So it's the Fourth of July here in the US, and I'm just glad I have a day off from work. Ten of the last eleven days saw me doing quite a lot for JC Penney. At least I'll be getting quite the paycheck today!! Another reason why I love today .

Haha, speaking of jobs, my job has been anything but boring. My position is basically the guy who does everything. Yeah, everything. I'm like the ultra utility guy, or a grunt, depending on how you look at it. But it's fun, considering almost everyone is insane, and the fact that there's almost no organization to speak of, haha. That's always fun. I'll have a different blog later on, whenever I get pissed enough to write it, that'll discuss my first couple of weeks. Trust me, I'm more fun when pissed while writing blogs .

But anyway,aside from the rain today, I managed to see WALL-E, for a measely $3.50. Boy I love living here in Ohio, haha . It was fantastic and really shows that you don't need witty dialogue to create plenty of laughs, which is what a lot of movies, especially more than a couple from Disney as of late, fail at. Speaking of Disney, it seems that they really have no clue as to how to make an animated movie anymore. Especially if you look just about 15 years ago to The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, which were both classics of the genre. Nowadays it just seems like they're more concerned with creating their animated movies for just one age group, and one only. Those do not equate to great, or even good, movies, as they aren't true family movies. The definition of a family movie is one that everyone, no matter the age, will love. More than a couple of Disney movies of late fail at achieving this. The same can be said for more than a couple of Dreamworks movies that don't have Shrek in the title. Madagascar ring a bell? It was a good movie, but there wasn't enough for older viewers like myself. The same can be said of Over the Hedge. Why am I mentioning these? Well yahoo presented a list of what the users thought were the greatest animated movies of all time, and somehow Over the Hedge was on that list. It ranked 23rd on the list, beating out such classics as Peter Pan, Mulan, and Lady and the Tramp. Yeah, people nowadays. Anyway, getting back on topic, WALL-E is a fantastic film that really shows what Pixar can do both visually and in how they can tell a compelling story without, really any, dialogue to speak of. Almost like Bambi, which too didn't rely on too much dialogue. Anyway, go check it out. It's a must-see for the summer.

Oh, and here's the list to that list from yahoo for those who are curious.

It's here! The long-awaited baseball blog all about baseball and the likes. Hopefully some of you will stop asking for more baseball for awhile .

June has ended marking the half-point for the season. The Rays are inexplicably in first place in the AL East, and the entire NL West is in shambles. Can anyone play in that division? Other big news includes the firing of three managers from the Mets, Mariners, and Blue Jays. None of the teams seem to be doing well since then, but then again, it's too early to tell. Also, a couple of more managers may join them in the coming months from San Diego and Washington (possiblilites since both teams are in terrible shape).

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Now let's take a look at the teams with the biggest news so far this season:

The Colorado Rockies lead off by being the biggest disappointment, considering that they have the second worst record in baseball beating out only the massively underachieving Seattle Mariners. The Rockies probably won't set the record for the worst record after making it to the World Series, thanks in large part to the 1998 Florida Marlins. While they have a lot of injuries, star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, heavy hitting outfielders Brad Hawpe and Matt Holiday, and middle infield backup Clint Barmes have all missed time. But even with those injuries, they're offense has still been more than adequate. The biggest problem is the complete lack of pitching. Aaron Cook aside, the rest of the starting rotation has been anything by good. Jeff Francis won 17 games last year. He's not even going to have a winning record this year at this rate. Look more for 14 losses. The only good thing from the pitching side is their bullpen, which hasn't imploded yet.

The Detroit Tigers would be in discussion with disappointments, but recently, they're turning their season around. After starting a pitiful 0-7 at the start of the season, the Tigers had a great month of June and moved two games above 0.500 the first time all season. You can thank the turn arounds for Kenny Rogers, Justin Verlander, and Nate Robertson, along with the rest of the pitching staff for the recent success. The only thing that could hinder the Tigers could be the return of Dontrelle Willis. He has been God-awful this season and needs to spend some time fixing his windup, which has shown to be the cause of his problems.

The Tampa Rays never seem to be out of the news these days. Instead of being called the worst team of the league season after season, the Rays are on top of the toughest division in baseball, ahead of the Red Sox and Yankees. How are they doing this exactly? Last season saw the rise of some great offensive stars in BJ Upton and Carlos Pena, along with the emergence of Scott Kazmir and James Shields as high caliber pitchers. Also add in some great additions with Dan Wheeler in the bullpen, and you can start to see how they began to turn around this franchise. But this year, with the additions of Matt Garza and Evan Longoria (whom I've misread as the hotness that is Eva Longoria more than a couple of times ) along with a fighting attitude, and you've got the 2008 Rays. Or, if you're me and into superstition, the change from the Devil Rays to the Rays also could have been a factor. Considering that when the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim became the Ducks, they won the Stanley Cup. Food for thought .

