On Friday, I was in 7th grade reading class. The students were working on an assignment for the book Hatchet. They were to draw a missing poster about the main character in the book. One of the students in the back was raising his hand for a long time. Both of us teachers were helping other students, so he kept his hand raised. When I finally got back to him, we had this conversation...

"I'm sorry you had your hand raised this whole time. What's your question?"
"Can I give him peach fuzz?"
"Can you give him what?"
"Peach fuzz"
"Peach fuzz???"
"Yeah, you know. Like how I have a peach fuzz mustache. (pointing to the area above his lips) Can I give him a peach fuzz mustache?"
"Oh!!! Um..ah...yeah. You rock that out, man."

I've always noticed the "pube-stache" this kid has sported. I have NEVER EVER heard a kid actually refer and/or acknoledge his pube-stache/peach fuzz. This kid has intentionally grown his 7th grade pube-stache and refers to it as peach fuzz. He is proud of his peach fuzz.

This was, hands down, the most awesome moment of my teaching career so far.

i just LOVE these!

I got one of those survey e-mails last night. Are you kidding?!!? Are these still passed around? I thought I'd post my responses if I were to send this back.

1. What is your occupation? Babysitter for middle school students who have problems

2. What color is your underwear? clear

3. What are you listening too right now? you just used the wrong "too".

4. What was the last thing you ate? a pain pill

5. Do you wish on Stars? why did you just capitalize Stars?

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? clear

7. How is the weather right now? fine.

8. Last person you spoke to on the phone? the bullpen coach

9. Do you like the person who sent this to you? No. I hate them. Why am I on her e-mail list? Is it her hate e-mail list?

10. How old are you today? 48

11. Favorite drink? Clear Pepsi

12. Favorite sport to watch? cards (not cardinals, but cards. you, know. spades, hearts, ect)

14. Do you wear contacts or glasses? I can't answer this because I wear neither.

15. Pets? huh? are you asking if I have any? if I want any? what are you asking?

16. Favorite month? again. stupid question.

17. Favorite food? penn station

18. What was the last movie you watched? breakin' 2.

19. Favorite day of the year? now

20. What do you do to vent anger? punch in the mouth

21. What was your favorite toy as a child? ken

22. Fall or spring? summer

23. Hugs or kisses? BOTH!!!!

24. Cherry or Blueberry? razzleberry

25. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? no. i want them to comment.

26. Who is most likely to respond? dave

27. Who is least likely to respond? because there is not much mentioned about baseball so far...Tim.

28. Living arrangements? I don't want to give you to many details, but let's just say...they...are...awesome.

29. When was the last time you cried? when I got one of these e-mails.

30. What's on the floor of your closet? a dead body, i mean clothes. clothes are on the floor of the closet. sorry.

31. Who's the friend you've had the longest? shut up.

32. What did you do yesterday? I worked, you bum. someone has to work around here.

33. What inspires you? Inpirational songs, movies, and e-mail forwards.

34. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers? Spicy hamburgers? Okay, now you are just stretching.

35. What are you afraid of? Falling into a pit jam packed full of spicy hamburgers

36. Favorite car? The Adobe. The little car...made out of clay.

37. What Is Your Favorite Breed Of Dog? The breed that is none. I like no dog.

38. Number of keys on your key ring? I don't know. But there is only one key to my heart. And that is Kortny. Yes!

39. How many years at your current job? 1.25

40. Favorite day of the week? I don't know why everyone say Friday. You still have work on Friday. I choose Sunday.

41. How many states have you lived in? Ask my wife. She lives in the state of gas every night whem I'm around.

42.. Ring size? This is the final question? The climax of this whole thing is to ask me what my ring size is?


Jeremiah's ring size: AWESOME

mr. cox sucks

Barring an off-season aquisition, I hereby state that I will post about baseball no more on here until spring.

Today was my first day back to school since my second kidney surgery. I think my students were just waiting until I came back to kick it into high gear. What is "it", you ask?
It is acting like a fool, writing "Mr. Cox sucks" on their test, and telling me that their parents were going to "mess me up".

