Doug Mientkiewicz Update

Doug Mientkiewicz signs a minor-league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Here's the breakdown:

- 6 teams in 11 seasons (Twins 1998-2004, Boston 2004, NY Mets 2005, Kansas City 2006, NY Yankees 2007, Pittsburgh 2008)

- 2001 Gold Glove with the Twins

-.996 Fielding Percentage, tops among active first basemen

-Hundreds of Web Gems

-Saved many third basemen from making errors

- Can play more than one position

There it is. Doug Mientkiewicz. Defense is underrated.

KG: Going Back Down Thunder Road

I know what some of you could be thinking. All six of you are wondering how in the heck did this blog go from Perfect Matches to Favorite Places To Watch A Game to Marisa Miller to Erin Andrews. What could be next? Kate Beckinsale? I very well could do a page on her. The truth is I don't spend much time thinking up what I'm going to write. I just wander around the internet for a little bit and sometimes run into this website. Whatever is on my mind at the particular time is what I do. However, I also know that while you were wondering why this went to those topics, you then immedietly googled photos of Marisa and Erin you discrete, sneaky little punks.

Marbury signs with the Celtics. He is back. But what happens when he says Boston is too chilly in the winter? I just finished up watching the gamecast from ESPN.com as I write here. Marbury is going to be a big help for the Celtics I think. As you know, they needed someone to come off the bench and bring some fire power. But as a Minnesota fan, this is interesting. I googled around and found the SLAM magazine cover with KG and Stephon as "Showbiz and KG." Check this clip out from a 1998 ESPN THE MAGAZINE commercial (the link is below). I twist and turn in my sleep to this day wondering what this combo could have done had Marbury not bolted for warmer climates and more money. I remember it was 5th grade. I don't quite remember how I heard the news, but I think ESPN was channel 7 at the time (How's that for a memory?) and I watched it every morning before I walked across the street to school. Upon hearing the news, I was stunned and extremely angered to a very, very, very, very, very high extent. Very high extent. I never followed the cross walk peoples rules any day, but this day I REALLY didn't follow their rules. I'm not sure for certain, but I think I might have even grabbed one of their flag poles out of their hands and broke it over my thigh.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDrqNQwIdRc



Can I put in a side note in here? Is there anyway the Spurs won't go to the finals this year. It is an odd year (2009) and they haven't been talked about too much. If you're a superstitious person, you've got to be thinking this has to happen. If John Locke in LOST can be dead and alive at the same time, the Spurs can win a championship every odd numbered year. (By the way, we haven't seen Kate much this season. So if any of you LOST writers are reading this right now, I'm just throwing that out there. You guys are adding the Erin Andrews mystique factor to her lately and I can't say I don't like it). I'm not betting against them in the West. Celtics/Spurs Finals. But I don't believe in NBA superstition. Celtics win.

Watching KG take the floor each night or do something like jump onto the announcers table and wail his fists and towel around and yell out the F word at the top of his lungs after a dramatic win is like the opening seconds of an E Street Band concert when the arena is still pitch black but Mighty Max Weinberg's drums are pounding and Bruce is yelling "Is there anybody alive out there?!?!?!" It is an adrenaline rush to the fullest. It's the kind of adrenaline rush in which if someone was sitting next to you with a piss and moan attitude, you would have to really hold yourself back from grabbing him by the shoulders, shaking him, and yelling in his face "rock, you son of a bitch!"

Garnett was our little secret when he was here in the upper midwest. He was hidden amongst the evergreen trees. I was at the 2004 playoff game against the Denver Nuggets when the T-Wolves killed them and went to the second round for the fist time. An hour and something before the game everyone was already in their seats. Everyone. On the big screen, they kept showing the comments that the Nuggets players made about KG and the Target Center. John Berry (Yeah I spelt his name wrong) said that the Target Center was the quietest place he's ever played at. Fransisko Ellsen (Yeah I spelt his name wrong, too) said that Garnett was gay. This was around the time Garnett had to be pulled back from Ellsen by the Nuggets team bus in the tunnels somewhere. This was also the time that KG said he was bringing his oozie to the game. KG put a beating on them that Game 5. Watching the passion he showed during these times was the greatest sports thing I've ever seen. The next series Anthony Peeler elbowed Garnett and Garnett went down. When Peeler made his way back down the floor, Garnett layed a forearm on him and Peeler tried to punch him. When Chris Webber missed that final 3-point attempt in Game 7, I about ran out my front door and yelled at the top of my lungs "That's right you Mother F#ck$rS!!!!" I couldn't help it! It wasn't me moving myself, it was KG. Just an incredibly wild and adrenaline driven playoff time for Garnett and Wolf fans. KG FOREVER.

Erin Andrews

Erin Andrews

One thing is on everyone's mind when they turn on ESPN.

Is it Peter Gammons? No.

Is it Albert Pujols? No.

Is it Jay Bilas? No.

Is it the game? No.

Is it Erin Andrews? Yes.

Erin Andrews is to sideline reporting as Hamilton Porter is to "The Sandlot", as Rachel McAdams is to "Wedding Crashers", as Doug Heffernan is to the "King of Queens", or as what Doug Mientkiewicz is to defensive first basemen. Everything.

I have had a crush on her since the day I first saw her at a Major League Baseball game on ESPN. Pretty form, great talker, fun, sexy as can be. But what she is best at is mystique. Since she is always dressed in professional attire, we never see her in a bikini or in Daisy Dukes. Why else do you think she is always voted as "Celebrity We Would Like To See On The Cover Of Sports Illustrated's Swinsuit Edition." It's because we haven't seen her like that! This is one of her best features, mystique is. If men would spend as much time building homes as thinking about Erin in a bikini, we would each have twenty log cabins up. Absolutely gorgeous.

Marisa Miller

Marisa Miller is not in the new SI Swimsuit Edition. A year after she graces the cover, she is not in. That's like winning the Cy Young Award and then having the manager bench you in the World Series. She must have contract obligations with Victoria's Secret and Harley Davidson. One word describes both - WOW. She now probably graces the sceen savers of many male computers. Guilty.



Doug Mientkiewicz is still looking for a spot on someone's roster. As a big Doug Mientkiewicz fan, I want him to find a team so I can at least see his name in the sports page statistics. As one of the best defensive first basemen to ever play, he is yet again in search of somewhere to play. That is what I like about him, he keeps grinding through, team by team. Unfortunetly for him, strictly defensively-gifted first basemen are not in hot demand anymore. But if he gets a spot on a Major League team this year, we will see him in a couple more Web Gem segments. Pittsburgh might have done him some good last season by showing other teams that he can play third base. But we'll see how it turns out. Defense is underrated.



Spring Training begins. Good time of year I think. It also means that spring is around the corner up here in Minnesota. Curious to see the new Spring Training batting practice caps. Last years weren't bad but I didn't like the stripes on the sides. This is very important news.


Springsteen plays the Super Bowl and tickets for new Spring and Summer Working On A Dream tour go on sale. First he goes out and pulls off the greatest half-time performance of all-time, and then the NEXT DAY his tickets hit Ticketmaster. Wonderful two day span for us fans.



And we move on...