Infield Chatter

[Sebastian Knight]

(good vibes, good vibes, good vibes....)

Meanwhile, since this was originally a baseball thread:
Things are pretty interesting in the National League right now as far as potential playoff spots.  In the East, the Mets have been holding onto a lead, but the Braves and Phillies are neck and neck and within striking distance.  In the Central division the Cubs and Brewers are vying for the top spot.  In the West, the Diamondbacks and the Padres are fighting it out (LA seems to have curled up and died).  So you've got pretty exciting races for the division title in every division at this point.  And there's a wildcard spot up for grabs as well, which right now looks like it is apt to go to whoever comes in second in the West. 

In Atlanta, the reaction to being about 3-4 games out of first with about 40 games left to play has been....crickets chirping.  That's because in Atlanta the fans assume that the team will make the playoffs, and then lose.  Also, we're collectively annoyed at Baseball because Hank Aaron played for the Braves (OK they weren't in Atlanta).  And our collective sports attention is still focused on hating Michael Vick.  But as a Cubs fan, I've been following the season with interest.   

[tgraham]

Hey, the Astros arent out of it yet...
All they need is another 25 game winning streak and they're right back in it.

it COULD happen.

[The Doc]

Hey Manchester City have won their first two games of the season (never happened before) and are 10 places ahead of United in the league (unheard of in recent times), so miracles can happen. 


You just need to get bought out by a disgraced Thai politician and hire a failed England manager 

ps  Hope it went well for thing1 (where did the crossed fingers smiley go)

[Scott]

Day 1 of tryouts went OK.

In the pre-season meeting (back in June) all the girls were told that the first thing they would do at the tryouts is a timed 2 mile (3200 Meters) run.  All the girls were expected to be able to complete the run in less than 15 minutes.  If you have any experience with timed running, you'll know that this basically means that you'll need to sprint 3 or 4 of the 8 laps around the track to make it.

Thing1 didn't come close to the 15 minute goal (17:30) but most of the girls didn't.  In fact only one girl was able to accomplish it (14:34) but Thing1 finished near the back of the pack which is not a good first impression.  I counted 27 girls trying out for 18 slots on the JV squad.  They'll probably promote 2 or 3 girls directly to the varsity squad which means that there will likely be 7 girls cut.  Thing1 is (in my opinion) on the bubble and needs a terrific showing today.

[margie]

Hey Manchester City have won their first two games of the season (never happened before) and are 10 places ahead of United in the league (unheard of in recent times), so miracles can happen. 

I'll give you that City look really good this year and I took much glee in United's pathetic showing on Sunday, but we're only two games into the season  The tables won't tell the tale until much later in the year (she said in defense of Liverpool's appearance at No. 8 ), it's early days yet.

Oh, and while I'm here I guess I should say that Becks has finally found the pitch and the back of the net for our Galaxy....good for him and the rest of the team!

I love football season!

[The Doc]

Sorry but I can't resist this

Manchester City 1-0 Manchester United   

Yes I know it's only after 3 games but as a City fan you take what you can get.  So we top the league a full 15 places ahead of United.

Oh and for Margie - Liverpool should have won 1-0, that Chelsea goal was never a penalty.

[Sebastian Knight]

I heard a bit about Manchester City this morning in connection with the proposed Thai constitution.  They were speculating on whether the team's new owner was likely to get extradited back to Thailand, and how much it would hurt the team.  Weird...

[Scott]

For those keeping track, Thing1 did NOT make the cut.  She has however been accepted on the cross country team and begins practice on Tuesday.

[The Doc]

Sorry to hear that Coach, give her my comiserations

I'm a bit vague on US schooling so how old is she - The timed run stuff seemed a bit brutal for a school team - I don't think I would have passed that at the peak of my career with the Ecumenicall All Star select invitation XI (first team) back in 1980

[tgraham]

Ecumenicall All Star select invitation XI (first team)

How did they fit all that on a strip?

[tgraham]

Hey how about those first place Cubbies?

[sarah]

SSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH!  You'll jinx them!!

~s

[margie]

Sorry but I can't resist this

Manchester City 1-0 Manchester United   

Yes I know it's only after 3 games but as a City fan you take what you can get.  So we top the league a full 15 places ahead of United.

Oh and for Margie - Liverpool should have won 1-0, that Chelsea goal was never a penalty.

Thanks to the wonders of technology, I watched the match live and you are correct....it was NEVER a penalty.  As for Man U....well at the moment, it seems as if there is justice in the world!  Yeehaw!!!

[The Doc]

Ecumenicall All Star select invitation XI (first team)

How did they fit all that on a strip?

Teams in the Cardiff University intra mural leage didn't run to strips, an dwe could never persuade the authorities to put more than EAS on the fixture sheets.

I nearly got to watch the baseball myself last night - theres some sort of all night live baseball show on channel 5.  They hadn't actually started any playing at 1 am though and I couldn't keep awake any longer so I don't know who was on.

[Scott]

Sorry to hear that Coach, give her my comiserations

I'm a bit vague on US schooling so how old is she - The timed run stuff seemed a bit brutal for a school team - I don't think I would have passed that at the peak of my career with the Ecumenicall All Star select invitation XI (first team) back in 1980

Thing1 is 14.  Public school in my part of the US is broken into three stages.

1. Elementary School - Kindergarten through grade six. Kids usually start Kindergarten at age 5.
2. Middle School - Grades 6, 7 & 8.
3. High School - Grades 9 - 12.  Most kids will turn 18 sometime during or the summer after their 12th grade year.

As far as I know, most of the US follows this same basic pattern though there can be some variation.  In some places elementary schools go through grade 6, middle school is replaced with "junior high" that could be just grades 7 & 8 or might be grades 7 - 9.