What's sadder is that the Dodgers have more control of their future than I do.

My hope is that I will but right now I'm much closer to Andruw Jone's OPS than Raffy Furcal's.

I have loved the Dodgers for as long as I can remember, but I can live without the World Series if I must. I've had too many blessings in the last twenty years to be bitter.

But still I will hope. For this year. Always.

The Dodgers have won two World Series in my lifetime. I can't say I felt overwhelmingly much better after the wins than before them.

I try to avoid the highs and lows of life and just stop to write down the catcher's interference calls.

What happened in 1993...?

Luckily BAM was not around back then, it might have caused Bob to never embrace the e-mail machine.

...however, that doesn't pay very well. I just had a kid, and while we don't know the future, a second kid would -- eventually -- be a nice thing. I want only the best for my kids and that includes education.

So I'm not going to retire for a long, long time. We are looking at at least 25 years and probably more like 30 or 35 unless something very unexpected happens.

So will the Dodgers win a championship by 2038? Good lord, I hope so. If not, it will be a pile of bad luck.

Of course, if the Dodgers don't win a World Series and all the above does happen, it won't be a total loss. Then again, I believe the Dodgers will win a World Series before all of the above comes to fruition, since the lives of my children will hopefully be quite long, and the time before the boys in blue win it all will hopefully be quite short.

So I'll settle for a new job. I hope it happens before October.

(For posterity, this is not remotely what I want most in life; just saying funny things on the internet.)

What I want most in life right now is to own a home, something large enough to roam around and host parties. What I'd really want is a soulmate, but I'm too tepid to take the plunge into dating. Too many bad stories of broken hearts have steered me away. The Dodgers will win a World Series well after any of this happens.

Besides that, I'd settle for a Lakers Championship, or two, or three...

I'd like to check out Safeco, Petco, and the A's Coliseum too, but those are easy to do so I don't think too much about it.

All I wanted was one kid to be totally wrecked by that scene. Days like this make teaching worthwhile, you know?

Of course that only applies to that one area. I have many goals achieved and yet to achieve.

It won't, however, be cute, like the Cubs' futility. Dodger futility is celebrated around the country.

Unfortunately, no one ever thought it would be cool to have actual participants speak about events that had shaped the country in the last 25-30 years when I was learning this stuff.

Tony Abreu is accompanying the team on this road trip and will continue working out before the Dodgers decides he is ready for a Minor League rehab assignment.

I have to get through the Civil Rights era by May 15th, as annual testing begins then. So damn the torpedoes, I'll be in overdrive for the next three weeks. And I have to do review from Jamestown to the '60's while I teach new stuff.

Brutal

1. a certain girl to leave the desert and join me on the coast;
2. finish and publish a novel.

There's a fifty percent chance on one happening before October, and I'd say a 15% chance of both happening before October. So, I'd say the Dodgers are on the clock.

Without a second thought.

that said, Sven did make some astute purchases last time around and if you can add another Elano or two and tighten the ship at the back, you could jump into the top 4.

>> Sunday's victory was made possible, in part, because of a brief conversation Torre had with Loney at the start of the week. After Loney hit into a double play in the Arizona series while looking like he was trying to swing for the fences, Torre called his first baseman into his office. <<

http://origin.presstelegram.com/sports/ci_9079177

Someone write the script.

I talk about Medgar Evers, Emmett Till, or Scwerner, Chaney, and Goodman.

Man I hope at least my kids will get to see the Dodgers win a World Series...

Actually this kid read the entirety of "The American Pageant" twice before the test.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bussard#The_Polywell

I was going to fill in the blanks on what happens if he's wrong, but the "else" part is too obvious.

I saw it on C-Span.

I think I'm your age, Jon -- born on 1/9/1968. Nixon's birthday. Lovely.

My longest and most intense relationship (seven years) just ended last year. She's now seeing a guy ten years younger than me. I'm doing lots of soul-searching. Guess who's having more fun.

