The festival guest at Philly was Michael Kasprowicz. Personally (and not just because he is an Aussie) I think he was one of the best guests we have had. Getting to play against him was great. But it all comes down to how well he can speak. Derek Underwood was a great guy and nice to chat to in the bar...but his speech was deathly dull. Kasper walked the line perfectly providing insight, comedy and anecdotes in the right proportion.
Andrew Symonds is apparently quite the character. Kasper told a couple of stories about comments he would make from time to time. Apparently Andy Bichel had a couple of letters written on his bat: "FT". The 3 of them were there one day and Symonds saw this and asked what it stood for. Bichel replied: "Focus and Technique...it is just something that helps me think about the important things when I am batting". Symonds then replied: "I think I would have 'SW" ". "What would that stand for?"..."Swing Hard" was the reply.
He also spoke of the 2005 Ashes and the mood in the dressing room. He said it was the first time that "luck" was being mentioned in an Australian dressing room. There was also a subtle change in tactics when we beat India over there for the first time in forever. Instead of setting typical Aussie fields with 3 slips and a gully, bowling at off stump, they played to India's strengths. Block off mid wicket and mid on and bowl at the stumps and force them to change. The results would indicate this was quite effective.
After the speech, got a cricket ball signed and staggered home...many bottles of Mad Dog wine was consumed and a lot of laughs were had. We also lined up Kasper and his wife for a dinner in NY when they were visiting the next week...
So Thursday night, a week later, and I went into NYC to meet Kasper and his wife Lindsey for drinks and dinner. What a great evening! Drinks were had at a small pub in the Greenwich Village and then we had a private room for our dinner. About 6 Mad Dogs, a few partners and the Kaspers. I managed to get a prime spot next to him and a great night of questions about cricket and everything else was had. For me the highlight was talking to him about captaincy. Steve Waugh was named as the best captain he played under and it was clear that there was a little resentment about Mark Taylor's "18 month form slump". Not that anything bad was said, but it was clear that it was not just the fans who were getting pissed off by his constant selection, despite him not being able to score a run.
It ended up being a very late night to get home but certainly well worth the lack of sleep. Not sure who will be next up for Philly but can't wait for 2011!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Philly 2010
The last few weeks have been really busy around here, partly due to work issues, and partly self inflicted. I have finally finished up at Colgate. After 3 years, literally, they ran our of money! Perhaps there will be an opportunity to return in the future, we will see. This did mean that for the past few weeks, it was a mad scramble to wrap everything up and to transfer all of my responsibilities to Colgate people.
Now to the fun, self-inflicted stuff...
Last week was the Philly Cricket Festival. We had a decent side going down there, full of drinkers and a few people with some cricket ability so we had all areas covered there. There were always going to be 3 games that were the tough ones in our group...Littleton; "Dream Cricket" and Toronto. Our first game was against Littleton so we had to be quick out of the gates. Additionally, I was the captain of the squad for the festival so there was a lot of additional stuff to think of.
The format of the festival was T20 this year, so we had to make sure that the runs were coming quickly and we remained focused on setting a decent score. We actually batted really well in this game. Lots of people chipped in with some quick knocks and we finished our innings 9 down for 151. I came in in the later overs and scored 14 from about 10 balls and was quite happy with how things were going. Things started well for us in the field, getting a wicket of the first ball! A great catch a few overs later saw us well on top and it was only a matter of time before the game would be wrapped up (or so it seemed). Then they began smashing us to all parts of the ground, not only keeping up with the run rate...but actually were ahead of it. It came down to the last two overs, with them having one good batsman left. The needed 10 runs from 12 balls and Boyke delivered a great over, only conceeding two runs! Even better, their good batsman was down the non-striker's end. First ball was a dot that popped off a length and caught our keeper under the chin making him lose the ball...so they ran a bye!! So not only, not a dot ball...but their hitter now was on strike. However, Coatsey knocked him over next ball and we all knew that would wrap it up for us. In the end, they got to 148...so a great start.
