The Never Say Die Phils

As I sit here in my road gray Brad Lidge jersey, I can't help but think about how amazing it is to be a Phillies fan right now. We have a bunch of extremely likable homegrown talent, an incredible desire to win, and we're NEVER out of a game. We're the reigning World Series Champs, and every game is a blast to watch. Tonight absolutely served as a perfect microcosm for the entire season. We sleepwalked through the first 7.5 innings, hanging on to a slim 2-1 lead because of Cliff Lee's brilliant performance. We had numerous opportunities to lock up the game and the series, but this team never makes it easy. Instead, we went down 4-2 on some lucky bloop hits and a crazy fluke play that benefitted the Rockies. When the dust cleared, we were down 4-2 with seemingly no hope of rallying for the victory. When am I going to learn to never lose faith?

After a quick strike out, the rally came alive with a hard fought single from Jimmy Rollins, and after the fielder's choice by Victorino, Utley drew a 2 out walk. With Ryan Howard strolling to the plate swinging a hot bat, everyone watching knew what was coming. Sure enough, 4 pitches later Howard drove a ball deep to left that scored Victorino and Utley, even though Victorino almost overran the bag because he was spectating along with the rest of us as Howard's ball shot through the cold Rocky air. After Werth's clutch single, the Phils had the 5-4 lead going into the bottom of the 9th.

It wouldn't be Brad Lidge starting the frame, but his time would come soon enough. Scott Eyre took the hill, who less than 24 hours prior had rolled his ankle and was last seen writhing in pain on the infield grass. He came in and pitched well, facing 3 lefties and a switch-hitter. He got 2 of the first 3 out, before Todd Helton came to the plate. With righty Troy Tulowitzki on deck, every Phillies fan knew it was going to come down to Lidge vs. Tulo, who had battled the night before with Lidge winning the matchup. Sure enough, Helton singled to center, and Lidge entered the game to face Tulowitzki. Lidge has gone through a horrendous season, blowing 11 saves, posting record numbers (bad ones), and losing his closing job less than 12 months after completing a flawless season and capping it off with a World Series victory. The entire fan base lost faith in him, but last night, he recorded a gutsy, albeit ugly, save in a one run game. Tonight, with runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 outs, and the chance to send the Phillies to the NLCS vs. the Dodgers, Lidge surely felt the pressure bestowed upon him. But what a relief it must have been, because human beings rarely have such golden opportunities to redeem themselves and wipe their slates completely clean. Before the series started, I predicted that Lidge would have the opportunity to, and would rightly claim redemption for his previous 6 months' struggles. On this night, he did not disappoint, clearly overmatching Tulowitzki who looked completely baffled and confused by Lidge's assortment of pitches. After he dropped a nasty 2-2 slider, the game was over, and the Phils had booked their ticket to LA to meet the Dodgers.

It is so satisfying to see such a great human being completely down and lost, only to watch him rise through the adversity and challenges that keep him from achieving success. Tonight, Brad Lidge finished his crawl through a river of shit, and guess what, he came out clean on the other side. Celebrate this one, Brad. You deserve it.

- Kaps

Song of the Day: Fugees - Ready or Not

You Know You Have Problems When...

...your 7 year old cousin tells you, "Wow Jeff, you lost SO much hair." This comment was followed up with a "Jeff, your beard is so disgusting." Apparently, my cousin doesn't appreciate my grooming habits. I always thought the goatee took attention off of my head. When a 7 year old notices your lack of hair, maybe it's time to start looking into Bosley or one of those hair "solutions."

- Kaps

Song of the Day: Puff Daddy feat. Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes - Victory

Interesting Thought About Growing Up

I was having a conversation on instant messenger with Casey yesterday at work, because what else would I be doing while I'm at work. Besides Casey handicapping his upcoming cornhole match and sending me scandalous pictures of Big Ben, we got to talking about his vacation. Casey is driving down to Florida next week with his parents to visit his grandparents. He also told me this will probably his final trip to Florida, after he's made so many over the past 23 years. With that I got to thinking how the definition of "family" is changing drastically before my eyes. In a time not that long ago, "family" vacations meant hopping on a plane with my parents to Florida, going on week-long trips to North Carolina, or spending a long weekend at Hershey Park. At some point, rather quietly, those trips started falling off one-by-one until without even realizing it, none of those trips are left.

As I thought more about it, the cancellation of the family vacations seemed more of a microcosm of the changing definition of family. When I was growing up, I always kind of assumed that I would be a part of my parents' family one day and have my own the next. What I didn't realize, and what no one failed to mention to me is that there is a gap between leaving your childhood family and starting your own. For some people, this transition is rather quick, as they leave college with a significant other, spend lots of time with that person, and then get engaged. Even though there are a few years without a specific family, when you're close to engagement with a significant other, and you will go to family functions with them and vacation with them, you're basically family. For others, myself included, the transition from family to family takes a little bit longer, and is somewhat painful along the way.

