Back home at the Rogers Centre

Living in the US means that I haven't made it to a game at home for two years until I got to the RC on Sunday. Boy have things changed in that time! It sure was a great experience, and I was really sad to think that it might be just as long until I get back up north again.

But everything from the concourse, to the product on the feild seemed very much improved. Two things I thought could use some work were the supposed "team shop" inside the building, and the lines for food. The cashier said that it hadn't been that busy all year.

Anyway, good to be back in Toronto, I hope there is a good crowd tonight for our first series sweep, and GO JAYS GO on their upcoming road trip - hopefully I'll see them again in Baltimore!

weekend adventures

This weekend I was able to meet two young ladies who were not even alive the last time I was at home! It was great to see Jeff and Em, even sweeter to meet their new baby. Icing on the cake was getting to see Beth and her baby Maggie. Aren't they cute?

Anyway, it was great to be home. I got to also attend a Jays game (they didn't win but it was great to see the additions to the SkyDome... er, the Rogers Centre). And I also was able to be at the monthly ballpool meeting.

Good times.

Dear everyone...

In the last little while I have changed apartments, planned the first Student Orientation session, and basically felt overly busy. Because of this my blog has suffered. It is ironic that when things are happening you lose the time you need to document them. Here is a quick run down.

Address has changed from College Ave, to Central Ave. Basically a block away from Cell House, I feel quite at home already in the new place. Meredith has been down to help organize and add some substance to my few meagre posessions. Life is good, however I often feel like I'm out of the circle of social happenings. Last night I went on the weekly Shenandoah Bike Club ride, good to get out and see people.

The first SOAR session at EMU went well, we had a great turn out and students generally seemed excited about starting college in the fall and meeting new people.

This weekend I'm heading up to Ontario to see some friends (and their new babies), visit with family, go to a ballpool meeting, maybe catch a Jays game, and just enjoy everyone.

That's pretty much it for now.

Talk to you soon.

Ben

Fun with camera phones

The boys at the office, trying to look tough... gotta love admissions.

Just a little moore

Uncle Ben couldn't be prouder... Little Elsie is doing fantastic! (okay, so I'm not really Elsie's uncle -- still really awesome when my friends have their first child!) Home this weekend to see her? Congrats Jeff and Em!

Imagine that...

The American League East is a division in Major League Baseball. It is home to the Devil Rays, Orioles, Blue Jays, Yankees, and Red Sox. Five teams, geographically they are the most eastern teams in the American League, and thus are thrown together.

Unfortunately (or fortuately for Yankee fans) this division rarely changes from the following end of the season ranking:

New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox
Toronto Blue Jays
Baltimore Orioles
Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Since 98, only one year has shown us a difference in these final rankings. Sure, the wild card has come out of this division a few times since then, giving some consolation for Sox fans. But it has become something that is really hard to swallow for the rest of the teams, especially for fans of the perenial bronze medalists - the Toronto Blue Jays.

What sparked this in my mind today was looking at the most recent power rankings on ESPN.com.

2006 Power Rankings: May 12
	RK	LW RANK	TEAM	REC	COMMENT
	1	1	White Sox	23-10	Thanks to a deep starting rotation, Jose Contreras' absence shouldn't cause these Sox to slide.
	2	2	Mets	23-12	Xavier Nady (eight home runs and 18 RBI in 32 games) has been a pleasant surprise for the Mets.
	3	8	Red Sox	21-13	Kevin Youkilis isn't what you think of as a typical leadoff hitter, but his on-base percentage (.418) is excellent.
	4	3	Yankees	19-13	While the loss of Hideki Matsui could somewhat hurt the Yanks' offense, their defense will be improved with him not in left field.
	5	7	Blue Jays	19-15	Ted Lilly has been far better than his record (4-2) indicates as he hasn't allowed more than three runs in any of his last six starts.

The entire list can be found here.

Of the top 5 teams in ALL OF MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL, three of them come out of the AL East, and not surprisingly there are those Blue Jays ranked once again in the third spot behind Boston and NY.

It has become something of a thorn in my side - especially now with the unbalanced schedule, the Blue Jays will play 19 games against each team in their division, all but eliminating the chances that the wild card team will come out of their division.

The Jays were critisized by many this offseason when they went out and spent a lot of money on their team (72 mil) trying to remain competative. Few pointed out that even with their offseason spending they still rank 4th in their division behind New York (194.6 mil), Boston (120 mil), and Baltimore (74 mil) - in fact their payroll is only 36% of the Yank's spending.

Just a rambling I guess... somewhat makes me frustrated.

A few pics from Grad and Jay's/O's game

No posts in a while!

Highlights of the past few weeks without any news posted...

My sister Anah's graduation
Watching my Jays play in Baltimore (unfortunately the results weren't exactly positive)
Spending last weekend in Pennsylvania with Meredith and her family
Riding 35 miles in the Shenandoah Cycling Club ride on Wednesday (hopefully more tonight)
Playing in the first church league softball game of the season and smoking a single to left :)

I'll try and post some pictures of some of these monumental things... more to come

Ballpool update.

About 1/5th of the baseball season has taken place. Here is where I stand in the three baseball pools that I have been involved in this year... (listed in order of difficulty)

Markham Menno's (Ontario) 63.5 points, 7th overall out of 12
LUMBER (USA) 84.5 8th overall out of 16
Cell House (H'burg) 61.5 1st overall out of 8