Bullshit.

After Larry Munson and my own family members (sometimes even in that order), the most recognizable voice from my early years was probably Skip Caray. He started in the radio sports biz with his more-famous father Harry broadcasting Missouri games, got the gig working with the St. Louis Hawks, and followed them to Atlanta in 1968. In 1976, he took over the radio broadcasts for the Braves, and went national with the advent of WTBS becoming a superstation. And he kept up with that gig, even lately in a reduced role, until Sunday, when he died in his sleep.

Shit.

If you're a baseball fan, then I recommend taking in the next game out in the back yard, over the miracle of Radio-Waves, with a cold beer, and an appreciation for the people who bring these things to life. Thanks, Skip.

Sports and Such

So 2/5 of the Braves starting rotation is now down with injury, so they keep scraping along. Awesome year for ESPN to pick them to win it all. rrr... But hey: as my friend Rod is fond of saying, year after year: Just Wait 'Til Hampton Gets Healthy. (That might be trademarked... I'll have to check.)

The Maxi Pads and the Officials have joined forces, WWF-style, to put our Preds in a 2-0 hole. (Luckily, Detroit IS a huge hole. Ba-dum-pssh...?) Hey, did I mention our Moral Victory just by making it to the playoffs this year?

Barca continue to lolligag through the Liga season, losing a few more points off Real Madrid for the lead. And apparently Ronaldinho has come to terms to leave FCB for [shudder] an Italian team. [gorge rising...]

Best sports story of the day, though: in another glowing article about Greg Maddux, which opens with a bullpen catcher proving that you can catch Greg Maddux blindfolded, there's this nugget about how well he works with and understands his fellow pitchers:

... When Brad Penny and Maddux were teammates on the Dodgers, during the last two months of 2006, they had a conversation one day that led Penny to reach a stunning conclusion: This guy knows my stuff better than I do. It was eerie, really, how easily Maddux dissected Penny's repertoire and suggested ways to maximize it. Penny, figuring he'd take advantage of the situation, asked Maddux to call a game for him against the Cubs. And so, on the night of Sept. 13, Penny glanced into the dugout before every delivery and found Maddux, who signaled the next pitch by looking toward different parts of the ballpark. Penny threw seven scoreless innings with no walks and beat the Cubs 6-0. "Maddux probably won't tell you that story," Penny says. He's right.

And what else? Today is his 42nd birthday. Awesome.

Sports and Such

So, yeah, Kansas. Whatever. They beat the awesome story that was Davidson, and for the first time ever in the Tourney, all four #1 seeds made it to the Final Four. Whatever; Davidson is still awesome, and Stephen Curry is the well-deserved winner of Most Oustanding Player from that region.



Elsewhere, my Braves decided to spot the rest of the NL East a half-game lead by blowing a save in Washington. Whatever. Don't sleep on my Braves this year, y'all. Treat y'all like a bowl of gruel.

Best time of the weekend, though? Nashville Roller Girls. They went down swinging hard to the Tragic City Rollers, aided by a horrible scoring decision, when the winning points should have been scored on our final jam, and no one in a ref's shirt saw the jam get called off. It's confusing, right? Wrong. Hie thee hither, y'all, next time they're in town, which is May 17th at the Fairgrounds. Best time night out ever awesome dude. Wow.

Everybody else's opening games start up today, which is Bartender Rod's High Holy Day. And the Predators are still clinging by their nails to hopes of a playoff spot; frankly, it doesn't look good.