Yes. A student today actually had the kahones to write, "Mr. Cox sucks" on the bottom of his Illinois State Assesment bubble sheet. Did I erase it?
Heck no.
I want to give whoever feeds the sheet into the machine at Springfield something to think about.

Who is this Mr. Cox?
I wonder if he really is a mean teacher?
I wonder if all the students at his school think he sucks, or just this one?
Why did this student only complete half the test?

a touch of the pujols flu

Brade Lidge got bit by the Pujols bug a few days ago.



He was still suffering from it last night.



Get better! Here is my e-card for Brad Lidge.

sorry, george and barb.

Check this video out. It takes a few minutes to load, but it's a wide screen shot of the Pujols homerun from Game 5. You can see good ol' George and Barb Bush on the right, and George turning around and yelling once Pujols connects.
Hey, I've got to watch something to make me feel better.

show's over.

Well, I would have thought they'd put up more of a fight than this. I didn't always think they would necessarily win tonight's game, but I didn't think it would be this.
The Astros were the better team in these past few games, and they deserved to go on.
Again, the Cardinals fans show their class by applauding for the Astros.

Yes, Pujols' shot in game 5 will forever be remembered as one of the biggest clutch homers in baseball history, but how much more sweet it would have been if the Cards would have won the Pennent. It was a good year. It was a very good year.

It was a shame to see the Cards go down like this. Their pitching was the best in the league all season. Their hitting was in the top 3. It was a good season for the Cards, and at least we didn't have to watch it end at Houston. St. Louis ended 11 games ahead of the Stros, 19 ahead of the Brewers and 21 ahead of the Cubs. When people doubted they would be as good as the 105 win team, they proved everyone wrong. Back to back 100-win seasons. The NLCS came down to the best two teams in the league, and that's how it should be.

So, what comes next? Should I be rooting for the White Sox, who have always been my second favorite team, or go for the Astros so that the Cardinals would have lost the World Champs?
Do I actually root for a team in the American Leauge, or do I root for a team who celebrated and didn't show as much class in games 4 and 5 as they have the past few years?


Hey Houston.

Don't celebrate too much if you beat Chicago in a non-clinching game.


Go Sox.

this is why we traded for mulder...

I saw this quote from Roy Oswalt today regarding the bomb Lidge allowed to Pujols...
"We kidded with him the whole time on the plane today. We actually told him we almost got hit by the ball when it took off."

So, here we are. The day off, and game 6 is tonight. Everyone has had time to soak in what excactly did happen in the 9th inning of game 5.
Oswalt shut down the Cards the last time out. The Cardinals had their opportunities against him,but failed to come through. Mulder pitched a good game as well.

I'm not going to make any predictions for tonights game. After what just happened, I think it goes without saying that nobody can ever really have a grasp as to what is going to happen. I will say this though. If the Astros are going to win this series, it's going to happen tonight.

Is anyone else more daring than me and care to venture predictions for this series??

I just found this picture, and thought it was great...

meet me in st. louis

Busch Stadium: You will not be demolished quite yet.

I couldn't stand how Houston was celebrating like they won the series after Sunday's win. I couldn't stand how Berkman acted as if he already hit the game winning homerun in the 7th inning.
I love how Pujols just looked ticked off.

David Freaking Eckstein getting a hit with two outs and two strikes.
Jimmy Ballgame swallowing his pride and taking the walk.

The legend of Albert Pujols continues.

That was the defining moment of his young career. The dude is clutch. When he unloaded on that 0-1 slider, I turned to Kortny and told her that she just witnessed one of the biggest homeruns in postseason history.

Sure, LaRussa takes heat every now and then. But you have to say one thing about him and this year's team. They play a hard nine. Remember the game against the Reds? Down 9-2 in the 9th? Cards come back to win 10-9. Against the Braves: down by 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th, and Eckstein hits a grand slam.
They've done that all year. They've certainly got heart.

I don't think I've ever heard a crowd go from that loud to that silent.
Anyone see the shot of Pettite when Pujols hit that bomb? You could read his lips all the way.
"oh my ____".

okay, okay...

