Red Sox win the World Series

It's a great thing that Boston has won the World Series for the 3rd time in the last 10 years. They went from last to first and we can hope the Phillies may figure that out.  The Red beards won it.

Paul Dezinski for county council

In addition to the 11 people on the ballot Paul Dezinski of Wyoming is running a write-in campaign. He owns a lawn care business and  has 14 years experience  in the Fire-EMS service. He's a lifelong Colts fan and likes the Yankees in baseball and picked the Cardinals to win the Series.

I talked with him the other day and asked why he is mounting a very long shot write-in campaign but  didn't try to get on the ballot. He said the time limit had expired before he decided to run. His motivation for running is the spike in crime. I'm not sure  that the county council can do much about that.  He said that  John Boland and John Marianacci have been supportive.


More info on his Facebook page.

Some of his messages to me:

 I could tell u some why I've decided to try as a write in campaign . Well the violence is a big part of it 10 Homicides in Wilkes-Barre and no other council person campaigning has mentioned to make our streets safer and to curb the violence . I have 14 years in the Fire-EMS service both currently as a volunteer and career . I see and deal with the bad violence on a daily basis over the last 14 years it has risen and risen even higher ....And now to see that at the casino a girl was held gunpoint and robbed . It's only gonna get worse if someone like me doesn't take the step forward . I'd like to see a county wide gang task force and work with the local authorities to make our streets safer for people of all ages and it's a beautiful place here in Luzerne County and we can even go forward and still make it safer for tourism and if not soon we will see houses being sold off as people being in fear of their lives ....And our county 911 system I'd like to implement the Lackawanna county style GPS dispatched for Paramedic units only . I am sure you have read the paper a few months back about the elderly gentleman heart attack on the ground in the back mountain area . And a closer paramedic unit was closer but they waited for one of out Luzerne Borough to respond and pass the closer one ....Also taxes are a concern on not to higher taxes as it effects the senior citizens who live on fixed incomes and can barely pay for medications due to the Medicare changes they go with out meds as the out of pocket expense is draining them to nothing and it not like they get raise when taxes go up . So I would have to analyze any tax hike very carefully before I said yes to raising them.

Happy Spring Training

Forget the groundhog or the equinox, the first sign of Spring is Baseball! Today there was the first game between the Phillies and Astros .

The RailRiders

The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees will now be know as the RailRiders. The other choices were Blast, Black Diamond Bears, Porcupines, Trolley Frogs or Fireflies. The Porcupines was the second choice and they will use it as a mascot on the merchandising. Bleech. The Barons should be the name.

The politicians in Lackawanna County made a total hash of the 18 year relationship with the Phillies that chased them out of town then got the Yankees to relocate their AAA team from Columbus. Convicted criminal Bob Cordaro even ran campaign ads featuring Bombers GM Brian Cashman.

I'm glad that we still have a team and a professional sports company bought the team and politics has been taken out of the daily operation of the team but why did the taxpayers of Pennsylvania foot the bill for the renovation of the stadium? Baseball is a multi-billion dollar business so the teams should pay for their own buildings.

The renovation of the stadium in Moosic is reported to cost $43 million. That's less than the salaries of A Rod and Jeter in 2013. More corporate welfare.

The new taxpayer funded stadium in Miami has worked out well.

Phils on Phire

A month ago I didn't think the Phillies would finish with a winning record this year. Hell, they didn't even win a 3 game series until after the All Star break. They just swept the Rockies and the Fish and are riding a season high 7 game win streak.

 Now they are above .500 for the first time since June at 72-71 and just 3 games out of 2nd Wild Card spot. It's a still a long shot to make the playoffs because they need to keep winning and have the teams in front of them lose. Last night all the teams ahead of them cooperated by losing.

 Next up on the schedule is a team with worst record in baseball, the Houston Astros, for a 4 game set. As all baseball fans know this series could turn out to be a debacle and end the high hopes.That's why they play the games.

After the phire sale

The Phils win 2 in a row against the 1st place Nationals. I was sorry to see Shane and Hunter go but 2 of the players they got back did well last night. Nate Schierholtz went yard and  Josh Lindblom didn't give up a run. 