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Of course, what blog about baseball couldn't include the Chicago and New York teams? The Cubs are on top of the world, and in large part to how great the team has geled. Everyone seems to produce for that team no matter who's in the lineup. Plus, who can't deny the big pickup of Jim Edmonds? Yet another reason why the San Diego Padres are terrible this year. The only real question for the Cubs has to be, can their starting pitching hold on without Zambrano? Will this be the years the Cubees finally win it all? Honestly, coming from a Cubs fan, probably not.

The White Sox are also seemingly on top. Carlos Quentin is leading the way for a rebirth of the team's heavy hitting style of gameplay that brought them the World Series Championship back in '05. They're finally hitting, or rather, hitting better than last year, and I'm sure all White Sox fans are happy about the return of Joe Crede. The pitching staff is doing a whole lot better this year thanks in large part to Jose Contreras, Gavin Floyd (who flirted twice with no-hitters), and John Danks improved play from a year ago.

While the Chicago teams are both successful, the New York teams, conversely, are in trouble. The Mets are a debacle, as no one seems to be performing up to expectations, and the firing of Willie Randolph shows that the Knicks are the only team in town to have idiots at the helm. This team needs new faces in the front office for the near future. Are they going to make it to the playoffs this season? I think so. There's just too much talent for them to be below 0.500. Look for them to catch fire after the All-Star break.

And of course, the Yankees are a topic for discussion. Thanks to the Rays, the Yankees are in third place!? What sort of world is this? Not since before the work stoppage of '94 have the Yankees missed the playoffs. This year won't be any different. Why? The Yankees will find a way to make it in, they always do. But a reason for concern has to be the starting pitching. Petitte isn't quite healthy yet, and the young arms of Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy haven't quite panned out according to plan this year. The Yankees should be looking for a solid starter by the trade deadline to help them.

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And because I want to, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (I ****ing love the full name for that team!) became the first team in some time to no hit a team, and lose. Haha, Jered Weaver and the bullpen combined to no-hit the Dodgers, only to lose 1-0. The Angels possibly have the worst run support in the majors. Or rather, they seem to follow a sine wave in terms of how many runs they'll score per month. It's so frustrating being a fan of them because of this.

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Other teams of note to talk about have to be the St. Louis Cardinals and the Minnesota Twins. The Cardinals are winning pretty much with guys no one's heard about before this year. Everyone is producing and you have to think that Tony LaRussa is a big reason why. He can get people to play no matter what. The Twins seem to stymie everyone every year it seems. No Hunter and Santana, and they're threatening for first place in the AL Central, and could possibly make the playoffs this year. They don't have too much power or power pitching, but they are a very solid team with fantastic management. Everyone produces for that team, and both the Cardinals and Twins have to be the models of how to win without spending a ****load of money *cough* both New York teams *cough.*

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With that said, can anyone deny the freak that is Josh Hamilton? He's on pace for 38 HRs and 160 RBI this season! He's also in contention for the AL Triple Crown. The Rangers are blessed to have him, but you have to say that the Hamilton-Edinson Volquez trade has to be one of the fairest trades in recent memory. Volquez can possibly win the NL Cy Young this year if he keeps pitching. So far his ERA is at a major league best 2.08 among starters with 10+ starts.

Other players having freakish years so far include the possible 0.400 hitting Chipper Jones (who could be the first to do that since the 60s and Ted William), Roy Halladay and his six complete games (he threw four in a row!), Francisco Rodriguez (K-Rod for short) and his 32 saves (the fastest to reach 30 saves ever!), and the Marlin trio of Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla, and Mike Jacobs for being on pace for being the first time (in a long time?) for three players on the same team to hit 40+ HRs. Tip your hats to these men. They're ****ing insane!

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I'm pretty sure I missed something or someone, somewhere, but there's my end of the month update. If you're pissed that I didn't mention your favorite team, I can make an extra blog to include them. No worries.