Game two was against "Dream Cricket", a group of 16-21 year olds with a couple of old heads to run things. We again batted first, I did nothing in this one but we got to what was another decent total - 131. At one point in the chase it looked like they were going to make it interesting but we held them under the rate for long enough to wrap things up and in the end, won by about 15 runs.
The afternoon game on Friday was against Philadelphia, a weak side but they had added the festival guest Michael Kasprowicz to their team for this game. The Aussies in our side all wanted a crack at him and so we were all thrown into the top 4 for this game. He was not bowling quickly but was accurate and swinging the ball around. I got a single, squirting one through square leg but as kept on the crease by his lenght and movement and he bowled a cutter that beat the bat and took out my off stump. Great experience to face him however, a really nice bloke too. The game did not go so well. We found a way to play down to the oppo and also, were giving all in our squad a chance to get a game so there were some of the better players who were sitting out. In the end, too many runs conceeded with 3 bad overs cost us the game.
Toronto was next up and we knew this was the biggest game for us to play. They had several former first class players in their ranks and 4 people who are current members of the Canadian national side. They had us very overmatched but one interesting thing happened during their innings. There were strict festival rules regarding getting through the game as they were playing 3 matches per day. Mid way through their innings a wicket fell and nobody was ready to come in. Also, nobody was even too worried about padding up. The umpires had already given us a hurry up for our overs and were then telling us that they have 90 seconds to get to the middle (festival rule) or he could be out if we appealed. Then one thing happened that really pissed me off. They stepped inside the boundary rope and arrogantly stated, we are on the field of play, so we are OK with the time. A quick poll of the team and we agreed that we should put him on his way, so I waited until the next player had begin his walk to the middle (one of their 1st Class players) and appealed. Never been a part of a timed out before... When I batted (and got a duck) I received all manner of abuse from their team (as was expected). Later that night their team walked into the bar quite late and I told them they only had 90 seconds to get a drink. I think they saw the funny side by then...also, since they won the game, it was a non-issue.
The rest of the festival was then focused on getting everyone a game and drinking. We certainly did our best at this!
Now to the fun, self-inflicted stuff...
Last week was the Philly Cricket Festival. We had a decent side going down there, full of drinkers and a few people with some cricket ability so we had all areas covered there. There were always going to be 3 games that were the tough ones in our group...Littleton; "Dream Cricket" and Toronto. Our first game was against Littleton so we had to be quick out of the gates. Additionally, I was the captain of the squad for the festival so there was a lot of additional stuff to think of.
The format of the festival was T20 this year, so we had to make sure that the runs were coming quickly and we remained focused on setting a decent score. We actually batted really well in this game. Lots of people chipped in with some quick knocks and we finished our innings 9 down for 151. I came in in the later overs and scored 14 from about 10 balls and was quite happy with how things were going. Things started well for us in the field, getting a wicket of the first ball! A great catch a few overs later saw us well on top and it was only a matter of time before the game would be wrapped up (or so it seemed). Then they began smashing us to all parts of the ground, not only keeping up with the run rate...but actually were ahead of it. It came down to the last two overs, with them having one good batsman left. The needed 10 runs from 12 balls and Boyke delivered a great over, only conceeding two runs! Even better, their good batsman was down the non-striker's end. First ball was a dot that popped off a length and caught our keeper under the chin making him lose the ball...so they ran a bye!! So not only, not a dot ball...but their hitter now was on strike. However, Coatsey knocked him over next ball and we all knew that would wrap it up for us. In the end, they got to 148...so a great start.
Game two was against "Dream Cricket", a group of 16-21 year olds with a couple of old heads to run things. We again batted first, I did nothing in this one but we got to what was another decent total - 131. At one point in the chase it looked like they were going to make it interesting but we held them under the rate for long enough to wrap things up and in the end, won by about 15 runs.
