on grandkids...

grandkids are god's reward for not killing your teenagers...

barry balco

looks like the bay area will have to suffer another year of barry bonds and his insufferable attitude/personality - why the fans in northern california are so hard up for heros that they put up with his act year after year is beyond imagination...
after watching his interview on espn, jose canseco's on fox news, and jason giambi's on espn, it seems clear the steroid issue is not going to die anytime soon - and maybe it shouldn't. It is equally clear that giambi is the class act in handling this issue...
barry balco's attitude will never change - he will continue to be in denial about steroids, their effect on performance and on the game, on the media, and most importantly on his own responsibility for the situation he finds himself in - he will always be the bay area's prime example of the spoiled professional athlete, totally self-absorbed, giving little back to the game, trying to hold on to a rapidly diminishing legacy that will be forever tinted by the steroid issue. It is cheating, plain and simple, and his unbelievable arrogance is displayed anew with his claim that he didn't know the stuff was steroids - give us a break here!!! - does anyone but the most deluded giants fan believe that??? clearly he thinks we are all idiots...
those same delusional fans also probably believe that a skinny little leadoff hitter turns into a record-setting power hitter late in his career, the singular result of "hard work"...
then, yesterday he went on to explain that steroids don't improve the eye/hand coordination to technically hit a baseball, but left out the obvious, that it's the extra strength that steroids provides that turn hits into home runs and home runs in to mvp trophies - no one would argue that he is a great hitter, but one could easily argue that any recent home run records should be asterisked as under the influence of chemical enhancement - furthermore, it can be argued that the extra power can also be responsible for turning mere outs into singles and doubles and increasing ones batting average...
and then, the lowest point of the day, he plays the race card, insinuating that american public has a problem with him passing babe ruth, a white player - how absurd!!! - there may be a few rednecks somewhere with that problem, but then they would be as ignorant as barry, in denial of the fact that henry aaron, a black player, passed babe ruth many years ago - get a clue, barry, it's already been done!!! and when it comes to the time when you are approaching aaron's record, who will you blame for the public apathy then??? the race card won't fly at that point, but there's always the media, and those pesky fans down at dodger stadium!!!

intent

it seems appropriate to start out with a blog plan, or letter of intent, to set out the editorial parameters of this exercise...not that they can't or won't change with time, but as a starting place...to that end, let's just say that this is intended to be a simple compilation of opinions and perceptions of the author (who, by the way, is half polish) on items of interest to said author, and that may, or may not, be of interest to the readers...

these items may include, but are not necessarily limited to, sports, current events, movies, restaurant reviews, family, friends, the rigors of life on the northcoast, and maybe even some daily journal entries...

restaurants personally experienced will be reviewed subject to the tastes and opinions of the author, and will focus on the northcoast of California, and other traveled areas as they come into play...

the sports arena will most likely focus on college football and professional baseball, with emphasis on the USC Trojans and the Los Angeles Dodgers, respectively...

and most all rules regarding the use of uppercase or capital letters are subsequently ignored...

note: fair and balanced and/or politically correct are not journalistic considerations here...

(as an aside, this blogging enterprise was inspired by one of my son's friends down in the bay area, who many years ago I respectfully dubbed "cyberchan"...)

startup

initial entry - more later...