Now that I've had about 15 hours to cool down, I'm ready. I still think the Cardinals are done, but being a fan I always have to have some hope.

Going into Houston, all along I said that all the Cards have to do is win one game. Then, they'd be going back to St. Louis, down 3 games to 2, just like last year. We've got our best going tonight, and Carpenter has an ERA below 1 in his career at Minute Made Park. He's won three times there this year.

The Cardinals hitting aside from Pujols has been horrible. Pathetic. Discusting. The pitching has been very good.
Do I think the Cards are going to loose this series? If I was a bettin' man, I'd say yes.
Do I think the series is allready over? No.

*************THE BOTTOM LINE***************
What do the past 2 World Series Champs have in common?
Red Sox came back from 3-0 against the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS.
Marlins came back from 3-1 against the Cubs in the 2003 NLCS.

jumping the shark

Absolutely pathetic.

not good.

I won't talk about any silver linings in last night's 4-1 loss.
I could mention Mulder's 7 innings, 6K, 1ER or the Pujols homer.

Sanders is down with a sprained back
Tavarez has gotten rocked by Houston all year
Edmonds blew all his chances last night
Walker is hobbling around and 1 for 17 in the series so far

I kept on forgetting, however that it would be rediculous to think that the Cardinals could get 5 runs off of all three of these starters every game. When you are facing Pettitte, Oswalt and Clemens, you are going to get shut down some games. I think the Cards need to win 2 of 3 in Houston before coming back to St. Louis.
The only thing that worries me about Houston right now, is that bandbox of a stadium where I could even have 15 homeruns at with that left field.

However, I love the fact that all of ESPN except John Kruk is saying that Houston is definenitley going to win the series now. The Cardinals always do better when people are betting against them.

in true cy form.

"Reggie Sanders is old and awesome."
"David Eckstein is small and good."
- Matt Ahrens




I've been to a few postseason games before, but I have never heard a more deafening noise than last night after Reggie Sanders hit the homerun in the first inning. He absolutely killed that ball. It was the 2nd longest homerun in Busch stadium this year.
Last night, the Cardinals showed excactly why they can beat any team.
-Scored off the homerun
-Scored off basehits
-Scored off the suicide squeeze
-Good starting pitching

While Mark Prior was busy getting sued, Chris Carpenter was busy being his old self, and has allowed 2 runs in 14 innings this postseason.

How good is David Eckstein?

Roy Oswalt is 2-1 with an ERA over 5 against St. Louis this year. Let's see if they can keep that up.

Hey, is anyone going to take Robbie up on his offer and watch Mark Mulder do this thang????

houston, you have a problem.

HAHAHAHAA!!!!! Get it?!!?!?! Hahahahahahaha!!!


Since LaRussa has been in town, if the Cardinals won the first game of a playoff series, they went on to win it. If they lost the first game, they went on to loose it.
What was up with the Chi Sox yesterday? Their offense was weak. Scotty-Po has been caught stealing more than he has stolen in the past 2 months.


Did anyone else enter the drawing for the chance to buy World Series tickets?

nope. sorry. not the red sox...

Ooooooooh man, I bet ESPN is hacked off that their precious Red Sox and Yankees are allready booted from the playoffs.

Here's my delima. The White Sox are and always have been my second favorite team. IF the Cardinals make it to the World Series, do I really want to see them face the White Sox? Do I want to run the risk of being forced not to like them?

Ever since I was friends with Even Walles in 2nd grade, who is a die-hard Sox fan, I've always wanted a Cardinals/White Sox World Series.
Here is my problem. If the White Sox become instant foes in the playoffs, will I all of a sudden see Ozzie Guillen no longer as *energetic* and *refreshing* but instead as *annoying* and *stupid*? Will I think of Mark Beurhle as a future self-proclaimed Cardinal, or a guy I'd never want anywhere near St. Louis again?

My head tells me to root for the Angels, so that I have a clear-cut foe in the World Series.
My heart?
Well, my heart says, "You go, White Sox!"

goshdangit.