Right now of course, I'm still basically a part of my childhood family. I live at home with my parents, and not much has changed since I was a kid except for the fact that I'm working 60 hours a week. But in the very near future, I'm going to move out on my own, and at that point, I won't really have a family. Sure, my parents will always be there for me; they're amazing people. But soon, I'm going to start the interesting process of finding my way without a family to come home to every night, Shortly after that, I'll be seeking to find/start my own.

Just another challenge that you never realize is coming until it's right in front of your face. Is there even a way to prepare for these things or to see them coming? Life man, life.

- Kaps

Song of the Day: Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind

Random Thoughts from My Hotel Room

Interesting: The thermostat in hotel rooms can apparently go down to 40.0 degrees fahrenheit. I pushed it as low as it could go.

Bad: The thermostat in my room is broken and feels like 75 degrees even when the thermostat is set to 40. If it functioned properly, I could get frostbite.

Good: Drinking with friends on Wednesday nights after a shitty day of work. Thank you Kanad and Shamit.

Bad: Brad Lidge.

Bad: Rain.

Bad: Working the last 2 Saturdays.

Good: Catching up on life this weekend because I'm not working Saturday (I hope.)

Dead: Any chance at landing a date on Match.com (follow-up post this week)

Good: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Bad: The consequences of eating out every night when you stay over for work (Getting fat.)

Entertaining: Casey Spirk's cornhole team.

Over: This blog post. Good night.

- Kaps

Song of the Day: Notorious B.I.G. - Who Shot Ya?

An Odd Piece of Mail

Last Thursday I was at work performing controls testing (as usual) at work when I got a text. I didn't have time to check it right away, and when I finally got around to looking at it 90 minutes later, I saw that it was from my mom. The text said, "You got 2 packages. One is from Ohio and looks like DVDs and the other is from New York and looks like tickets of some sort." I knew the package from Ohio was my It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia DVDs that I ordered on eBay. But the "ticket" envelope was kind of baffling to me. I knew I hadn't ordered any tickets recently, so I had no idea what was in the envelope. Little did I know how baffling things would get.

I sent my mom a text back and asked her to open the tickets envelope. She wasn't home, but said she'd open it when she got back. About 2 hours later I get a text from my mom, "The envelope has $500 worth of American Express Gift Cheques in it and it doesn't say who it's from." WHAT THE FUCK?!? I immediately called my mom seeking more information. All we could ascertain was that the envelope came from New York, from a zip code starting with 100 and the last 2 digits cut off. The gift cheques were wrapped in a single sheet of paper with a small gold seal. The paper simply said (in type print, not handwritten):

Jeff:

Thank you.

Enjoy.

The envelope was typed as well, so there was no handwriting to try and figure out. It's been 4 days since I received the envelope, and I seriously have no idea who sent me $500. I have gone through every imaginable scenario and thought of every single person I know who lives in New York, and I can't think of anyone who would send me $500 anonymously. It's actually kind of disturbing, believe it or not. If I did something that warranted $500, I sure as hell think I would remember it, but I can't think of a single thing I would do that would lead someone to do that. I have a feeling this is going to be one of those mysteries I don't figure out any time soon.

This situation kind of reminds me of when I was in college and some mystery person was sending me all kinds of mail for Bosley, Hair Club for Men, and even an island off the East Coast called "Bald Head Island." I thought it was hilarious, and even offered a dinner to the person who fessed up to the deed, but no one ever admitted to it. Just so you all know, that offer still stands.

To whoever did send me $500 anonymously, I hope you understand how much I appreciate it. I hope at some point you come forward so I can properly thank you for your deed. I believe that one of the most selfless things someone can do is give to someone else without recognition for their actions. Most people want to see a small form of gratitude just so they understand that their gift meant something. I guess if you know someone well enough though, it doesn't matter if you see the gratitude or they ever have the opportunity to thank you, because you know the kind of person they are and don't need to hear the words "Thank You" to understand the appreciation. So to Mr. or Mrs. or Ms. Anonymous, thank you not only for the $500, but also the life lesson about what it means to truly give. It is not one I will forget quickly.

Now if I only had the time to actually enjoy the $500...

- Kaps

Song of the Day: Flickerstick - Bleeding

It's Time to Come Clean

It's been pretty obvious over the past few months that interest has been waning in the blog. There hasn't been a decent comment in over 2 months, and I blame that on the long time in between posts, the lack of substance in the past few posts, and it being the summer and people spending less time reading my blog and more time out in the sun and on vacation. Well, it's time to change all that, garner up some interest in the blog, and get people talking again.

So I have a confession to make. I have a secret that I've been hiding for about 2 months now. I've been thinking about coming clean for a while, and it's finally time to do it. One of my best friends once told me that I need to be more open and honest with my friends, so I'm doing that now.

Here goes: I'm one of the millions of people trying the online dating scene. Feels good to get that off my chest. On July 1, I signed up for a 3 month trial at Match.com. I'll be the first person to admit that I had a HUGE stigma when it came to online dating. I thought it was only for desperate, weird, creepy, ugly, older, and (insert negative adjective here) people. However, due to some strong urging from my Manager and a little bit of open-mindedness, I've realized that is totally not the case. You can definitely find down to earth, attractive people in the 20-30 age group if you search for a few minutes.

