Hair of the Dog, Monday, 8/25/08

I spent the weekend in Minneapolis attending wedding #6 for the summer, and so I was sort of off the baseball/Internet radar. Good times were had though, and the long drive home was timed to coincide with the Brewer game. With the girlfriend passed out for 92% of the drive, it was just me, Jim and Bob, and a can of sugar-free Redbull.

JJ Hardy came through with a single in the bottom of the 12th to score Rickie Weeks and sweep the Bucs. It wasn't the prettiest game the Crew has ever played. Generally speaking, when you throw a Cy Young winner against the Pirates in late August and it takes you 12 innings to win, it isn't a pretty game. Loading the bases and failing to deliver, twice, makes it even worse. But a "W" is a "W." Sabathia remains unbeaten but didn't score the other kind of "W" and remains 8-0. Here's another take on yesterday's game.

The Brewers promoted Mat Gamel to AAA Nashville. They're saying it's a tryout. If he looks good at AAA he may get called up to the MLB squad in September. He's a monster for sure, but he's had a rough second half. Maybe the change of scenery will help him out.

The Olympic torch was extinguished last night as David Beckham kicked soccer balls and a bunch of acrobats climbed a tower. The whole opening and closing ceremony thing seems very weird to me. I guess David Beckham was there to symbolize the torch being passed to Great Britain, since they don't have any Olympic athletes.

Speaking of the Olympics, I have to throw just one more link out there before we forget about sports like swimming and weightlifting for 4 years. Here's a post by a guy who has taught me a lot about weightlifting. I've always been impressed by the physical power in display in Olympic weightlifting, but it's amazing how much more interesting a sport can become when you really understand it. I like this bit:

2) The lifter gets one minute to start the lift from the time their name is announced. If a lifter has to follow himself, due to an increase of weight that nobody else is taking or another attempt at a failed weight, they are allowed 2 minutes to start the lift. Following yourself sucks when dealing with maximal loading (more rest is better), so often times lifters will try to 'force' one another into following themselves by changing their requested weight. I.E. Adrian just missed 100kg. Kelly is slated to attempt 100kg and therefore lift immediately after Adrian, but instead changes his request to 101kg. Because the bar only goes up in weight, Adrian must either follow himself at 100kg, or request a new weight that is heavier than the weight he just failed at.

Cool.

That's all I got for today. No Brewers' game today. The Cardinals are off too. The Cubs play the Pirates at 6:05. Today's Hair of the Dog is brought to you by Great Dane Devil's Lake Red.