Who says Corporate America isn’t fun…

With two people, it took 4 hours to put together. Worth every second.

-b

One of the blogs bay area sports blogs I read (http://sayhey.wordpress.com/) posted this Will Clark video yesterday.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRL6EB5e3NA&rel=1]

Will was my hero growing up. I played 1st base in little league. I modeled my batting stance after his iconic pre-swing rituals. I even had a life size Will “The Thrill” cutout in my room when I was 13. With the steroid scandals tearing baseball apart from its red stitching, this video reminded of a time when the sport was popular because of the competition, not because of the WWE like Goliaths that play today. Will was the best of the best when the sport was at its best. Here are some interesting stats and great moments related to Will Clark:

Wikipedia Summary:
William Nuschler Clark, Jr. (born March 13, 1964 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is a former first baseman in Major League Baseball best known for his play with the San Francisco Giants from 1986 to 1993. He was recognized by his peers as being one of the best clutch players of his time, and possessed a fiery intensity. He earned the nicknames of “Will the Thrill” (a name given to him by his classmates at Jesuit High School in New Orleans, where he played both varsity baseball and varsity basketball) as well as simply “The Thrill”[1] and “The Natural” because of his natural gifts as a player. Clark was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.[2](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Clark)

Fun Stats:
Middle Name: Nuschler
High School: Jesuit (In New Orleans, where my fraternity brother Steve Johnson went)
Drafted: 1982- Kansas City Royals in the 4th round (did not sound); 1985- San Francisco Giants in the 2nd pick overall.
First Minor League AB: Home Run of Fernando Valenzuela
Games Played in 1988: 162/162
Life Time Batting Ave: .303
Post Season Batting Average: .333
Times in The Top-5 MVP Balloting: 4 timed (2nd- 1989)
First Major League AB: Home Run of Nolan Ryan (All time strike out leader)
Career Earnings: $54,221,863 ($60,000 in 1986)
Accomplishments: College Hall of Fame Inductee, Member of the 1984 gold medal winning Olympic team, 6-time All Star, 2-time Silver Slugger, Gold Glove, Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame Inductee, 1989 NL-ALCS MVP

I would say Will’s career highlight was leading the Giants from being a 100 loss team in 1985 to a World Series team in 1989. Check out the iconic series clinching play/celebration in 1989. This might be my new dance move…Both arms up into a full force whole body fist pump:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qxb2Mv3MlE&rel=1]

Will was the total package. Not only was he a perennial all star with the Giants in the late 80’s but check out how good he was great with the media. Notice here in the 1989 NL-MVP post game award ceremony. He stops the interview to thank Chevrolet for being a sponsor. He noted the great play of the other team, specifically his peer at 1st base (Mark Grace). Shit, he even knew what charity he was donating the “Astrovan” he was awarded for his great play.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOGIaP3aptE&rel=1]

Here is a video where Will is is featured as part of the renaissance of the Giants:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANaLJ0IWeDA&rel=1]

First of all, if you want to know something about Will Clark collectibles http://www.thrill22.com/ is the place to go. I did some research on the price if “Thrill” collectibles on eBay. Here are some cool things I found:

Will Clark Bobble Head Doll:

Average Selling Price: $85.37

Game Used Bat

Average Selling Price: $239.86

1987 Topps Rookie Card:

Average Selling Price: $10.50
I have a signed copy of this card on my desk at work.

While I don’t remember the details, I believe Will retired from baseball because he has a child with some sort of physical or mental disability. He sited the need to be a family man as his largest priority. While I doubt he is much of a blog reader, Will, if you ever stumble on this page you should know that even if you’ve gained a little weight and do some part time work for the Giant’s division rival (Arizona Diamondbacks), you’ll always be a hero in the bay area…

Thanks Will!

-b

Hi all,

My friend Shannon is an up and coming singer/songwriter biased in NYC. I’ve been asking her to perform in San Francisco for a long time and she finally gave into my persistent pestering. She will be playing at Grant and Green in San Francisco on the 31st. The show is free a must see. Shannon has been described as a mix between Tori Amos and a female Ben Folds. She’s really, really good. You can check out here music at http://www.myspace.com/shannoncorey .

If this show goes well, we are (I am) hoping it will generate some bigger shows in the area, thus making Shannon come back soon.

Here’s the context. I’m a big Cal (Pac 1o) fan. My friend Rommy is a Penn State (Big 10) fan. Here is our text message conversation about the BCS Championship game between Ohio State and Louisiana State :

Rommy: Big 10 football baby!