I'm an old Red Sox fan from the Fisk-Lynn-Hobson era, but I've always been an inveterate Dodger fan as well. Heck, I named my cat "Dodger" back in 1977 or so. I remember watching all those decidedly intense World Series games on my (awful) black-and-white TV in my room when I was just a pup.

I watched the 1988 World Series in the main lounge of my college girlfriend's dorm. Some of her housemates were none too happy that I had shanghaied the television (especially because I didn't go to her school).

It was still worth it.

FADE IN

SUPERFAN, dressed entirely in DODGER BLUE stares inconsolably at the television.

JOE BUCK (VO, on television)
It is high and deep! Gone! The Giants win the pennant, and the Dodgers' long march into irrelevance continues! The San Francisco Giants, for the third time in the past fifteen years, have decimated the Dodgers' playoff chances, and will now return to the World Series to face the Tampa Bay Rays!

SUPERFAN
I think I'll violate rule one. Rule one violation.

He shuts off the television.

SUPERFAN (cont'd)
(turning to wife)
You know who I blame for this?

SUPERFAN'S WIFE
(heard this 1000 times)
DodgerThoughts poster KG16?

SUPERFAN
DodgerThoughts poster KG16. Sure, he got the girl. I'm sure he's somewhere on the coast, living very happily, writing his novels and living with that girl that he always wanted. But what about the rest of us? Why did KG16 refuse to think of the rest of us?

SUPERFAN'S WIFE
You know, you have a pretty good life, too.

SUPERFAN
All I wanted was for the Dodgers to win.

Superfan's wife looks up at him, incredulously.

SUPERFAN (cont'd)
I think he needs to pay.

BEGIN MAIN TITLES

HALF-BAKED PICTURES PRESENTS

A HUMMA KAVULA FILM

KG16 NEEDS TO PAY

Meanwhile, the Dodgers will tread water with Ned as GM.

Better yet, Jim Healy.

http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2005/02/saturday_in_the_1.php

That was a good laugh.

Did you spot it? OK, I'll point it out...

Joe Buck would never say something like "long march into irrelevance."

If that was you, I find it strange that you would doom the rest of us to a lifetime of Dodger irrelevance when you are so quick to hand out marriage proposals.

Bob will likely find amusement in the fact that one of said assignments is editing an article by Roger Kahn about the grand old days of New York baseball. I'm going to assume that one passes muster with the irony committee.

Tell them that it's the smell of victory and move on.

He's waiting for Tom Hanks to capture the humanity of Hamilton whenever the powers that be decide to appropriately salute the man mostly known today for being on the $10 bill.

No comment

60 - Man, I think someone really got to Bob. Like, horse head on the bedpillow stuff.

So what? Hamilton understood, like most rational human beings before Andrew Jackson, that the majority of people are dumb. They need a ruling class.

"Your people, sir, is a great beast."

Now it's raining again.

I'm sensing a suspended game here.

I thought it was pretty obvious that Hamilton in the John Adams movie was being portrayed as a Rove-ian figure for the amusement of the contemporary audience.

http://tinyurl.com/5jwwea

I suspect their press isn't as good because they were never president.

yet they get the least amount of play as founders

Really? They're both in the top 5, wouldn't you say?

The Democrats have the Jefferson Jackson dinner. The Federalists got nuthin'.

Why not have the old bowl system (more or less) and then take the two best teams after the bowls?

And no, a play off isn't going to happen... nor will it work.

76 - the Federalists have a society now, though there are probably more Anti-federalists in the society than there are Federalists.

Obviously the Dodgers won't win before that, but before they threepeat again? Outlook not so good, I'm just looking for a series win.

I used American Pageant in my AP US class in...2005? I think it was. I read one chapter out of the book, damn good teacher

I've seen it about 10 times, and I can only recall one specific instance of foul language. So I'd say you're probably OK.

If you show it to your class, you should enable the pop-up text. The DVD has a feature where, while the movie is playing, subtitles come up which explain the philosophical background behind each scene.

Super perfundo on the early eve of your day.

http://www.lvrj.com/sports/18326504.html

It won't happen again.

Or will it be irrelevant, like the White Sox?