Online dating is really for people who are looking for something they weren't able to find in other places. This subset of America is not only gigantic, but takes a cross-section of all types of people. On Match.com, you'll find plenty of attractive people, plenty of creepers, and plenty of normal people. Basically, it's just like every other aspect of society. In fact, I'd be willing to bet you find a lot more down to earth, humble people online than you would in "real life."

In my calculated, crazy mind, online dating works because it's efficient. It brings efficiency to dating. Instead of trying to go on blind dates, meet people at bars, or any of the other ways people are meeting each other these days, you can go online, knock out tons of people who don't fit your criteria, and then hope that the ones who do match will actually respond to you.

Anyway, you're probably all wondering how my online dating experience has gone. Well, let's suffice it to say it's gone pretty similarly to my offline dating experience. Basically, it's going nowhere, fast. Much of the blame rests on me, as I half-assed my profile the first time I put it online. It took me about a month to get around to changing it, and I guess by that time, many people had already seen my crappy profile, and weren't willing to take a second look. I have e-mailed 3 different people (gotten zero responses), winked at 4 different people (the equivalent of a Facebook poke - also zero responses), was winked at by someone who I didn't find very desirable, and received an e-mail from a girl who was seriously illiterate. My profile has been viewed 82 times, but only the 2 people mentioned earlier have thought to respond. So yeah, no dates yet. But I'm trying to reach out to more people to see what happens.

Also, I've come across some interesting things throughout my search of the Match.com universe. I've found someone who I graduated high school with, who I never thought would be online dating in a million years. Like I said earlier, people looking for something they couldn't find elsewhere. I've also found some of the readers of this blog on Match.com. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me, but for a few of you, just know that I know.

As the last month of my subscription begins, I promise to keep you all up to date on any developments in the online dating world. I really am hoping to get at least 1 date out of this thing, if for no other reason to have a great story to tell all of you.

So if you're thinking about online dating, give it a shot. It's seriously not that bad, and there are certainly worse ways to meet people. Just beware, it's pretty pricey, and these sites will find a way to nickel and dime you to death. Good luck.

- Kaps

Song of the Day: Wiz Khalifa - Say Yeah

Follow Up To Brett Favre Post

You knew this was coming. Admit it. When you signed onto ESPN.com at some point this afternoon, you thought, "I can't wait to read Kaps's blog tonight. He's gonna go off about Brett Favre." And you were damn right.

Brett Favre has done it again. A mere 3 weeks after he "retired for good," he's back. Favre signed a 1 year contract with the Vikings today for, get this, $10M-$12M! Just to remind you, Brett Favre went 1-5 down the stretch last year with the Jets and single-handedly cost them a playoff spot with his exorbitant amount of interceptions. Yet he's being hailed as a hero, and many "experts" are now picking the Vikings as the NFC favorites. Are you freakin kidding me? Brett Favre hasn't had a solid 16 game season since 2004. He throws WAY too many interceptions, and he's coming into his 4th new offense in 4 years (coaching change in Green Bay his last year there). Give me a break, he's going to stink. I honestly can say that if I were a Vikings fan, I'd rather have Sage Rosenfels as my QB.

But I'm not here to talk about Brett Favre's potential as a QB. I'm here to talk about his decision-making, loyalty, and viability as a teammate. Like I said last time, Brett Favre changes his mind more than a high school girl choosing a prom dress. I apologize to all the teenage girls out their choosing prom dresses, I never should have insulted you by classifying you with Brett Favre. Brett Favre is much, much, much worse than all of you. No, he's the person who samples 15 flavors at your favorite ice cream joint, he's the person who shops for 3 hours and comes home with 1 shirt, and the girls with the prom dresses, all rolled into one. He literally makes me sick. When I logged onto ESPN today and saw him in his purple No.4 jersey, I wanted to throw up.

Let me put it to you like this. No one likes an indecisive person. Everyone wants to be around people who make a decision, follow their instincts, and live with the consequences. Instead, Brett Favre has trampled on 2 more quarterbacks (Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson, meet Aaron Rodgers). He has taken another franchise for a spin and held them hostage for most of the offseason, who now plan on plugging Favre into their next preseason game this week. He has also disrupted team chemistry, caused unnecessary distractions, and expects to be hailed as a hero. To be honest, I blame the Vikings as well for enabling this travesty to happen.

OK, I've gone on long enough. I could go on for hours, but I'll stop it here. Just another huge black eye on the legacy of the once proud quarterback. Brett, you're pathetic. I hope you tear your ACL in the first preseason game...and so does John David Booty. How dare you steal his number and make him switch to 9!

- Kaps

PS - Please tell me how you feel about this. I would love to know some other opinions.

Song of the Day: Rage Against the Machine - Bulls on Parade