The afternoon game on Friday was against Philadelphia, a weak side but they had added the festival guest Michael Kasprowicz to their team for this game. The Aussies in our side all wanted a crack at him and so we were all thrown into the top 4 for this game. He was not bowling quickly but was accurate and swinging the ball around. I got a single, squirting one through square leg but as kept on the crease by his lenght and movement and he bowled a cutter that beat the bat and took out my off stump. Great experience to face him however, a really nice bloke too. The game did not go so well. We found a way to play down to the oppo and also, were giving all in our squad a chance to get a game so there were some of the better players who were sitting out. In the end, too many runs conceeded with 3 bad overs cost us the game.
Toronto was next up and we knew this was the biggest game for us to play. They had several former first class players in their ranks and 4 people who are current members of the Canadian national side. They had us very overmatched but one interesting thing happened during their innings. There were strict festival rules regarding getting through the game as they were playing 3 matches per day. Mid way through their innings a wicket fell and nobody was ready to come in. Also, nobody was even too worried about padding up. The umpires had already given us a hurry up for our overs and were then telling us that they have 90 seconds to get to the middle (festival rule) or he could be out if we appealed. Then one thing happened that really pissed me off. They stepped inside the boundary rope and arrogantly stated, we are on the field of play, so we are OK with the time. A quick poll of the team and we agreed that we should put him on his way, so I waited until the next player had begin his walk to the middle (one of their 1st Class players) and appealed. Never been a part of a timed out before... When I batted (and got a duck) I received all manner of abuse from their team (as was expected). Later that night their team walked into the bar quite late and I told them they only had 90 seconds to get a drink. I think they saw the funny side by then...also, since they won the game, it was a non-issue.
The rest of the festival was then focused on getting everyone a game and drinking. We certainly did our best at this!
Friday, April 16, 2010
An Apple (or two) a Day
I finally caved in to years of pressure and bought an Apple device. I had never owned anything made by them before and had resisted in part because I did not understand the hype and cult following that their products had. However, we were in need of a new computer. Our desktop is quite old and while it still does the job, it is certainly getting to the end of its life. I have my work laptop that I can use and occasionally Mindy will use this as well but with Angus, it was becoming increasingly difficult for her to go to the basement and use the PC.
I was thinking of getting a laptop, this would give Mindy the ability to keep it upstairs and have easier access. I would probably keep the desktop as well, I had not thought that far ahead. Then I saw a blog entry and began reading about the iPad and I knew this was the thing for Mindy. Small, light, instantly turned on, great touch screen interface and PERFECT for web surfing and email, which is pretty much all Mindy (and most of us) does on a computer in any case.
Mindy was not 100% sure about it but we went to the Apple store to take a look. The product is amazing! Sure, there are some possible improvements that could be made but for what Mindy and most casual computer users need, it is perfect. Apple has successfully changed the model from "inventing stuff to do on computers" to "inventing computers to do stuff". While there, we were looking at their other products as well and I was thinking that it would not be my last visit there. Purchase made and off to the girls' school to pick them up.
On the way there we were discussing Naomi's birthday and how she has been begging for an iPod for a while now. So we thought we would give her the choice - she could have a party or we would put that money to the iPod. When we asked her, it took her all of two seconds to request the iPod. We decided to stop back at the Apple store on the way home and mess with her a little bit. We told her she could pick out a case and "pretend" for a few weeks until her birthday while secretly purchasing the iPod as well. The fact that she was excited to do this was really sweet. When we got to the car, we gave her the bag and asked her to check it to make sure we got the right one. She was quite excited (to say the least) when she saw what else was in there.
So since then, Mindy and Naomi have been walking around the house getting their money's worth from their devices. Nothing about the iPad in particular has made me regret the purchase and I think that the market for similar devices will likely explode as people realize what they can do.
I was thinking of getting a laptop, this would give Mindy the ability to keep it upstairs and have easier access. I would probably keep the desktop as well, I had not thought that far ahead. Then I saw a blog entry and began reading about the iPad and I knew this was the thing for Mindy. Small, light, instantly turned on, great touch screen interface and PERFECT for web surfing and email, which is pretty much all Mindy (and most of us) does on a computer in any case.