Well it's certainly been a great week for sports. Heh, starting off with tennis at Wimbledon, I just have to say that I'm massively disappointed in the Americans. After the first round, out of the 20 Americans that entered (both male and female singles) only eight made it to the second! Among those that lost out included old vets Vincent Spadea and Mardy Fish, along with young guns John Isner, Donald Young, and Sam Querry. Yesterday saw Roddick and Blake both going down, and Davenport withdrew. Add to them, for today at least, the last American man in the pool, Bobby Reynolds bowed out after a four set afair with Feliciano Lopez. There are three Americans remaining in the main draw. The Williams sisters and a surprise in Bethanie Mattek who is into the 4th round. The Williams sisters love the grass of Wimbledon and it's a no brainer that they're both still around. But I did not see the demolition of Mauresmo in the second set. After a great first set that went to a tie break, the second set was just shocking to see Mauresmo lose the first five games, and ultimately lose the last set 6-1. I'm just shocked that the American men did so badly. Roddick hasn't been himself since 2003, and Blake, is, well, Blake. He needs to stop fighting himself like so many other players.

Talking about fighting themselves, Marat Safin made it into the fourth round after a four set win. He's probably the most dangerous player in the draw. Why? He's ****ing unpredictable. He may be unseeded, but whenever he gets focused, he's the best player out there. Yes, better than Federer. But when, or if, he decides to focus on playing tennis, will he be that good. He's been known to explode on court emotionally. Safin will face Swiss man Wawrinka in the 4th round. As for other surprise unseeded players, Mario Ancic is back after defeating 5th seeded David Ferrer. Ancic suffered from injuries the past couple of years, so it's good to see him back in action and healthy. He's one of the few serve and volleyers out there, and he's great on grass. He'll be taking on Fernando Verdasco of Spain. Also, in a match to occur tomorrow, Janko Tipsarevic, who took down Roddick, will be taking on Dmitri Tursunov of Russia. Tipsarevic made a name for himself last year by making it far in Wimbledon, but also for winning consecutive five setters. He's a tough player and he can make it to the quarters if Tursunov isn't careful.

From the women's side, top seeded Ana Ivanovic went down in straight sets to Jie Zheng of China. Ivanovic was never in the game, and losing 6-1, 6-4 isn't something you see from the top seeded player. Also joining Ivanovic in a disappointing 3rd round performance was last year's finalist Marion Bartoli. She was ousted in straight sets of almost similar scores to Ivanovic by American Bethanie Mattek. Bartoli has not had a great year after making it to the WTA Championships in Spain last year. I don't believe she'll be making it back if she keeps playing like this.

Also, as an FYI, over half of the top ten seeds in the Men's draw are gone.

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While this is the Wimbledon Edition, a lot happened in the world of sports that just can't be ignored.

The first of these has got to be the biggest win in NCAA history. The Fresno St. Bulldogs won the College World Series against the Georgia Bulldogs for their first ever NCAA champioship, and also became the lowest seed to ever win an NCAA championship. Fresno St. was seeded 4th in their regionals which is equivalent to a 13-16 seed in the basketball tournament. Fresno St. had to win their conference tournament to even reach the regionals. From there, the rest is histroy as the took down top seeded team after top seeded team.

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Going to the Euro Cup now, the finals are now set. Germany will face off against Spain. The Germans took out the surprise of the tournament, Turkey, with a last second goal. Spain, meanwhile, just completely demolished the Russians 3-0. That wasn't even close. This should be a great matchup, come Sunday. I'm putting my money on the Spaniards. They've played the most consistent ball out of all the teams so far. The Germans, while they did take down Portugal (albeit with a helpful push in the back ), they were quite disappointing in pool play. They're going to need to wake up if they're going to match the speed of the Spanish attack.

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The NBA draft came and went Thursday night, and was, well, quite boring really. Aside from the fact that the announcers really didn't know all the players to hype me up about, the draft was pretty much over after the second Lopez twin got drafted. Yep, Derrick Rose went first to Chicago and Michael Beasley went second to Miami. Rose gets to join an already crowded Chicago backcourt, and I'm just wondering, and hoping, that the Bulls trade someone. They might be able to get a great big man! But knowing the Bulls, they probably won't, and someone's bound to ***** in that crowded locker room. Who should they trade? Kirk Hinrich and Larry Hughes can fetch someone good back. Especially if they find the right team. I would say Cleveland, but they're in a lot of trouble already. Memphis has no one to trade, and New York is suicide to trade with at the moment. Sacramento would be a good choice, although trying to drag Brad Miller away might prove costly, and Luol Deng might have to be entered into the discussion.