I suspect each of the current 30 teams to win the World Series before the Big West has football again.

http://tinyurl.com/6o5328

I think I saw some of Cooper.

Irrelevant futility at its finest.

Is the Giants' half-century without a championship becoming cute yet? Where do they fit into all this?

And what do I find? This question!

Oh, and owning a home, sure.
And an HDTV to watch Dodgers games in and watch Criterion movies on.

And I'd also like a pony.

It is, however, much more likely that the Lakers will win a championship before either of those things happen. But hey, you never know...

http://tinyurl.com/4rzr7t

111 Cynically, I am prone to agree with you, or at least that he'll coach someone again, maybe not the Heat. Otherwise I see him more than happy to be in a front office and segue into announcing. I mean if Van Gundy can get paid for that, why not Riley?

Los Angeles - Still the Lakers, I believe.
Phoenix - Suns perhaps, D-Backs, not so sure.
San Diego - Chargers, next.
Denver - Broncos, next
San Francisco - 49ers, I would guess.
Chicago - Cubs
Cincy - Reds or Bengals, Reds?
St. Louis - Cardinals
Pittsburgh - Steelers
Houston - Do the Titans even have that much love yet, Astros
Milwaukee - Well if they can't claim the Packers, Brewers.
New York - I'm going to say the Knicks.
Philadelphia - Egles, though Phillies could be close
Washington - Redskins
Atlana - Does SEC football count?
Florida - Considering that the Marlins have won 2 more titles than the Dolphins in the last 11 years, I would pick them but its hard to say.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - Angels
Oakland - Raiders
Seattle - Seahawks
Texas - Cowboys
Cleveland - Indians, Browns are too new.
Detroit - Tigers
Kansas City - Chiefs
Minnesota - Vikings
Boston - With the Red Sox winning 2 titles in the last 4 years, the Celtics now occupy that spot.
Toronto - Maple Leafs
Tampa Bay - Bucs
Baltimore - maybe its split between Orioles and Ravens.

My hunch is that if you have a pro football team in your metropolis, you will find that team's success will generate the most response.

LA not having any pro football, really shifted the pro sports attention to the team with the most visible stars and combine that with a team that makes the playoffs and then usually is in championship contention, to me is what makes the Lakers the most compelling sports team in this city and when they are going good, the city strives on that.

1) Someone to grow old with
2) To own a home
3) To shake Bob Timmermann's hand

I think the Dodgers will win the World Series sometime in between 1 & 2.

Would I be OK if the Dodgers don't win another World Series in my lifetime? Sure. It would be hard to top 1988 in terms of the excitement and wide-eyed wonderment of 12 year old me. Plus, I have thought about this in the last few years: there has to be something more to being a fan than the elusive quest for a championship. Otherwise, it's too depressing, collectively, to handle since 29 of 30 teams end up disappointed every year. In the last few years, I've been able to appreciate the journey of the long season.

Ross Gellar applauds the suitcase girl's second-half wardrobe.

http://www.truebluela.com/2008/4/28/462647/time-flies-lima-stands-alo

For my wife: Peace. Contentment. Less stress.

For my parents and, really, all my older relatives: Many more years of vibrant life, but when their time comes, to die painlessly in their sleep. This to me is the ultimate luxury, a greater privilege than wealth or any other gilded pleasure.

For me: A minimum of five years of my life when my writing is the primary thing I do, and that I find some success in it.

For the Dodgers of 2008: That they realize how great they are and just relax and do the things they're capable of doing, knowing their fans always find them entertaining.

For my dog: A lifetime of good teeth, a good nose and good ears.

I've never been in good physical shape.

I think the Dodgers win a World Series first.

Let's just that this was a thought problem.

Don't forget, I've met you!

There were no double plays or runners caught stealing.

I was afraid to read any further. :-)

Medium term: Have a second child that is as wonderful and exciting as my first, and to be able to afford a bigger house to fit everyone.

Long term: Be able to afford to send those 2 kids to college and to continue to make my wife as happy as she appears to be today.

