Vontez Duff, under contract with the Giants, is currently playing for the last place Hamburg Sea Devils of NFL Europe. The starting cornerback has 11 tackles, including one on special teams, two pass breakups, and one interception. He's returned 8 kickoffs with an average of 20.6 yards per return and a long of 35 yards. Of course, the one time I flipped over to the NFL Network and caught a Hamburg game, Duff got burned deep by an opposing receiver.


• I'm still kicking myself for missing this once-in-a-lifetime April Fool's Day Rambling: a fake engagement announcement with a wedding date of March 3 of next year (think about it). On a related note, I hear KankaManiac nickyschu had quite a bit of success with an away message "announcing" his engagement on April 1.


• As a reminder, baseball lineups are once again due by 5 PM this Friday on the baseball board.


• Speaking of the other message boards, Andy came up with the great idea of doing NHL and NBA playoff pick 'ems. Look for more info on those soon.