Ben: Bitch please! There are 3 teams I would pick over OSU and LSU.

Rommy: OK, we’ll see where Cal is next year, after the “restructuring”.

Ben: What does that have to do with what we were talking about?

Ben: By the way, how was the Rose Bowl this year, last year, the year before that, etc…

Rommy: The Rose Bowl is no Armed Forces bowl or whatever shit bowl you went to.

Ben: Ok Penis State playing in a shitty conference and still having a shitty year.

Rommy: 9-4 isn’t as good as 7-6 with a loss to UCLA. You are a proud fan.

Ben: Indiana, Iowa, Iona, Illinois…am I missing anyone? (Yes, I know Iona isn’t in the big 10)

Rommy: Dude, what other teams should have gone to the National Champ? #3 and #4 lost their bowls. The other ones suck. Maybe USC.

Ben: SC, Georgia, WVU. (Maybe even Kansas)

Rommy: WVU lost, didn’t they?

Ben: Beat Oklahoma big.

Rommy: And Georgia was not bigger than LSU

Ben: They are better. Same record but they didn’t get to play in the SEC championship game. (lost head to head tie breaker to Tenn, who Cal man handle, pre-Longshore injury)

Ben: Big 10 football. Giving up 10 point leads because we have good manners. (LSU 17, OSU 10)

Ben: Big 10 football. Here you have the ball…we don’t want it anymore. (interception by LSU)

Rommy: Cal football. We just suck.

Ben: Oh, this is about Cal now?

Rommy: You don’t have a leg to stand on.

Ben: And the big 10 does? Cal is 4-2 in bowl games in the last 6 years.

Ben: Maybe 5-1. (We are actually 4-1 b/c we were being penalized by the NCAA in Tedford’s 1st year)

Rommy: JoePa. More bowl wins than any other coach. (23-10-1 in 41 years…missed about two bowls a decade)

Ben: Big 10 Football. We’re just happy to be here.

Rommy: Cal football. Hugging trees is so fun.

Rommy: Cal football. We lost to Stanford. (Cal strength of schedule #23, Penn State #65 according to team rankings.com)

Ben: Big 10 Football. Stanford would be a bowl team if they played here.

Rommy: Big 10 football. Ten bowl eligible teams.

Ben: Big 10 football. WE HAVE 11 TEAMS AND ARE CALLED THE BIG 10!

Rommy: Cal Football. We finished in the bottom three of our conference.

Ben: Cal Football. Even out bad year is better than your average.

Rommy: Cal Football. We have no tradition and haven’t been to a Rose Bowl in 50 years.

Ben: Penis State Football. Too old to change our adult diapers, but since our coach sucks, why would we change coaches?

Ben: Penis State Football. At least as goos as your high school team.

Rommy: Penn State. We’ve actually gone undefeated 5 times.

Ben: Haha. Shows how good the Big 10 is. Did you play 5 quarters?

<HALF TIME>

Ben: Even Eddie George said “this is the same game as last year”.

Ben: Wow, just when I was going to give you congrats for forcing a punt… (OSU roughs the punter leading to an LSU score 33-10 now.)

Ben: Big 11 Football. We don’t mind being embarrassed on national television…go ahead…change to subject to Cal.

Rommy: Pac 10 Football. We have one team.

Ben: Big 11 Football. We have no one good.

Rommy: Big 10 Football. We are historically the greatest conference ever.

Ben: Big 11 football. We are the best just ask us…

Ben: But don’t ask the SEC of Pac 10. They always laugh and it hurts our fragile little feelings.

Ben: Congrats. You scored! Now you are only down 2 td’s. (LSU leads by 14 going into the 4th)

Rommy: Pac 10 Football. USC Recruits. Everyone else has drum circles.

Ben: Wow, I can actually see your hopes go up in smoke from my apartment (OSU fumble returned by LSU to the 20).

Ben: Big 10 Football. 3-5 in bowl games this year. 0-2 in the BCS.

Ben: Pac 10 Football. 4-2 in bowl games, with a BCS win.

Ben: But Purdue did beat Central Michigan by 3…congrats.

Rommy: We beat Florida and Texas A&M.

Ben: 4-loss Florida. 6-loss A&M

Rommy: Talk all the shit you want.

Ben: Oh look…another OSU interception.