Mindy was not 100% sure about it but we went to the Apple store to take a look. The product is amazing! Sure, there are some possible improvements that could be made but for what Mindy and most casual computer users need, it is perfect. Apple has successfully changed the model from "inventing stuff to do on computers" to "inventing computers to do stuff". While there, we were looking at their other products as well and I was thinking that it would not be my last visit there. Purchase made and off to the girls' school to pick them up.
On the way there we were discussing Naomi's birthday and how she has been begging for an iPod for a while now. So we thought we would give her the choice - she could have a party or we would put that money to the iPod. When we asked her, it took her all of two seconds to request the iPod. We decided to stop back at the Apple store on the way home and mess with her a little bit. We told her she could pick out a case and "pretend" for a few weeks until her birthday while secretly purchasing the iPod as well. The fact that she was excited to do this was really sweet. When we got to the car, we gave her the bag and asked her to check it to make sure we got the right one. She was quite excited (to say the least) when she saw what else was in there.
So since then, Mindy and Naomi have been walking around the house getting their money's worth from their devices. Nothing about the iPad in particular has made me regret the purchase and I think that the market for similar devices will likely explode as people realize what they can do.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Summer Time
So it seems Spring has passed us by, this week has been stinking hot. Fortunately it is set to cool back down a little over the weekend but hopefully there is no rain interfering with cricket! :-)
After getting back from Virginia we had our first outdoor cricket practice. It was nice to see everyone again and to get right back into the important tasks of putting shit on team mates and goofing off. Batted OK, bowled well at first then lost concentration a little.
Have been back playing cash games online on Bodog and have done well this week. Thanks to several knuckleheads last night had one of my best nights ever. Enjoying playing 6 handed NL cash games. The time passes quickly and you can avoid many of the delays involved in a full ring game. However, folding a lot leads to not having to really concentrate full time on the game either.
Am also getting inspired to buy an ipad for Mindy. I think that this will be perfect for her to access the internet and email quickly and I know Naomi and Fiona will love it as well. In fact, I don't expect to see them again once this device hits the house! I read a review that described the ipad as "i-crack" for young kids and knowing their fascination with such things, this will be proven correct. One of their current games is to use our mobile phones to type on the "notepad"...so when they get the chance to use an app on the touch screen, they will go crazy.
Angus is rolling over now and getting huge. Mindy put him in a 9 month outfit that was a perfect fit for him (at 3 1/2 months). We think he might be in the early stages of teething. He is drooling all over the place and seems to be more miserable of late. Of course, he could just drool a lot and enjoys whining. He is a perfectly content baby as long as you are holding him AND walking around, which is nice...except he weighs a ton! We need to put more photos on Facebook and hope to do so this weekend.
We have another busy weekend coming up. Naomi's pet club where she brings in her pet hamster to show everyone. Fiona's first spring time soccer game. The Rainbow Butterflies are back! Pitch work and cricket practice...and this is just Saturday!
Watched an amazing show the other night - "Breakout" - a one hour series that details through interviews and reenactments a different prison break each week. Amazingly tense and you weirdly find yourself hoping for them to escape, which makes no sense as these are normally hardened criminals and you KNOW they get out in any case. Certainly comes highly recommended. Also, have re-watched a couple of Steve Martin classics lately, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and LA Story, the latter is one of my personal faves! Both held up well after a long time since the last viewing.
After getting back from Virginia we had our first outdoor cricket practice. It was nice to see everyone again and to get right back into the important tasks of putting shit on team mates and goofing off. Batted OK, bowled well at first then lost concentration a little.
Have been back playing cash games online on Bodog and have done well this week. Thanks to several knuckleheads last night had one of my best nights ever. Enjoying playing 6 handed NL cash games. The time passes quickly and you can avoid many of the delays involved in a full ring game. However, folding a lot leads to not having to really concentrate full time on the game either.
