Hey Gabbers. Hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend. I also hope that mixed in with giving your thanks you had some good times and good BBQ. We had a mass of ribs and drumsticks topped with some Sweet Baby Ray’s sauce. The only thing missing was my traditional stuff jalapeno treat. I halves and seed a few peppers then stuff them with a mixture of cream cheese, sausage, and some shredded cheese for effect. I used to try to wrap them in bacon and grill them to soften the cheeses, but that is tough and a little time consuming. I’ve found that serving them chilled is just as good for most folks.

In the midst of all of this, I got to listen to a few Tigers games. Things started on a down note as the team got swept by the Indians that so many thought we’d demolish. I figured we’d at least get a win with JV on the mound, but our offense stayed quiet.

Of course, the Tribe and Tigers have something else to worry about (as BOB mentioned): the Chi Sox and a resurgent Paul Konerko. What’s more their number 4 starter Chris Sale has been about as good as most thought he could be this year. He’s currently 6-2 with a 2.34 ERA and 61 strike outs. Keep in mind, this is their fourth starter. His last three games have been real smooth with 3 wins, 2 earned runs, and 15 strike outs against Tampa on the 28^th. Of course, Peavy has had a bit of a rebound as he sits as the Sox ace with a 6-1 record and an Era just over 3. He’s been logging a lot of innings too with most of his exits coming in the 6^th and two complete games. Luckily the Tigers don’t see the White Sox again til the second half when hopefully we’ve figured out our hitting and bull pen.

For my own listening pleasure, things got better as of the Holidays. I was able to listen to the Tigers get a comeback win over the Twins. I could smile as I ate my ribs knowing that the White Sox handled the Indians. Of course, this series with the Red Sox hasn’t gone any good for Tigers’ fans. Leyland has been animated as hell of late, but it can’t get our bats going.

A few of us have mentioned the umpires as of late. They did kind of hurt the Tigers by not giving us that third out against the Red Sox Monday. It’s never a good thing when these guys get so much press. Jeff’s ideas can’t go into effect quick enough. We need to get these guys to air things out.

The refs are even taking over the NBA playoffs. Granted, I haven’t been watching much, but I was watching last night. I saw Doc Rivers get the first of what would be five (5!!!) technical fouls for the Celtics. What did Doc do? He just looked at an official after a tic-tac foul and said “Come on, Eddy”. I’ve heard worse. I know that ref has. Still, Doc got the tech. The Heat could have bagged potentially 10 unanswerable points from techs. The Heat won the game on their own; I’ll give them that, but that many techs can really slow a team down. While the Celtics have vowed to be more physical down the line, but it won’t do them much good if they keep getting those kind of fouls called on them. Stern’s gotta rein that crew in.

While you’d think the Lions were on Hard Knocks by the amount of bad press they’ve had it’s actually been revealed that it will be the Miami Dolphins who will star on the ill-fated HBO show. I bet that fan base is thrilled. Did we get any good free agents? How’d we do in the draft? HRRRMMMM…we got on Hard Knocks though? With the level of fan unrest you already have, will exposing that your players are world class douches (Cromartie style) really help the situation? I have a hard time trying to see why teams still agree to do this show. I would think it puts too big a strain on your team and makes camp unnatural. You need a strong camp to bring the boys together and get your chemistry started out. Last thing you need are camera crews and reporters all over. Miami just seems like much too weak of a team and in a rough place to try to fit this in. I know BOB is pissed.

Well, that’s it for me this week. I’d like to once again thank all of the servicemen and women and those here at The Gab who have served or have family members serving. I hope the weekend found them safe and able to communicate. I got to talk to my buddy Dave who is over in Germany and will be deployed to Afghanistan soon. In the meantime, he had his new wife over to Germany and has been enjoying some sight-seeing. He tells me he’s already bought a handful of steins. Here’s hoping the next weekend will be just as awesome but maybe with less rain/heat.

Oh, if you are a comic nerd like me and have enjoyed the music I’ve been sampling, then I highly recommend you check out the Old Man Logan stop motion comic on YouTube. Old Man Logan tells the story of what happens to Wolverine following the day that the villains team up and finally defeat all the super heroes. Wolverine, a broke and desperate farmer, agrees to see Hawkeye, now blind, across the remnants of the US (all of which are owned by various super villains) to deliver precious cargo to a resistance group. It’s a great story with spectacular art and a great sound track. Be sure to find the ones by ImOldManLogan. There’s about eight of them and they run about 9 minutes each.

I leave you with our word of the week.

holiday hangover, noun