What Fills the Baseball Void?

I’ve got episodes of ‘Mad Men,’ ‘Modern Family’ (which several friends have told me I need to see), and ‘The Office’ to watch. I’ve got a review copy of Satchel Paige’s biography – Satchel – that I was sent a couple of months ago, but haven’t read yet. ‘Let the Right One In’ and ‘Zack and Miri Make a Porno’ have been gathering dust on top of my DVD player for months.

And with my mother about to retire, I’ll soon be helping her go through all the old stuff in the house, deciding what gets tossed out and what gets kept, as she gets ready to move onto whatever the next stage of her life is.

so that’s gonna be fun for a few days. but, other than that.. sigh. I’m watching the playoffs but am not really invested in them. I don’t have any picks, just slight favorites (both LA teams). I’m dreading San Antonio’s Spurs obsession that will take over the city soon. Once baseball is completely over, I’m gonna make an effort to get back to music blogging, which I’ve almost ignored since may, luckily my friend is the person running the site so he’s not mad at me. Suppose I will also blow through my netflix queue as well, especially the two movies I’ve had at home for 2 weeks now.

…just to name a few.

I’m throwing myself onto the Rockies bandwagon for my baseball fix though.

I just can’t come down off the baseball fever I’d gotten from the Tigers through the past few months just to have it cut off.

But something has to fill the time. Probably read a couple of books I have been meaning to get to. Play more guitar. From a spors perspective, I will casually keep track of the playoffs, but nowhere near the level of my Tiger fervor. Spartan hoops will occupy most of my sports viewing, but that is only twice a week or so for a few months. Nothing replaces the Tigers.

I have no interest in the playoffs now, other than hoping that the Yankees and Red Sox lose. It’s up to the Wings and the Stones to keep me occupied now.

My interest in the playoffs is severely limited. I am rooting for the Twins in the AL and completely indifferent to NL results. I don’t pay attention to any other sports, so I will mostly be waiting for the baseball offseason to get going—hot stove, winter meetings, etc.

My wife and I are painting our house, which has turned out to be a much bigger job than I expected.

I’ve got a pile of reading that I’ve started but not finished—“Omnivores Dilemma”, “Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol”, “The Snow Leopard” by Peter Matthiessen, Kafka’s “The Trial”, Nietzsche’s “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”.

I’ll probably do some camping over the next month or so. One of the (few) benefits of living in the South is that I can camp and backpack throughout the year.

Otherwise, maybe it’s time to get a life? (I kid, I kid!) Early on this season, I did use baseball as an excuse to hide away from the world, had some personal stuff going on where it was easier, more pleasant to interact with strangers via typing. But then you stopped being strangers….

anyway…as with Alli, I’m going to start trying to write music reviews again. Maybe now I’ll stop making excuses as to why I’m not going to the gym?

First off, a run down to Iowa to see a band called Fair to Midland play tomorrow night…an excursion that might not have occurred had the Tigers still been in the playoffs…

It’s been a weird couple of days for me, since I was not yet ready to have baseball season end. I can’t even really get into the playoffs at this point. However, I’m very excited for Caps hockey this season. I will also suffer through another Redskins season (Snyder Sucks!), and will try to fit in homework and studying for law school when I’m not at work or reading BYB.

Looking forward to a trip to Boston in November and Australia next spring, which should be awesome.

I’m in the process of building a flamethrower as most of you know. I will follow the Pistons religiously. I will continue to write music. And I’m going to attempt a social life somehow. Hopefully I’ll be back in school when the winter semester starts.

Plus I’m gonna actually try to get a girlfriend. That should help pass the time. =)

Once that’s over with, I’m not sure. I don’t really follow football (I do have a favorite college football team, but I imagine it’s not too popular around these parts), basketball, or hockey (though I will say I’m a Red Wings fan). I do love the Olympics, and I will be avidly watching the 2010 Vancouver games, but that’s still months away.

The responsible thing to say is work and school, and that’s true, but those are also not as interesting. I am a Tigers blogger, so the Tigers are not gonna go away entirely. I’ll hopefully get part one of my season review up this weekend, and I’ve got some articles and features planned that I can sprinkle in throughout the offseason. I’d also like to stop neglecting my personal blog, as well as re-acquaint myself with some creative writing (useful for when the pharmacy threatens to devour your soul). And I still want to work on getting in shape because I want to play softball next year (I haven’t exactly figured out WHERE I’ll be playing softball, though).

Try and take over the world.

Seriously, now that the Tigers are done, all my sports focus will be on the Pistons, Red Wings, and sadly, the Lions. I’m in law school, so I’m sure the fact that the Tigers didn’t extend until November might be a blessing in disguise for my studies, but I would never admit that my studies were affected anyway. Of course, I also blog the Pistons on SB Nation, so I’ll still have that.

Which reminds me, and hopefully Ian doesn’t mind me saying this, if any of you are Pistons fans, I’d love to share you guys for the season, at least until the Tigers season starts again. Obviously the community over here is superb and I’m still somewhat of a n00b here at SB Nation as a blogger (and commenter). Pistons are going to have an exciting season with all the n00bs of their own and we have some big things happening in the coming weeks. That’s my shameless personal plug.

Lastly, not to put any pressure on Ian, but I don’t think my daily routine of checking BYB will change. It’s become pretty habitual to click on the book mark on my toolbar. If not a new post, but to read what you guys have to say on an older post. I think it’s safe to say 99% of you have a damn good idea what you’re talking about and that’s impressive.