Anyway, aside from my ramblings of the Bulls, the Lopez brothers each got drafted in the first round. Brook, the one with talent, went to New Jersey, while Robin, the one with hair that needs a lawn mower to cut, went to Phoenix before being traded to the Clippers I believe. We now have another set of twins in the league joining the Collins and someone else I can't think of at the moment. Oh, and Brandon Rush got drafted to Portland, and almost had the chance to play with his bro Kareem Rush, before being traded away. Shucks.

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For those wondering where my baseball portion is, just wait. Its' coming. Just later on .

Haha, these past few days, I've come across a couple of rather fun games. The first of them featuring the guys from Penny Arcade.

What? The Penny Arcade guys have a video game? Yep, and you won't believe it's title. Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode One. Yes, that entire thing is the full title. Talk about wanting to win longest title of the year award .

Haha, anyway, the game itself is an adventure rpg that costars the guys from Penny Arcade alongside a created player. Your created player, who in my case was female, just because I felt there needed to be a female lead to coinside with the two guys from Penny Arcade. It is, however, not my fault that my character has rather large melons. Blame that on the game design . But anyway, you're plucky hero (or heroine) start off just a regular day in the town of New Arcadia crica 1922, when suddenly, while the game narrator tells you to rake the leaves, a giant robot smashes your house. How bizarre! But even more bizzare are the two guys from Penny Arcade seen chasing after it. Soon, upon joining forces and wits, you're off on your way to chase down this monstrous robot and whomever built it while coming up against the evil forces of deadly hobos, magical mimes, and rather suggestive smaller robots who seem to have a thing for fruit (and yes I hope you do know what I mean ). Haha.

The game itself works as a turn-based rpg with a couple of action based attacks infused in the battles, a la Super Mario RPG. I'm not all the way through with the episode, but so far there's plenty of laughs and action to make Penny Arcade Adventures a pleasure to play. I do have to say that all the humor is adult humor so kids, don't play the game, but then again that probably won't stop you. Haha.

The game is available for the PC, Mac (Yes!), and Xbox 360 via the Xbox Live Arcade. The only noticeable con about the game would be it's price of $20. But I believe it's well worth the money. I don't know when the 2nd episode will be released so don't ask.

Oh, and here's the official website.

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I've also been playing another rather addictive game that's of course available for Mac.

This one's called Airport Mania, and it's a slight departure from the Penny Arcade Adventures blah blah long title game. Hah, in this game you get to manage an airport by getting rather (dare I say cute?) planes in and out. It may sound simple, but add in that at times you've got to manage multiple planes, getting them to land, getting them to their gates, refueling or repairing when needed, and then getting them back into the air, well, you've got the making of quite a chaotic time. And that's what the later stages of the game do, causing you to click a lot. Of course, you would ask, what's the point to this? Why gathering points of course. There's a meter near the top of the screen that fills up with each landing, gate arrival and takeoff. Getting it to fill up leads to extra bonus' that can be used in future levels. The game might not seem much, but it's unbelievably addictive when you get into it.

Here's the official website. I just hope no one gags due to how cute everything looks, haha. It's just so much fun! Plus, you get a free hour of gameplay. Not too bad.

Yes, another sports report, but it's an important sports report.

Yep, the Celtics won the NBA championship on Tuesday night in dominating fashion, 131-92. Aside from the first quarter, where Kobe Bryant was on fire hitting everything in sight, the game wasn't even close. Starting in the second quarter, the Celtics just shut down the Lakers and worked their offense to perfection. Everyone was playing at their best, Ray Allen tied an NBA finals record with seven hit threes. The only good thing that the Lakers can take from this game is that they didn't lose it by a record amount. The Chicago Bulls back in 1998 hold that record by defeating the Utah Jazz by 42. The Lakers were close, yet 39 is still a number you don't want to lose by. The Celtics deserve this win. Garnett, Pierce, and Allen all deserve winning their first after being perennial All-Stars. Congrats to them, and by the way their team is set up, they could be coming back for seasons to come.

As for the Lakers, I think, that despite not really showing up to the finals full force, they made great strides as a team. The same can be said of Kobe Bryant who stopped bickering and actually worked trying to make this team work. I think it's because of this that he won the MVP award, even though Chris Paul also has major considerations for the same prestige. But what the Lakers need is an inside presence. Yes they have Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, but neither of them really stepped up on the defensive end. They may be both great offensive players, but until the Lakers can find that defender on the inside, they're going to find trouble for years to come. As for their bench, they're still young and growth is always in store, but they also failed to really show up for the finals. Their energy paled in comparison to the Celtic bench for the entire series. That has to change. But the biggest improvement this team needs to make is on the defensive end. But luckily, they're a young enough team to keep challenging for that coveted championship. Until then, they're going to have to accept defeat to the Celtics yet again as a franchise.