Rommy: Nate Longshore and Desean Jackson. Most overrated players in college football.

Ben: I couldn’t name anyone on your team and my conference is so clearly better than yours its laughable.

Ben: Not to change the subject, but LSU is killing you conference champion.

Poor Rommy…speaking of not having a leg to stand on. Way to stay loyal to your team and conference no matter how bad they are.

Final score: LSU 38 vs OSU 24.

-b

P.S. This game was really boring as the rest of the BCS was. Let’s have a frickin’ playoff next year.

Anyone who knows me knows I am a diehard University of California supporter. This was one of, if not the most dissapointing seasons in recent memory. For the record, I’ve blocked everything from the hiring of Keith Gilbertson (the West Coast version of Mark Mangino) to the beginning of the JT era. Anyway, here are some of my thoughts:

Nate Longshore: As Nate went, the bears went. Nate, you looked so strong at the begnning of the year. Both the Tennessee and Oregon games were your games to win and you did. Unfortunatly, as you tend to do…you got banged up and choaked a lot at the end of games. You’re a “pocket passer”, meaning you are slow as maple syrup running uphill. I’m sad to say it, but once was an accident and twice is a trend. I think you’re good enough to be a star at this level, but if it were up to me, you’re time would be up.

DeSean Jackson: You and Russell White are the most explosive players I’ve ever seen at Cal. You were 1/1 on turning punts to you into touchdown (Thanks Coach Fullmer). Above average hands. Great speed. Stop on a dime and turn on a nickel. You will be a player on the next level. With that said, I’m not heartbroken you are inevatably going to leave school. Rumors of you spitting in Kevin Reiley’s face post the Oregon State game and saying ”you cost me the heisman” didn’t surprise me. You were hurt for the Stanford game which was one of my lowest points of the year. Sure, it must have been frustrating as hell watching our QB’s struggle to get you the ball but try to show a little more heart. If you can get that right…you’re a star on any level.  

 Justin Forsett: You are one of the biggest over achievers in the Tedford era. Undersized. Not the fastest back ever but man, are you a hustler. I wish I could take you’re attitude and put it in Desean Jackson. If we could pull that off, I could play quarteback and we’d still never pass the ball. You lead the Pac10 in rushing yards…Congrats. Thanks for keeping this team moving in the right direction.

 Kevin Riley: It looks like you earned the starting QB job next year. Baring Brock Mansion being the next comming of Joe Kapp, you should be the guy. You’re mobile and you’ve got a cannon. You’ve redemed yourself from the Oregon State blunder with a great bowl game performance.  Limit the turnovers next year and we should be A-Ok on offense next year.

Coach Tedford and Co: Guys, what happened here. Yes, you are the backbone behind the rejuvination of this program. Northern California loves you for the job you’ve done here. With that said, you mishandeled this team badly. Our defensive scheemes only work when we are up by 20 points. You need a pass rush and you can’t leave the middle of the field open all year long. Who uses a 3 man rush? Chances are Bob Gregory is gone. On offense, the quarterback controversy is a huge black mark on your reputation. This is the second time you stayed with an ineffective QB at the cost of the team. I do love the loyalty. I would have gone back to Nate after Oregon State…but…I would have gone back to Riley by USC. Let’s be more flexible on offense and more dynamic on defense. This was a uber-talented team that underperformed.  

Next Year: New wide reciever core. Inexperienced but talented running backs. One year more experience on the defensive line. Weaker schedule. QB controversy all over again. At first glance, it looks like this is a 8-4 team, however looking at the talent level and tendency for recent Cal teams to over achieve in off years, I’m going 9-3 with another trip the Holiday or Sun Bowl.

 Long live Tedford’s Contract. Cut those damn trees down already and Go Bears!

 -b 

Little know fact: Tom Brady is from the Northern California, more specifically, the Peninsula. Sure he didn’t graduate from Burlingame High School, but no one is totally perfect.

While leading his team to the first ever 16-0 regular season, Tom Brady has spent this year padding his someday Hall of Fame stats. Oh, he also had his first ever child (Jesus Brady) while dating Gisele. Having been in Boston for the Pats first Super Bowl win, it is hard to believe that they have gone from “total upset” to “evil empire” in such a short period of time. The most amazing stat to me is that Tommy Touchdown has something like 42 more touchdowns than interceptions. That’s ridiculous.

I know there are lots of Patriot haters. I totally understand. Love em’ or hate em’, you have to respect what this team has accomplished.