Worst World Series ever?

As I mentioned last week, even die-hard baseball fans were having a hard time getting up for the Phillies vs. the Rays. Any time a World Series is on, there are normally some potential Hall Of Fame players involved, maybe guys with long and distinguished careers to add flavor to the pot, that sort of thing. This year, most of these guys are so young there are no human-interest stories or rivalries. And we're talking Philly and Tampa, not the hotbeds of emotion in sports. Last night, Major League Baseball made a huge error in judgement. They saw the weather reports and radar, indicating terrible, wet, cold, basically miserable playing conditions, but they pushed the game forward due to pressure from Fox TV to get the game in. The game deteriorated rapidly, into playing conditions that wouldn't have been allowed in a regular-season game, let alone the greatest showcase and potential final game of the season. I've watched baseball over 50 years, and that was the worst conditions I've ever seen. Baseball should consider itself EXTREMELY lucky that no player slipped on the muddy surface and tore an Achilles tendon or fractured a leg. Once conditions got bad in the early innings, before they decided to "trooper on" with the game, they should have come out with the tarps, covered the field, and after a pause to review the weather the game should have been postponed until the weather could clear, and the 2 teams could battle for the title. Instead, they let a sloppy, un-entertaining and un-healthy situation persist, until the Rays found just enough magic to tie the game 2-2 in the top of the 6th inning. Now the plan is to pick up the game right there, bottom of the 6th inning, with the Phillies coming up to bat. Once again, WRONG DECISION for the fans, for Baseball, and especially for the Rays. Frankly I don't care who wins, but to allow that game to go on until it was so horrendous the announcers were calling for it to end, now you're going to give Philly 4 at-bats compared to 3 at-bats for Tampa Bay. In the spirit of sportsmanship, after blowing the call to play into the 5th and 6th innings yesterday, the Commissioner should have ruled it no contest, and called for a new game. Why not? The game is tied 2-2, and it was doubtful at best that Philly would have scored in the bottom of that inning. Terrible call. Terrible Series. Thank Heaven for Netflix, so I'll at least have something real to watch this week. Major League Baseball messed this one up so badly, I'm not even watching the conclusion of the previous debacle. Maybe next year we'll have more interesting teams in play.

Just this week it was announced that a California-based company is planning to bring a new form of tourism to the San Francisco Bay area. Zeppelins. Yes indeed, those big 'ol blimpie-looking things (though not blimps), brought to you by Airship Ventures, Inc. Never-you-mind that most people think of 4 things when they hear the word Zeppelin:

1) World War I, giant balloons dropping bombs over trenches

2) The Hindenburg (very public disaster, very ugly)

3) Goodyear and other flying ads over sporting events

4) Jimmy Page,Robert Plant,John Bonham & John Paul Jones rocking with thunder, lightning and a screaming Les Paul through a stack of Marshall Amps the size of a semi.

But Airship Ventures thinks Joe Six-Pack (no, not her) is going to bring Mom, Dad and the young-'uns to view the skies over San Fran from a Zeppelin. The cabin holds 12 people, so hey - pack up Grandmama and a few cousins too...let's have a reunion at 5,000 feet! I remember a few years ago in Ft. Lauderdale going up for a ride in the Goodyear Blimp, and it was a little freaky but probably worth the $25 per person they were charging. I think I felt better when I was back on the ground, but that's another story. Anyway, Airship Ventures feels that $25 might be a little on the 70's side of profitability, so for a 1-hour deluxe view from a gondola hanging beneath a flying canvas elephant, they have decided a fair price is $495 per person. Did you think that was a typo, putting a 4 in front of the expected $95 price tag? Not a misprint! They're betting people will lay out nearly $500 a pop to ride the floating hippo. With 401K's and stocks being where they are, The Cap'n thinks this idea might go over like a Led (i.e. lead) - well, you know.

If you truly want to see the San Francisco area and visit the vineyards of Napa Valley, Mann Travels can help arrange that for you. Anything from organized tours to flight, hotel and car where you become a do-it-yourselfer, the Bay Area is always a highlight for tourism. Feel free to contact me for rates and options any time. Just don't ask me for Zeppelin tickets, or you're more liable to get ones for a reunion concert than a balloon ride.

Congratulations to the Irish! No, not Notre Dame. Yesterday after work I did "early voting" for the upcoming Presidential election. My co-worker will be on a cruise next week, so I'll be tied up to the pier helping clients, and I couldn't risk long lines on Election Day where nobody would be here to mind the Bridge. Of course, I can't tell you who I voted for - that wouldn't be ethical, although you can probably judge from my blog who I think is the right person for the job. Now I'm pretty good with the engines on my ship, but other than that I'm possibly the least-mechanical male God ever produced. Ok, there was Liberace and maybe a few others who were worse, but I'm certainly in the Top 10! Anyway, North Carolina doesn't have paper ballots or anything you can write down or punch through or click. We have pushy-buttons. How about that? Pushy-buttons. They kept saying "Once you do your pushy-buttons, you have to go back and review and confirm. If you don't review and confirm, even though you used the pushy-buttons, your vote won't count squat." That may not have been the exact language, but you get the picture. I wanted to make sure my vote counted, particularly for my #1 candidate, so just to make sure things went well I voted for everybody who started with the letter "O". There was Commissioner O'Hara, District Court Judge O'Houlihan, a couple of O'Rourkes and an O'Malley thrown in there as well. So congrats to all the O'Politicians - I hope your eyes are smilin' next Tuesday night. But no way are you going to get me to tell you who I voted for at the top. That's between me and the Fightin' Irish.