Watching the Phillies in the dentist chair

The way this season has gone so far it seemed appropriate that  I got to watch the Phillie's beat the Astro's in an uncomfortable way. Cliff Lee cruised through 8 innings giving up just 1 run with the usual anemic offense only producing 3 runs. Top of the ninth with a 3-1 lead then Murphy's law kicked in. Chad Qualles was brought in to close it because Paplebon was not available. He gave up 2 runs with some help when Hunter Pence who dropped a ball on the exchange from glove to hand let the tying run in. So it went into extra's.

At this point  Dr. Edwards stopped screwing  around with my teeth and watched the ball game with me. When I pointed out that the next pitcher was a rookie making his 1st Major League appearance she said " he  must be shitting his pants." Jake Diekman did well. He got the last out in the 9th and then put down the visiting team 1-2-3 in the 10th. Then Hunter Pence went from goat to hero when he hit a Hone Run  to win the game in the bottom of the 10th.

PA 11th CD Democratic primary

Longtime activist Gene Stilp and W-B asst. city attorney Bill Vinsko are vieing for the Democratic nomination to take on frosh GOP Congressman Lou Barletta in the 11th Congressional District of Pennsylvania. This is the first election since Pennsylvania became a state that Wilkes-Barre won't be in the 11th District thanks to the latest Harrisburg gerrymander. The salon's in HB drew the lines to put Vinsko's house outside the district after he already declared that he was running. So if he wins the primary the Barletta camp can call him a carpetbagger although the US Constitution requires that he/she be "an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen".. A Wall Street Journal story highlighted the stratergy (paywall).

"[Republicans] began to focus on bolstering endangered incumbents...To help Mr. Barletta, GOP leaders shifted two Democratic-leaning cities, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre , out of his district…GOP leaders took one wedge out of Mr. Barletta's 11th congressional district that Democrats say looks drawn specifically to exclude the home of Mr. Barletta's leading challenger, Bill Vinsko."

"State Senate Republican Leader Dominic Pileggi makes no apologies for using redistricting to bolster GOP incumbents in [Pennsylvania]...He added that redistricting doesn't guarantee a winner in the fall. 'A lot depends on the quality of the candidates.’

Vinsko's response: “Republican State Senator Pileggi and I are in complete agreement,” said Bill Vinsko, “Redistricting doesn’t guarantee a win because the quality and character of a candidate matters more to the people and I firmly believe that in this election the integrity of our campaign and the strength of our message will win the day with the people of Northeast and Central Pennsylvania.”

Vinsko and Stilp had a faceoff at Wyoming Seminary in Kingston last Thursday that they agreed to keep it clean and agreed on most issues.

Vinsko, Stilp engage in congenial debate

You can catch them on PCN tonight.

Tuesday LIVE at 7pm: PCN 11th Congressional Town Hall at Bloomsburg University

Both Democrats have struggled raising money. After a great start Vinko slowed down gathering only $28K in the first quarter of 2012 with $31,000 cash on hand. Stilp's report isn't on the FEC website yet. Barleta's fundraising numbers are not that great for sitting member of Congress but has an advantage. In the 1st Q he gathered $124K with cash on hand of $239K. It sucks that we have to discuss money in an election just like it stinks that we have to discuss the contracts of baseball players. After the recent Supreme Court decisions saying money is speech some people have louder voices than the rest of us.

With all that said will people get past Bill Vinsko being the front man for every controversy in Wilkes-Barre such as the million dollar fire truck or decide that Gene Stilp is about more than a big pink pig?

Holy Thursday

Today is one of the most sacred days of the year.

It's Opening Day of Baseball! I can't believe that some idiot scheduled Easter on the same weekend that MLB get's started. The banged up Phillies get it going against the Pirates a 1:30PM today.