Am also getting inspired to buy an ipad for Mindy. I think that this will be perfect for her to access the internet and email quickly and I know Naomi and Fiona will love it as well. In fact, I don't expect to see them again once this device hits the house! I read a review that described the ipad as "i-crack" for young kids and knowing their fascination with such things, this will be proven correct. One of their current games is to use our mobile phones to type on the "notepad"...so when they get the chance to use an app on the touch screen, they will go crazy.
Angus is rolling over now and getting huge. Mindy put him in a 9 month outfit that was a perfect fit for him (at 3 1/2 months). We think he might be in the early stages of teething. He is drooling all over the place and seems to be more miserable of late. Of course, he could just drool a lot and enjoys whining. He is a perfectly content baby as long as you are holding him AND walking around, which is nice...except he weighs a ton! We need to put more photos on Facebook and hope to do so this weekend.
We have another busy weekend coming up. Naomi's pet club where she brings in her pet hamster to show everyone. Fiona's first spring time soccer game. The Rainbow Butterflies are back! Pitch work and cricket practice...and this is just Saturday!
Watched an amazing show the other night - "Breakout" - a one hour series that details through interviews and reenactments a different prison break each week. Amazingly tense and you weirdly find yourself hoping for them to escape, which makes no sense as these are normally hardened criminals and you KNOW they get out in any case. Certainly comes highly recommended. Also, have re-watched a couple of Steve Martin classics lately, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and LA Story, the latter is one of my personal faves! Both held up well after a long time since the last viewing.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Spring Break
This week is a week off school for the kids. We are down in Virginia visiting Mindy's family. Today is her grandmother's 75th birthday party so literally ALL of her rels will be there - it should be a very interesting afternoon, great people watching opportunity for sure. Yesterday was spent hanging out with her mother, sister, brother and cousin and eating Mexican food. Good stuff!
I am also lamenting Parra's slow start ot the season. Sure, they lost to good teams but it would be nice for them to win a few games to kick of the season once in a while.
I am also lamenting Parra's slow start ot the season. Sure, they lost to good teams but it would be nice for them to win a few games to kick of the season once in a while.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Got Some
Got some Pearl Jam tickets. Fan club seating for the May 20 show. What a drama! First onsale went up on Tuesday at 3:00pm. I logged into the website 15 minutes early and was ready to go, figuring that I would click "refresh" every 5 minutes while on the page showing the shows for sale, hoping to grab the NYC tickets as soon as they became available. Another pertinant piece of information is that there was a notice on the website that if you have tickets in your basket, you have 10 minutes to check out otherwise the tickets would be reallocated to someone else.
Of course, it was not as easy as that. At 2:55, the website basically was just hanging as all of the other local fans were doing the same thing. However, slowly progress was made. For every step of the way - get to the ticket screen; select the tickets; confirm the purchase; check out - the system crashed but after a few refreshes I was able to get to the screen entering the credit card details. I entered everything and figured I was done...and then it crashed again. Went back and refreshed and tried again (figured if I was charged twice, I would deal with it later) . This time, I got the following messages - "Your order has been placed"...AND..."Your cart is empty"...AND..."You cannot check out with an empty cart". So, then I was MORE confused! Did they take the tickets from my cart prior to the order going through? So I check my email...and there was the confirmation email with an order number! Everything checked out OK...so May 20 tickets were in the bag!
Next stop, May 21 tickets...
They went on sale at 6:00pm, later the same day. Same plan but this time the system was even worse. Managed to get the tickets in my shopping cart but was unable to get past this point (kept timing out). Very frustrating!
However, I found out there is a final, additional fan club presale today at 2:00pm. I am assuming the seats will likely be a little worse but still better than the general onsale tickets. I am planning another assault in a couple of hours.