Will the Dodgers win it all before any of that? I sure hope so, and by no later than the medium term.

Objectively, I would think the Cubs, given their history as both a loser and a media powerhouse (WGN).

And I would also add Nebraska football t the mix. given their recent history, if you saw an NU BCS championship, you would see Mardi Gras in the mid west. Ethanol prices would sky rocket, because no one would be harvesting corn.

Finally, the Broncos had a great draft and the Raiders neglected their 31st ranked run defense by drafting a running back to their 6th ranked run offense. Hooray! Now let's all watch the Nuggets not care some more.

Just a little.

Thanks! I play outfield for a JC in the bay area. Well actually I'm red-shirting but next year I should hopefully be able to start. And then in a couple years hopefully get a scholarship somewhere at a 4-year school...

Mission College, its a junior college in the bay area. Not much I know. If its any consolation I didn't actually start playing really until my sophomore year of HS so its been a lot of work just to get to where I am now. Not much of a chance for me but it never hurts to dream! :)

Is Dick Stockton a closet Celtics Fan?

I still maintain that the '01 Lakers (the team that went 15-1 in the playoffs) would've beaten any of those Bulls teams in a 7-game series. I have a friend from Chicago who strenuously disagrees with this.

"Do you think the Dodgers will win the World Series before or after that happens?"
After, I hope.

(They will now go back to shooting jumpers and watching Gasol dunk.)

He's the McG of basketball players.

I would add that I want to be teaching high school English in the next five years. The plan was to transition to that vocation this summer, but the coming birth of our son put some plans on hold. He will definitely be worth it. Due date: May 12th

He should have been Hilario.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/26/bison.slaughter/index.html

"More than half of Yellowstone National Park's bison herd has died since last fall, forcing the government to suspend its annual slaughter program."

Don't laugh. It happens.

That is the only redeeming moment of the Comedy Central animated show "Drawn Together".

They were handing out leaflets. I did not see Juan Pierre mentioned anywhere.

I think I've seen maybe one in the last 7 years. And that was only because I heard beforehand that there would be a Thomas Pynchon cameo.

That's just sad.

I was listening to the Denver radio broadcast on the way home from the office. The announcers felt that the Lakers were getting a lot of calls. They were also down on the mistakes that Denver was making... I mean Chick Hearn-style, "They can't do anything right, tonight." But they were tough to listen to.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/10

Stand down.

I guess I can be kind of gullible sometimes, and susceptible to believing outlandish, unlikely things. But c'mon. Frank Thomas hitting a triple?

http://tinyurl.com/4ngaxr

It's like he took Terry Steinbach's helmet and broke the cheek piece off.

201 - wow, just looked at the Raiders depth chart on espn.com, that's sad. I remember joking as a youngster that the Raiders receivers could have won a gold medal as a relay team in the Olympics once.

Well, the Nuggets made this one a game for a bit, good on them.

Immersed in SFIFF flix (watching on disc in the comfort of my own cat-infested home tonight, though), but took a break to check that game. I am giddy to see the Celtics and Pistons both being scared to Jebus.

http://tinyurl.com/6qpx3k

Hasta luego.

http://tinyurl.com/5q4ajg

When ToyCannon commented a "Christmas Wish List" in a thread last December, for my gift he wrote, "Don't you have it all??" Obviously I don't have everything (who does?), and I'm still not sure what exactly he was getting at (if anything), but it did get me to thinking about what it is that I do have, which is along the lines of the first part of Jon's question, "what do I want most in my life right now?", because to know what you want, you have to know what you already have.

I'm fortunate to have married the love of my life nearly twenty years ago (a magical year for Dodger fans too), to have been blessed with a wonderful daughter who is now a young lady away (but locally) at college, to have been raised in a loving family and to still have both my parents, to have a good career that provides me reasonable security and a good enough salary to provide well (but not so well that we both don't have to work) for my family. I don't have it all, but I certainly have a lot to be thankful for.

