"When Shanahan left me, he went to Denver. He was there for about four or five years as an assistant and they fired him for insubordination," Davis said. "Dan Reeves and he had a big battle. He went to the 49ers and he learned their style of football and when Dan Reeves failed in Denver, the first guy they had was Wade Phillips, I think, then he brought Shanahan back. And Shanahan had success. But Shanahan has an asterisk next to those two Super Bowls, because they were caught cheating."*

Hilarious. Al Davis still takes pot shots at Shanahan.

http://www.ibabuzz.com/raidersblog/

The Times has interview with several players including Furcal, and Wade.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvqO9q8yi-A

Or is it something more befitting a coffee table? Because I will probably have to buy a coffee table if it is.

Here's a question for anyone still awake: Anyone know of a bar (I know I may be dreaming here) where they'll be playing the game on a big screen, but running audio from Vin on the radio (I guess Steiner and Monday are doing innings 4-6). I don't got no cable, else I'd do it myself. Got the day off from work and everything. Pretty excited.

Just think about what our lineup is if Raffy gets hot, though I'd like to see him in the seven or eight spot until he does. Also looking forward to Nomar and Kent as pinch hitters. Both have always struck me as guys who live for the moment (Nomar more than Kent).
Someone made the great argument about all these guys playing for contracts. Manny, Raffy, Kent, Nomar, Lowe, Saito, Berroa and Ozuna (I'm sure I'm missing someone, oh, Maddux) all need to bank it big. And I think Nomar and Kent proving they can come off the bench and deliver a big hit is key to their next contracts. I'm not saying all guys perform well in these situations, but some definately do, and we got a lot, so the percentages are in our favor on that front.

Anyway, some slightly drunken thoughts from a mostly lurker

Go Dodgers. Think Blue. Dream Blue.

yes. (how do you do the linking thingy with the numbers?

For those "Wait Wait" fans curious about the potential TV deal, Adam Felber wrote a blog post about it a week or so ago:

http://fanaticalapathy.com/2008/09/13/yes-its-true-2/

You did know that Adam and Peter each have blogs, didn't you?

Fanatical Apathy is Adam's. Peter's is here: http://petersagal.com/wordpress/

That's a tough find. I would recommend bringing a transistor radio to a bar, but the audio is likely to be out of sync with the video by a few seconds.

It looks like Dick Stockton, Tony Gwynn*, and Ron Darling are in your future.

*Speaking of Gwynn, are there other D-1 college coaches that spend as much time announcing as Gwynn? I mean, more power to him, and I like him as an announcer, but you'd think he would spend more time building the baseball program.

[ 18 ] = 18

Why doesn't Dodger Stadium pump in a radio feed that features Vin throughout the whole game? They play it in the bathrooms. I also think his new contract should force TBS, FOX or whoever else has playoff games to pay Vin top dollar to call them. I feel like the Dodgers WE% drops 5-10% when I don't here Scully.

I would say its a net positive in SD, but Ted Leitner is prominently featured so its a huge negative.

All three Barney's Beanerys will be hosting viewing parties for the games with KABC-790. There will be food and drink specials, former
Dodger players, KABC radio hosts and newscasters, and, of course, the Dodgers playing on tvs all over the restaurant.

Wednesday (10/1)
3:30 - 5:30
West Hollywood - Kenny Landreaux
Pasadena - Bobby Castillo
Santa Monica - Rudy Law

Mmmm, Dodgers Tang. :)

We're all drinking the Kool-Aid, right?

Looks like Casey Blake is going to need a new love.

http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2008/09/wedge_tribe_expects_to_contend.html

http://rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=MLB&id=5681

Says the guy who just got 3 hours of sleep so that he can watch the game tonight instead of being stuck on a plane for the whole thing.

But I still have faith. He will break out and become a big star.

Still going strong right now, but I'm guessing once I catch my connecting flight I'll be passing out.

So I say get drunk and pull an all nighter, because you are just going to want to get drunk when you land anyways.

It's 7 am and we're gonna leave for Philly in a few hours. Around 1 am the rain, thunder, and lightning was biblical here in Manhattan. I like to think it was the universe's way of announcing playoff baseball has arrived. Or telling me not to go to Philly 'cause the game will be postponed.

Either way, I tossed around in my bed all night 'cause I was so excited for today!