From Phillies Nation

The Opening Day roster includes 12 pitchers, two catchers, six infielders and five outfielders.
Pitchers: Right-handers Joe Blanton, Roy Halladay, David Herndon, Kyle Kendrick, Jonathan Papelbon, Chad Qualls, Michael Stutes and Vance Worley, and left-handers Antonio Bastardo, Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee and Joe Savery.
Catchers: Carlos Ruiz and Brian Schneider.
Infielders: Freddy Galvis, Pete Orr, Placido Polanco, Jimmy Rollins, Jim Thome and Ty Wigginton.
Outfielders: John Mayberry Jr., Laynce Nix, Hunter Pence, Juan Pierre and Shane Victorino.

I'm up early and well caffeinated. The Yuengling Lager is on ice and will light up the grill about the 7th inning.

Our long national winter nightmare is over. It's time for Baseball!

Spring Training

Forget the groundhog or the equinox, the first sign of Spring is Baseball! Today there was the first game between the Phillies and Yankees and the hope is to see these two teams play again in October.

I've been a bit of a slacker on blogging lately but I hope to return to normal this week.

So what's happening.

Mitt Romney won Michigan, on to Super Tuesday

There is a new Luzerne County manager who is looking for good pizza

Rush said something outrageous again but this time it may cost him

Phil Scollo looks like a real contender in the 10th CD

Only in Wilkes-Barre could a gift of a million dollars blow up into a controversy

Sports Weekend

A great scene before the kickoff of the Penn State-Nebraska game. Both teams took a knee at midfield and said a prayer for the victims of Jerry Sandusky. The reporting on the teevee is that it was the idea of the Nebraska players.

Nebraska is one of the class acts of college football as PSU has always been. When I was stationed in Omaha, Nebraska in 1979 a pal of mine scored 2 tickets to see the Lions play the Conrnhuskers in Lincoln. Dressed in my Penn State gear we headed into Memorial stadium not knowing what to expect as I had been treated rudely at other sporting events for wearing the "wrong" colors. A man and a woman decked out in Go Big Red attire yelled at us "hey Penn State fans" and I thought "here we go." I shied away not wanting to get into it but they came up to us, offered a handshake and said welcome to Lincoln. After chatting for bit about where we from we told them we were stationed at Offutt AFB then things got really good. They called over a couple of students who took us to our seats and the people sitting around us were great. We didn't pay for a soda or a hot dog that day. The price we paid was some good natured ribbing as Nebraska won big 42-17.

Well the Lions came up short yesterday as the defense played great again but the offense came up short missing a 1st quarter FG that came back to haunt them. Final Nebraska 17 PSU 14. All is not lost because if the Lions can win the final 2 games they will be in the Big 10 Championship game. Next week's game is against a Ohio State team that lost to Purdue but they finish against the Wisconsin scoring machine.

In Baseball news the Phillies signed Jim Thome to a 1 year deal giving them a home run threat off the bench. He hasn't played the field in a few years but gives them an option at 1B waiting for Ryan Howard to recover from surgery. I like it. They also signed Jonathon Papelbon to a 4 year $50 million deal to be the closer after not being able to agree to terms with Ryan Madson that has some fans howling. I always thought that Madson would be the closer of the future as he proved his worth this year. The Phillies don't have a good history dealing with his agent Scott Boras remember the JD Drew thing.

The Eagles blow another 4th quater lead and the Stillers win.

The 2011 World Series

The Red Sox broke my heart a month earlier than usual and the Phillies waited until October to take a dive unlike a few years ago when they would get it out of the way in April. They turned the old adage that good pitching will beat good hitting on it's head. The TV ratings will suffer without east coast teams in the fall classic as the Yankees, Phils or Sox are not in the hunt. People in Texas and Missouri will tune in along with those Cubs fans in Chicago pulling against the Cardinals will watch but not many others.

Anyway my pick is the Cardinals in 6. Vote on the side bar.

Sports Weekend

Bad times for Philadelphia sports team.

The Phillies get knocked out of the playoffs losing a pitchers dual 1-0 in the 5th game of the NLDS. Ironic that a team built on pitching can't hit the other guy.

The good news for the Eagles is that they didn't collapse in the the 2nd half and came storming back but it's awfully hard to win a game when you turn the ball over 5 times.