Like dzzrtRatt 121 , I have many wants for others in my life, many quite similar (and LAT is right about dog hips; I have a 15-year old, 60-pound mutt going through that right now), but for me personally, I want to have more time away from outside obligations (mostly work) and more time to spend with the people that mean the most to me, which I think means that what I want most right now is to be able to retire. Right now, I don't see that happening; I need to work hard enough to keep my "value" high enough so that I can't be replaced by some young gun, at least until I am retirement-eligible and can benefit from that. I'm still 7 ½ years from the eligibility age, and I'm probably 15-19 years from actually being able to afford full-time retirement. I think the Dodgers win the World Series first, either way.

Jon, thanks for posing the question, because you drew my attention away from the mundane details of daily life for a little while, and allowed me to refocus on the more important things again. And congratulations on your wedding anniversary – cherish them all!

Well, hey, now that we've seen Toronto eat about $10 million to dump Frank Howard and the penny-pounding Pittsburgh Pirates pour Heinez ketchup on $10 million for Matt Morris and eat it, how bad is Stanton's $3.5 million?

Frank Howard!? :)

also might be a good idea to bring Kobe back into the game and give him the ball.

Plus, I doubt many DT folks remember your nametag story...Mary. And you still owe me a beer.

My choice would be "The Story of Ricky", possibly the greatest awful movie ever.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102293/

No, but can you, uh, be more specific? Like, comedies? Action or sci-fi? Korean? I can give you some recs. You can check my best of 07 list, too.

I assume you've seen The Host?

Man, U-G-L-Y, this Lakers-Nuggets game ain't got no alibi.

If Jerry Lewis hadn't made a holocaust movie about a clown that leads prepubescent Jews into gas chambers, Slapstick of Another Kind would be the worst movie he ever made.

230
Yeah, I love Korean and Japanese movies. Any type of genre works for me, but I do like films that are different.

Yeah, I have seen the Host.

I think you can't go wrong with many Criterion DVD releases too. I loves me some docs, and so on.

Whatever you do, don't rent The Fountain, though, unless you wish to pass it off on someone you either dislike or who suffers from insomnia.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is pretty amazing, comes out this week.

If you haven't seen King of Kong Fistful of Quarters yet, you must.

Okay, I'm procrasti-netting. Cheers.

Kobe is 1-4 on free throws.

"He was much more tolerant of my failures than I was of his. ... When Danny wasn't causing chaos, he was a sweet, talented, unassuming, unpretentious good-hearted guy who simply had an unchecked ability to make good fortune and things in general go fabulously wrong."

http://www.brucespringsteen.net/news/index.html
(Also a couple of great videos there.)

I remember one time Fat Lever threw a cool behind the back pass. That's it, right?

THEY CAME OFF A SWEEP!!! YEAH BUDDY!

He probably does not root for the Jazz, but whatever.

And torches.

And all the volumes of Fawn Brodie's biography of Thomas Jefferson.

If we're lucky enough, we'll target CajunDodger after that.

I think the highlight of today was the new born Celtics suddenly tied with the Hawks. I thought they were the Undisputed Best Team in the NBA&trade*

*according to ESPN

http://tinyurl.com/5yhmob

OK, that might be from the Carolina days, but close enough.

So the Dodgers sweep the rocks followed by a Laker sweep of the nuggets. Good week in L.A., bad to be a Denverite. Lets hope the Dodger keep things rollin' this week.

Utah is probably the second deepest team in the West, but hopefully with Ariza back the Lakers will matchup nicely with them, with or without Bynum. I expect Kobe to guard Deron Williams for long stretches because he will destroy Fisher (and to a lesser extent Farmar).

Yeah, with Ariza back, and possibly Bynum, and knowing that the team also has Turiaf, I can't stand having to watch Radmanovich get any playing time at all. I know he can score some points here and there, but, argh, he drives me batty on defense.

--

Man, the Rockies have really hit bottom. Losing to the Giants 4-0 puts the exclamation point on that. I hope the Giants can reclaim the last place that is by all rights theirs before too long.

I wonder if he realizes that last sentence has double meaning, given the Marlins', er, underflow crowds at home games.