The Cards would have crushed Atlanta in the NLCS. Last year's St. Louis vs. Houston went to 7 stressfull games. I'm worried about the Cards being able to beat them again. Honestly, this series could go either way. I have no idea who I think has the edge.

Here's my lowdown of the NLCS, which will start on Wednesday.

Houston
They have Pettite this time around
Don't have Kent, Beltran, or a full strength Jeff Bagwell
They have a weak offense
They have a chip on their shoulder from loosing to STL last year
Have that whole "team of destiny" thing going for them with their 18 inning win

STL
They have Carpenter and Mulder this time around
They don't have Scott Rolen
Their bullpen had a rough NLDS
They have a chip on their shoulder from getting swept in the World Series
The just swept a .500 team, and are well rested

Just to give you an idea of how close last year's NLCS was...
After six games, each team had scored 29 runs. Each team had an ERA of 4.80. And each team was batting .246.

Like I said before, the World Series champ will come out of the NL Central.


Discuss.

next.

Dave's boy, Eckstein connects with a 2-run homer and went 3 for 4.

Pujols had a series average of .556.

Sanders set a NLDS recored, 10 RBI in three games.
As Matt said; Reggie Sanders is old and awesome.



SIDE NOTE
I thought I would get more reaction from my last post. Was that too "out there"? Did I over-do it? I guess I should talk about baseball more.
Listen, I'm really sorry.

no more baseball talk

today.

The following post is gross and may cross the line. I'm just warning you.I've been thinking for a while a way to make a post on my experiences in the doctor's offices before my surgery and still keep this blog family-friendly.

You know, just like WBGL.

All the way up until last week, I've always had things *exit* my *exit only* orphace in the rear. One may say that is a given, but in this day and age, you can never be too sure. Medical doctors, doin' their thang.
So, when I was in the office, Mrs. Doctor said to me, "okay, I'm going to need you to drop your drawers and turn on your side.

"May I ask why" I asked.
She then proceeded to tell me not only why she requested I take this position, but who, what, when and where she was proceeding.
"Hmm" I said.
"Tell me if this hurts" she asked.
"Well, to tell you the truth, I've never felt this before...it doesn't feel good, if that's what you're asking".

She took her gloves off and left the room. And that was it. No good-bye. Nothing.

The next day, I visited the specialist. He was poking, and prodding, while asking me questions about my job, family, urine, and bowel movements. Memories of my experience with yesterday's doctor were a distant memory.
Then, Mr. Doctor asked me to turn to my side. I saw him put on his glove and get out the lube.
"Really?" I asked.
"My doctor just did this yesterday."
"Yup. I need to check" he told me.

He asked me the same question the other doctor asked. I gave him the same response, telling him that it doesn't feel good, and that I *guess* it doesn't hurt when he does that.


He asked me if I had any questions, and then left.
What is it with these doctors that come in and take advantage of me and leave?

What, no dinner and a movie?
I feel so used.

yes.

Two down, nine to go.

what now?!?

So, does this mean that Jimmy Fallon going to be a White Sox fan soon?

yes.

Reggie Sanders - 2 for 3 6RBI, Grandslam
Edmonds - 3 for 4, Homerun

Carpenter - 6IP, 3H, 0ER

Looks like Carp got his Mojo back.

my kidney or the playoffs?

I don't know which one is causing more pain right now. The foot long stent that is going from my kidney to my bladder or the anticipation of the playoffs starting in 4 1/2 hours.
Here are my final thoughts going into the postseason. I think the Cardinals will either loose in the first round or win it all. If Carpenter and Mulder pitch well against the Pads, then they will be on for the rest of the playoffs. If they don't, then it's all over.

Al Reyes done for the year?
It wouldn't be a true St. Louis Playoff until someone got hurt right before or during the playoffs.
- The tarp running over Coleman
- Mike Matheney getting cut by a hunting knife he got as a birthday present
- Alex Friggin Cintron running into Scott Rolen

So, here is my final prediction. The World Series winner will come from the NL Central.

Oh, and I would love nothing more than to see the White Sox knock out the Red Sox.

Game on!