That Feeling In My Stomach

I'm eternally an optimist. It may not seem that way because of how much I bitch and moan. But seriously, I try to look at the bright side of everything, give real people the benefit of the doubt (not celebrities or athletes, because fuck them) and live life to the fullest.

Same goes for my views on my sports teams. For instance, I'm buying into the Packer hype, and I'm feeling pretty good about their chances. The electricity in GB is slowly building towards Sunday, and we are all hoping for that explosion on Sunday night.

But I'm starting to get a bad feeling down in the pit of my stomach as it relates to the Packers and here is why. Every year, there is a team that starts out as a deep sleeper for the Super Bowl that is coming off of a subpar season, starts getting a little hype, has a huge preseason, and is suddenly the sexy "sleeper" pick for the Super Bowl. And then that team shits the bed. Unfortunately, I am getting the feeling that this year's sexy pick is the Green Bay Packers. And I say this because last night on my favorite network, there was an "Experts Roundtable" season preview show. At the end, the four "experts" had to make a Super Bowl prediction. And TWO of the four (Mort and Schefter) picked the Packers to win the NFC. Normally, I would be elated. But for a team that did not make the playoffs last year to become a trendy pick doesn't really make a lot of sense to me (even though I picked them to win the division), and has almost always turned into bad luck. I dunno, maybe it is just superstition, but that makes three "experts" (Mike Lombardi) that have picked the Packers.

IN UNRELATED NEWS: My wife used the word "titties" last night. And I scolded her for it. That is a word that only guys are able to use. Also on this list: "vag", "snatch", "gash", "titty balls", "titays", "melons", any other slang word used to describe the female anatomy, any slang term used to describe the male anatomy except "cock" and "dick".

Who is Seth McClung?

Rather than rehash the entire game from last night's beautiful Brewer win, I thought I would take the opportunity to meet the 6'6" 270 lb. mountain of a man that is Seth McClung.

But first few observations from last night:

-I'm sure someone intelligent will explain this to me, but why did McClung pitch 1 1/3 innings four days before he was going to start?

-Eric Gagne was Eric Gagne last night.

-Weeks Watch: 2-4, K, HBP!, 2R Season: .200 BA, .665 OPS, 734HBP

-Billy "Rob Deer" Hall Update: 2-3, 0HR, 1K Season: .207BA, 9 HR (second), 47K (1st by 9)

-Good win, Yost is safe for another day. But, As The Wolf would say: "Let's not start sucking each other's dicks quite yet."

OK, back to the matter at hand. I think putting in McClung isn't a bad move. Carlos has struggled, and McClung gives the Crew a true power pitcher (has thrown in triple digits). He really has generally been very good so far (1-1, 3.54 ERA, 20K in 20 1/3IP, 1.37 WHIP). I guess they really had nothing to lose. So who is he? A few facts about our new starter:

1) It is fitting that he be called a "mountain man" because he is from West Virginia.

2) He is a ginger kid.

3) Career Stats: 18-26, 5.97 ERA, 1.61WHIP, 207K in 283IP, started 37 times for TB

4) He's 27 years old.

5) He eats small children and shits diamonds.

What I was most intrigued by was his ginger status. I wanted to find out the likelihood of him being any good based solely on his red hair. Very quick research located the following MLB "stars" with red hair: Wade Boggs, Mark McGuire (sort of), Rick Sutcliffe. That's the list that I could find in five minutes. If he is as good as Sutcliffe, I'll take it. Clearly he is destined for the hall of fame.

Mike Cameron is a Bad, Bad Man

3-4, double, 2 runs.

Look, I realize this is only one game, but if we can get even SOME of the same production, it is going to be an upgrade over whatever Gabe we have in CF. What struck me about him was how ANGRY he seemed. It was like someone that looked like a baseball spiked his energy drink with banned stimulants and now he was going to take it out on that ball. My wife actually had to turn away from the TV at one point because she was afraid of him.

Finally some clutch hitting and good bullpen play. Which offset the two things the Crew had been able to do all year and didn't last night: starting pitching (Sheets was not good) and Defense (Hall was wretched).

Scoreboard bitches.