Are you working the Phillies/Brewers game or just attending it?

I'm driving to work this morning (in Virginia) and the car in front of me has Ohio vanity plates, "J BRXTON".

I took it as a good sign.

http://tinyurl.com/4oblbz

(Also, congratulations Jon!)

Continental...?

Should be in the mid 50s and dry in Chicago for the Dodgers-Cubs.

And it will be a warm night in Anaheim for the Angels-Red Sox.

Subtract about 5-10 degrees for the Dodger Stadium temperature.

But it doesn't matter. I stood tall in the green horde of vile Celtic fans when the Lakers gagged back in June, so I'm used to being outnumbered. I'll be representing Dodger blue tonight.

Hopefully he continue's the trend of walking more guys than he strikes out.

Chan Ho must have video of Torre taking steroids or something.

That makes it sound like Sweeney's on the roster. Did I miss something...?

Ok, Dodgers, I'm going to be all alone rooting for you in the bar tonight, make me proud!

I'm trying to figure out how you had time to do this. You have 3 kids, including a baby. You have a real job. You devote hours to the site. You watch (or even attend) every game, plus a ton of TV (for your real job and for pleasure). And somehow you managed to write a book in a very short period of time.

Are you on the metric system? Do you have 100-hour days? Or are there several of you?

I'm tired just thinking about everything you manage to pack into a day.

Again, congratulations on finishing the book. I look forward to reading it.

So how many of us are taking partial vacation days today?

The best I could do today was borrow a co-workers radio so I could listen to the game here in the office. I'm in Pasadena though, so I might head over to Barney's beanery after I get out of the office.

Manny: Long hair. Music in clubhouse.

Torre and Bowa: We are all having more fun in the new, lighter atmosphere that Many gives us.

If the Dodgers don't re-sign Manny, has Torre and Bowa learned enough, have old dogs learned new tricks, will the Dodgers new, improved environment continue into 2009?

Will the ghost of Manny, the absence of Kent, and 2008's experience be the fertilizer needed for the kids to take the Dodgers to a championship next year?

Should Hu instead of Osuna be getting playoff experience?

Will Loney, Kemp, Martin, Ethier, DeWitt, Abreu, DeJesus, Young, Hu, McDonald, Kershaw, Billingsley, Broxton, Miller, Elbert, Lambo all be together this winter working out at Athletes' Performance Institute in Arizona?

Congrats. DT has turned into the only sports-related content I read on a regular basis for a reason & I expect the new book to be great.

6 weeks paid vacation?!?

As for the Al quotes on shanny above, it is to laugh. Uh, he was kidding right?

--
i am 'working' at home today. Cough.

Olney is claiming in today's blog that McCourt pushed for Andruw, not Ned. Interesting.

I don't believe Torre and Bowa "learned" as much as they "didn't want to upset slugging slugger".

Something along these lines is the only reason I've come up with for why Sabean still has a job. Fans can't necessarily blame GMs for all transactions, in that at least some may have been the result of owner involvement.

Or Frank is just covering Ned's (+ his own) rear for back to back busts on FA CF's.

Frank McCourt=Baseball's Al Davis?

It's a hard...

It's a hard...

It's a hard...

It's a haaaarrddd...

It's a hard rain...

gonna fall.

(on your head)

Feel like Christmas morning anxiety for anybody else? I think I may have had a 'bad danish' this morning and may have to go home for the day..

http://blogs.dailynews.com/tomhoffarth/archives/2008/10/its-all-petes-f.html

15 Wherever you end up, don't go here:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/tinhorn-flats-bar-and-grill-burbank

I find my self working from home today too.

Stupid time difference.

Speaking of which, I think the Raiders should sell official Al Davis merchandise. Who wouldn't want a classic Al jumpsuit or maybe the stylish 70s sweater he rocked yesterday?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k63_N6XHO7s&feature=related

Stupid insomnia.

Totally have Christmas Morning excitement. We're watching the game at my office and the head of the company is a HUGE Cubs fan. So hopefully the Dodgers win, and this isn't my last week at my present place of employment. That said-- I've got my Dodgers gear!

A joke making the rounds in SEC country:

FEMA is interested in hiring Tennessee's Phil Fulmer because he has shown the ability to evacuate 106,000 people from a stadium in a consistent and orderly fashion.

Ba-da-ding!

Not that this has beeen noticed or anything.