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The Euro Cup ended suddenly and sadly for Sweden. They entered Wednesday's match in perfect position to move past Russia. All they needed to do was win or tie. That was far from what the outcome was as Russia dominated the game from the get go and won 2-0. I just have to say that the Swedes were lucky that is was only a 2-0 loss. Russia was all over them and played like they wanted it more. It came very close to being a 3-0, 4-0, or even a 5-0 victory for them. I'm pretty sure that Hungry_bunny needs some hugs. Please go over and give him some.

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Fresh off his unbelievable win at the US Open, Tiger Woods will be required to undergo a season-ending knee surgery. He will miss his first major in his career when the British Open starts up later on this summer. It will be a completely different game of golf not seeing Tiger in a major. Will we see someone else step up and become dominant? Or will we see a mess of people try but not really step up (how badly was this question made?)? The only thing that will be positive is that with Tiger gone, the rating for golf will fall. It's been proven that Tiger brings viewers. No Tiger, no viewers . The only good thing is that when Tiger comes back, everyone will be watching!

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Just because a couple people made it their mission to wonder why no baseball made it into my previous sports report (), I'll comment on the firing of Willie Randolph.

*Prepares a big long speech, coughs a couple of times, prepares a couple of pieces of paper*

He was fired dishonorably in the dead of night. The Mets owners should be ashamed of themselves. End of story.

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Edit: Just because I just saw this, the Stanley Cup has been dented during celebration by the Red Wings. It all happened at a bar with plenty of booze. But luckily, the Cup was taken to an emergency operation and was saved! Here's the hilarious blog about it.

It's been some time since I've done one of these, and I think it's about time for one.

Beginning with the Euro Cup, we're almost done with pool play, and so far we've also got a couple of Elminiation round matches all set up. Croatia will take on Turkey while Germany will face off against Portugal. Germany and Turkey each made it in with wins these past two days. Turkey probably had the match of the year with their come from behind victory against the Czech Republic. I mean, good God did anyone see that game? Down 2-0 with fifteen minutes left, and Turkey wakes up scoring three goals in just about ten minutes. Talk about heartbreaking for the Czechs. They had complete control up until the 75th minute. The only blemish for Turkey came when their goalie received a red card for shoving a Czech player. Not smart, as he'll have to sit out the next game. The Germans took out Austria in another winner moves on match with a 1-0 game. Very well played game. Austria just couldn't get enough good looks.

Tomorrow features the Netherlands, who already clinched a spot in the next round, against surprise second place Romania (at the moment) while Italy and France will play for survival. The winner has a chance to move on, if Romania loses that is. Wednesday will find Sweden and Russia in a match of survival. Russia has to win, while Sweden just has to tie. Spain already moved on, and Greece (defending champs) are eliminated.

My pick for the Euro Cup title? How about them Dutch? They manhandled both France and Italy and are probably the best team right now. Plus who can't like the sea of orange?

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Tiger Woods won the US Open in what has to be a classic. He entered the final round three under, only to have to birdie the final hole to move on to a playoff. The playoff was played today, and just like the final round, Tiger had to birdie the final hole to push the playoff into sudden death. 91 holes for victory. Just amazing. Tiger's win is considered his best ever. Also, for a nice fun fact, Tiger has now joined Jack Nicklaus as the only two players to have won all four majors at least three times. Tiger is just amazing.

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Last night the Los Angeles Lakers won game five, but I really think they survived more than won. Again the Lakers showed that they can't hold a lead, no matter how huge (they had a 19 point lead and a 14 point lead at separate points in the game) they are. They head to Boston tomorrow night to survive yet again. But Boston should be able to end the series with an emphatic win. Boston has shown to be the better team in more ways than one. If the Lakers are going to have any chance of winning this series, they need Gasol and Odom to step up, but not only them, but where's their bench? The highly touted Lakers bench has been non-existant. Watching game five, the Boston bench was up on their feet for almost the entire game, while the Lakers almost never got off their seats. That's a big difference. Boston just looked ready to play and contribute. With that said, this series should be over Tuesday with Boston winning their 17th title.

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Rafael Nadal became the first Spaniard to win a grass title in 38 years by defeating Novak Djokovic at the Queen's Club Tournament. Can he finally win a major other than the French?

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And finally, because I completely passed them up, congrats to the Detroit Red Wings for winning the Stanley Cup.