L.A. Fans... the best?

I'll make this a quick post about something that happened today.

I watched 2 games earlier today... the Dodgers in Florida, and the Lakers hosting Houston.

As I watched them, I noticed something very different between the fans in Florida and the Laker fans here at home.

First of all, pitching for the Dodgers today was the young Clayton Kershaw.



He was flirting with history with going for his first no-hitter in his young career. He ended up pitching 7 innings, 1 hit, 4 walks, and 9 strikeouts. As he was walking to the Dodger dugout after Joe Torre took him out, something happened that you hardly see in the opposing team's home stadium. The crowd in Florida stood up and cheered for Kershaw.

Nice!

Then, I started watching the Laker game. I'm not a fan of the Lakers, but it was game 7 of this playoff series against the Houston Rockets.

Even before the game started, I was embarrassed to be a Los Angeles fan (of any sports team).

During the National Anthem, the crowd "boo-ed" when the lyrics came to "And the rockets' red glare..."

Really? You're going to boo during the National Anthem simply because one word in the song is the opposing teams name? Wow.. that's really sad.

Last I remember, the song doesn't represent the Houston Rockets.

Terminator: Salvation

There is a new 4 minute video clip for the upcoming film Terminator: Salvation on Apple's Movie Trailers website. Keep in mind that his is NOT 4 consecutive minutes taken directly from the movie. It is just bits and peices from the entire movie.

Even though I included the video here, I highly recommend watching it in High Quality Quicktime!

Enjoy!

More on Manny.

Within hours of the big news about Manny Ramirez being suspended for using performance enhancing drugs, all kinds of stuff are now being thrown out there.

First of all, this from Manny..

"Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was OK to give me. Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility."

Maybe he has a valid point. Maybe his physician wasn't aware of what's legal and what's not. Allyssa Milano asked, "Maybe players should only see MLB staffed and approved doctors who are aware of the banned substance list." That wouldn't be a bad idea at all, really. The thing is, though, MLB does provide a number of resources to determine whether or not a drug is allowed to be prescribed without any issues.

Just 3 hours ago, this came out on Yahoo Sports...

LOS ANGELES – A source close to Manny Ramirez(notes) said Thursday that the illegal substance for which the Los Angeles Dodgers slugger tested positive was not “an agent customarily used for performance enhancing.”

At least not on the baseball diamond. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the drug was prescribed to address Ramirez’s erectile dysfunction.

However, two sources said the substance Ramirez tested positive for a gonadotropin. Major League baseball’s list of banned substances includes the gonadotropins LH (luteinizing hormone) and HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin), which are most commonly used by women as fertility drugs. They also can be used to trigger testosterone production. Testosterone is depleted by steroid use, and low testosterone can cause erectile dysfunction.

More from ESPN



It's very unfortunate to have this shocker come out when it did, especially after a great day we had in breaking the record.

Even though Manny did liven up the team, I'm not too worried about it. We have a great core of young players who have improved considerably. We we'll be fine for the next 50 games to come.

Like Tommy Lasorda to his 1988 team after Jay Howell was suspended, "Are we going to let one man determine the fate of this ballclub? We have to win with or without him, but we can not allow one man to determine the fate of our ballclub."

I agree. We have a lot of talent, and we will be fine.

Manny suspended for 50 games

From the Official Dodgers website,

LOS ANGELES -- Major League Baseball suspended Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez for 50 games on Thursday for use of performance enhancing drugs.

Major League Baseball made an official announcement shortly after noon ET.

Ramirez, who turns 37 on May 30, will begin the suspension with Thursday night's Dodgers-Nationals game. He would be eligible to return around July 3, depending on rainouts.

Wow.. I don't know what to think of this. I honestly never thought that Manny could do something like this. It just goes to show you just NEVER know.

I don't think I am too worried about it, though. We have a really good lineup with Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, and the newcomer Orlando Hudson. With Manny's suspension, that allows Xavier Paul to com up from Triple A. He did really well in spring training.

Tis a good birthday

Indeed.

My roommate and his mom baked me a chocolate cake Saturday, which was delicious!


Then my good friends took me paintballing. Afterwards, dinner with my sister.

Dodgers are on a very hot streak winning 13-0 at home to start the season... breaking a record held by the Detroit Tigers back in 1911 when they went 12-0.

But the main purpose for this post... Kina Grannis gave me a birthday shout out on her latets video blog. Woot!

She's so awesome!

And if you want to know who Kina is... here's her latest video.



Thanks to Kina, and my friend and fellow bloger. You know who you are. :D

Birthday Weekend

So I turned ... well, let's just say I had a birthday this past weekend. It was on Saturday to be exact.

Several weeks ago, I had an awesome day planned. I signed myself up for the free Disneyland admission on the day of your birthday. One of the main reasons I did that was so I can invite the girl I had met recently. I was really looking forward to enjoying the day with her.

Turns out, it did not work out between us, and I was a bit upset that I was no longer going to be going with her to Disneyland.

After a while, I did not care so much about it anymore. I realized why it did not work out, and I was ok with it. I realized that... even though she DID make me happy when I was with her, I didn't NEED her to be happy.

A couple of other plans came up, however. My sister invited me to Dave and Buster's for dinner, drinking, and of course, gaming. Before that, though, my very good friends invited me to something I have never done before.

Paintball.

I had a blast. At first, I felt somewhat awkward because I saw everyone there decked out in full camouflage clothing. I obviously did not have any of it. I've never been, so why would I? I simply wore black jeans, and a dark gray long sleeve. I felt so out of place. Can you spot me in the picture to the right?

If you're wondering if I got hit... I did. 3 times. I was a lil nervous at first about getting hit, as I thought it was going to hurt. It really doesn't. Once you take the first one, you know how it'll feel and aren't so worried anymore after that.

The first time I got hit, I was crouching, and I took a shot on my left hip area. It didn't hurt at all, really. The 2nd time was o the back side of my left ribs. It under the vest. I honestly don't remember getting hit on my right calf. Like I said, once you take the first one, all the ones after are nothing.

Don't ask me to pull some Johnny Knoxville stuff though.

We were done just after sunset, so I called my sister to postpone Dave and Buster's until next Saturday. That way, my friends can also go and it'll be a huge group type deal. She just took me to dinner at Applebee's, which was awesome! I ordered the steak and BBQ chicken and Mashed taters plate. Soo damn good.

Dinner itself was also really fun. They had the Dodger game on TV there, and everyone in the restaurant was cheering along, including our waitress, which was a lil cutie by the way.

So that was my birthday. Even though I did not go to "The Happiest Place on Earth," I was still happy to be with the people that care about me.

Thank you.