The good news

Mrs. G is happy that her Stillers won big today and I'm happy that Penn State won a defensive battle 13-3 vs. Iowa. The Lions will be favored to win the next 2 against Purdue and Northwestern to get bowl eligible but November will be tough. Now that Nebraska has joined the Big 10 (11,12, etc) we get to play them every year. Oh joy.

It hasn't rained in Texas for most of the whole summer but as soon as the Rangers make the playoffs the skies open up. When teams build new stadiums in the future they should consider retractable roofs. The melting of the polar ice caps has resulted in more moisture in the atmosphere that is causing more frequent and severe storms according to most climate scientists.

My pick for the World Series is Tigers vs. Brewers.

Motor City defeats the Evil Empire

Tigers 3 Yankees 2

Phillies sweep the Braves

We are not going to see a repeat of 1964. A big worry of mine.

The Phils just swept the 2nd place Atlanta Braves to improve to a major league best 91 wins vs 48 loses. I don't remember a Phillies team this good although it won't necessarly translate into the postseason. So now what do you do? They haven't called up any minor league players so I guess Charlie will keep the pedal to the medal and try to blow out every team on the rest of the schedule.

World Series or Bust.

Colege Football Saturday

Penn State beat Cupcake U 41-7 today as expected. The defense was solid giving up a late touchdown when the 3rd and 4th team players were on the field. The running game clicked with Silas Redd getting his 2nd 100 yard game and 2 touchdowns and the fullbacks pounded it inside when they needed to. They didn't have to throw often but I thought Matt McGloin looked a lot better than Rob Bolden when they did. Paterno doesn't like to play 2 QB's and I think McGloin will be the starter the rest of the year. The kicking game was a problem with Evan Lewis missing 2 field goals an a extra point and had some week kickoffs. Freshman Sam Ficken kicked the last PAT and may get a chance going forward.

Auburn came storming back to beat Utah State 42-38. I remember when Utah State came into Happy Valley in the the 70's and knocked off the Lions. Next weeks opponent Alabama took care of business beating the Akron Zips (love the nickname) 48-7. PSU will be a big underdog against Alabama next week and I'm not optimistic but that's why you play the games, anything can happen.

In baseball news the Phillies are 42 games over .500 for the first time in history with the best record in MLB. The pitching has been great all year as expected and now the bats are heating up. Having the best record doesn't always translate to success in the post season (Seatle Mariners) but it doesn't hurt.

Front Row

We just spent a couple of days in Philadelphia and had a good time as usual. We had dinner at Donnelly's on South St. near Penn's landing as we always do but skipped running around town because it was just too damn hot. I like it hot but even I have my limits.

The highlight of our stay was the Phillies game on Friday night that the fightin's won 3-1 with Cole Hamels going 8 innings striking out 10. We were not in the front row but pretty darn close. The down side was the heat. The last time I remembering sweating so much while doing nothing was when I was in basic training in Texas many moons ago. It was so hot I couldn't even drink any beer and the vendors were selling bottles of water for the low, low price of $4.25 a bottle. According to the Phillie's website there are 20 water fountains in the park but I couldn't locate any of them. 20 fountains for 45,000 people? To top it off one of the elevators in the Holiday Inn next to the stadium where we always stay was out of action just like every other time we have been there and our room was on the 10th floor.

Anyway, these were the best seats I have ever had for a Phillie's game and despite the heat we still had a great time. I'm a lot like Elwood P Dowd.

Baseball

One of the great joys of our national pastime is every once in while you see something that you have never seen before. The home plate umpire just tossed the Florida Marlins catcher for aurging balls and strikes. The rookie Phillies pitcher just won a game 1-0.

Still ln Phirst

The Phillies dropped 2 out of 3 in Seattle but are still on top of the NL East. So coming into St Louis we have the big 3 on the mound. Halladay and Lee should be good but Oswalt has not good been light's out lately. Hammels starts Friday. There a lot Philies blogs out there, this is one of my favorites Phillies Nation

Phustrating Phillies still in Phirst

They can't score runs like they used to but the starting pitching has been outstanding.