Major League I love the fact that Indians are in Milwaukee this week. OK, maybe _love_ is a little strong since it sucks to have the weather we've had. But of all the possible solutions to the problem I think going to Milwaukee was the best.
Milwaukee is a great city and is comparable to Cleveland in a lot of ways. It's so much better than playing games in Anaheim or jetting to some very un-Cleveland-like warm-weather destination. Milwaukee is just as cold as Cleveland, just with the covered stadium. Milwaukee feels as much like home as you could really hope for.
Getting 20,000 people on Tuesday night was amazing! Think about it -- all those people were essentially walk-up fans who hadn't planned on going to a game. Many were Indians fans. And many were fans who probably drove from all over Wisconsin or Chicago. That's pretty impressive.
And the synergy of playing as a home team right next to where County Stadium used to stand on the same night as the planned Wild Thing promotion at Jacob's Field... it's uncanny. Somebody get Joe Borowski a pair of glasses.
Thursday night the Brewers have an off day. What are the chances the Indians can fly in Bob Uecker and have him broadcast the game in a reprise of his role in Major League instead of the Indians regular announcers? C'mon, please make it so! The opportunity will never come along again and is too good to pass up.
Also, it was great to see a more "classic" atmosphere for a game last night. Seats were cheap. And it looks like fans could sit anywhere they wanted. Ushers weren't hounding people to their proper sections. Luxury boxes were all empty. It was like a big spring training game. Totally cool.
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Finally, if you are in Milwaukee and go on the Miller Brewery tour you'll be pleasantly surprised when they give you samples of 5 beers at the end. And you'll be even more pleasantly suprised when most of your fellow tour-goers don't want to drink that much beer and are happy to give some to you. The downside, however, is that Miller only allows you to stay in the tasting room for about 20 minutes before the next tour comes through, so you'll have to drink fast.
Imus Yeah, what Imus said was lame. The problem here is that what Imus usually says is often lame. His schtick plays off of stereotypes and the like. It can be entertaining when you put it in the right context. In fact, I think the appeal of Imus is that people can listen in the mornings to a guy talking like he's at a bar late at night. You get these sort of unfiltered opinions. Go ahead and be entertained, but taking it seriously is a big mistake. So whether he's making fun of the Rutgers basketball team or talking to some politician, Imus is still just the crank at the bar and his words are to be discounted. Taking him off the air serves little purpose. In fact, I think this controversy does a great serves to the listening public. It will re-position the Imus show where it ought to be == squarely in the "entertainment" realm. You won't see many serious people going on his show, and if you do you won't trust Imus' side of the conversation. That's probably the way it ought to be.
Pacman + Chris Henry. Am all for the long suspensions. I have little patience for jerks when they start being criminals too. And I think paying NFL fans want to root for guys who generally steer clear of the polic blotter. For the Browns, it's more important to me to NOT have a bunch of criminals on the team than it is to have a winning team. That's why I'm a bit cool to the Jamal Lewis signing, why I wanted Mike Sellers gone ASAP a few years back, and why I shed no tears over Jerimiah Pharms even though it wasted a draft pick. We want to see the best players, for the most part, but if you are gonna be in jail or whatever you aren't going to be among the best players anyway.