Of course, it was not as easy as that. At 2:55, the website basically was just hanging as all of the other local fans were doing the same thing. However, slowly progress was made. For every step of the way - get to the ticket screen; select the tickets; confirm the purchase; check out - the system crashed but after a few refreshes I was able to get to the screen entering the credit card details. I entered everything and figured I was done...and then it crashed again. Went back and refreshed and tried again (figured if I was charged twice, I would deal with it later) . This time, I got the following messages - "Your order has been placed"...AND..."Your cart is empty"...AND..."You cannot check out with an empty cart". So, then I was MORE confused! Did they take the tickets from my cart prior to the order going through? So I check my email...and there was the confirmation email with an order number! Everything checked out OK...so May 20 tickets were in the bag!
Next stop, May 21 tickets...
They went on sale at 6:00pm, later the same day. Same plan but this time the system was even worse. Managed to get the tickets in my shopping cart but was unable to get past this point (kept timing out). Very frustrating!
However, I found out there is a final, additional fan club presale today at 2:00pm. I am assuming the seats will likely be a little worse but still better than the general onsale tickets. I am planning another assault in a couple of hours.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Boys Of Summer
Starting to feel like we are shaking off the winter season. The weather is getting a little warmer and I had my first 2010 cricket hit out on Saturday. I had to drive into Brooklyn to a facility with indoor nets and as a result of the snow clearing activities, it took me 2 1/2 hours to make the 30 mile drive. It was all worth it upon arriving though. I bowled for about 45 minutes and did OK, will see if this can continue this year. I have resolved that if my bowling does not come back this year, to pull a Cameron White and shelve it. I was very happy with the batting, nice to get a few in the middle after 6 months.
Woke up planning to watch the 2nd T20 game and found that the channel guide was incorrect so the game did not record. Of course, this led to a call to Directv to ask them what they could do to compensate me for this inconvenience. 3 months of Showtime and Cinemax free was the result, not too shabby! Set a heap of movies to record and began watching them. Saw "Letters From Iwo Jima" - what an amazing film. At first I hated the overdubbed voices but that aspect actually grew on me as the movie progressed. Certainly highly recommended and a great showcase for Clint Eastwood's directing ability.
Also finished reading "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell. It speaks of reasons that lead to the success of obviously successful people and shows how this success is the end of a sequence of events making them special. Also, highly recommended.
Rugby was entertaining to watch - Brumbies stole a win at the death and the Waratahs certainly improved from last week, so I am hopeful that the Wallabies will be have a decent squad this year. Deans needs to produce the goods now.
I am hearing nothing but good reports from friends about the Aussie AC/DC shows. They are coming back to the USA for some make-up shows in a couple of months, I am hoping they expand this schedule a little bit to get somewhere near NJ.
The eating better plan is working well although is taking a bit of a detour right now thanks to the arrival of the girls' Girl Scout Cookies. I think I am OK, if I average the calorie and saturated fat content over the year, it is really nothing much to be concerned about.
Woke up planning to watch the 2nd T20 game and found that the channel guide was incorrect so the game did not record. Of course, this led to a call to Directv to ask them what they could do to compensate me for this inconvenience. 3 months of Showtime and Cinemax free was the result, not too shabby! Set a heap of movies to record and began watching them. Saw "Letters From Iwo Jima" - what an amazing film. At first I hated the overdubbed voices but that aspect actually grew on me as the movie progressed. Certainly highly recommended and a great showcase for Clint Eastwood's directing ability.
Also finished reading "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell. It speaks of reasons that lead to the success of obviously successful people and shows how this success is the end of a sequence of events making them special. Also, highly recommended.
Rugby was entertaining to watch - Brumbies stole a win at the death and the Waratahs certainly improved from last week, so I am hopeful that the Wallabies will be have a decent squad this year. Deans needs to produce the goods now.
I am hearing nothing but good reports from friends about the Aussie AC/DC shows. They are coming back to the USA for some make-up shows in a couple of months, I am hoping they expand this schedule a little bit to get somewhere near NJ.
The eating better plan is working well although is taking a bit of a detour right now thanks to the arrival of the girls' Girl Scout Cookies. I think I am OK, if I average the calorie and saturated fat content over the year, it is really nothing much to be concerned about.
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