Where the only thing that fills the baseball void is more baseball news. Then it gradually dials back. Can’t go from full speed ahead to the postseason, to the season ending, in a matter of minutes without that awful whiplash feeling.

I’m trying to get more into the NHL again. I’d kind of given up on it beween the late 90s and late 2000s. Rooting for my west coast hockey team — that plays 45 minutes south of my west coast baseball team — is a nice start. But it’s not quite the same.

College basketball season is rapidly approaching(compared to the normal slow that I’m used to). Only about a month until real games start for that. Syracuse still should be decent for that.

College football Syracuse is still in it, and hopefully it stays that way until the end of the year. NFL…not so much. It’s gonna be years before the Chiefs do anything.

NHL just started. It’s a long season too, and a lot slower since games are 2-3 days apart. I don’t know what to expect from the Sabres.

Of course, I could just do school or get a job. I’m gonna transfer in May, so I’ll need a good GPA. For all the time I spend here I could do online class homework and not wait until the last minute. I’ll never stop procrastinating though…

I had to drive my son there earlier this summer, so I caught a game at Coors field. So, since The Tigers crushed my heart this year, I will be watching the playoffs and rooting on the Rockies!. The Tigers are really the ONLY East coast team I love, cause I lived in Michigan for 4 years, so I am closely following the West coast teams in the playoffs. Of course The Dodgers and Angels are only a 4 hour drive from me, so in past years I have gone to plenty of their games.

I guess the holidays will keep me busy. Halloween, Thanksgiving, then Christmas. I usually start withdrawals by January, counting down for spring training. Like Packey said, I get to work every morning and check the BYB site. I hope we can still chat here during the off-season. Hey I may have to check out Motown String’s site for kicks. Welcome back Big Ben! :)

The Twitter Detroit Tigers news feed has slowed down already. Alas.

I guess this means I can actually focus on school instead of watching the gameday casts and listening to the radio broadcasts on my laptop…. hmmm.

And I have a childrens story to write. About baseball XD

Well, there’s still minor league news and transactions to cover. I can do some draft stuff or prep for fantasy drafts.

Of course, this also gives me time to finish my four term papers (American War Powers act, Counterinsurgency, study of the LD debates and Eisenhour’s Farewell Address as conspiracy theory) and do other school crap (blech). Also, hockey is good… Go Canes!

Found out Wednesday night that there were a few hundred season tickets left and I went out Thursday morning and grabbed some. It’s not baseball, but we’re going to be damn good this year, so I’m excited.

Since they are my NL team because of my minor league connection – and because with the loss in the 12th inning being that abrupt, it was like the Tigers’ season was sheared off by a knife. It was so sudden that despite not feeling ready for more baseball, I wasn’t ready to give up entirely yet. I’ll have to ease out of it.

Transitioning over to watching hockey, as their season is just getting starting now. Reading some of the books I’ve been piling up, finishing some crochet projects that I haven’t gotten as much work done on as I used to when I would crochet while watching the game instead of conversing while watching the game (all your fault!) :) Experimenting with polymer clay in jewelry and art projects. Think about taking some classes part-time to start converting my chemistry minor into a chemistry major. Checking BYB to see what my friends are doing. :D

I’ll finally have to get serious and get Grad School applications completed. Thanks. A lot. I hate reality sometimes………

I wish I could take another Spanish class, but that’s not gonna happen. I’ll have to get by on Rosetta Stone, for now.

It needs lots of attention — going to try to get rid of the last few blades of grass in the front and plant flowers in what used to be a lawn.

I’m directing a readers theater production of “God’s Favorite” that will be performed in November, so there are rehearsals. And every Wednesday night is choir!

It’’s also time to get seriously busy on the crochet front. Christmas isn’t that far off.

And books — a pile of them, including Teddy Kennedy’s autobiography.

But I intend to check in here daily.

So I have tons of things to keep me busy. I just don’t what they will be until it is deemed appropriate for me to know

Such as this: I’m hearing rumblings from Twitter that Andy Van Slyke’s not coming back. Sorry, no link right now.

I just read “Next Man Up” by John Feinstein, I didn’t realize it was one of those follow one team through a season until I started (2005 Baltimore Ravens), but I blazed through it. I just got a book about religious freedom in America, “Founding Faith,” so that should take up some time.

I think picking up a hobby might be in line as well, any suggestions?

The other stuff is just little things, you know, like figuring out what I want to do with my life and where I’m going to live next year.

Re-starting work on my novel, really considering going back to graduate school and hating Nick Punto.

what a crock.

http://freep.com/article/20091009/SPORTS02/91009047/1050/Five-Tigers-coaches-back—Van-Slyke-leaving

It’s supposed to be in reference to Zombieland or something, but I find it appropriate for us.

“(850): Believe it or not, Twinkies have an expiration date. Some day, very soon, Life’s little Twinkie gauge is gonna go empty.”

Let’s hope so.

Now I would love to stay and chat, but I have so much work to do. I’m sure I’ll pop by now and then when I start (or rather continue) procrastinating.

Over? OVER?!! IT’S NEVER OVER!!! WAS IT OVER WHEN THE GERMANS BOMBED PEARL HARBOR???!!

michigan state basketball. the only thing keeping this winter from being a very, very long one considering how baseball ended (i still had some interest in the cardinals after the tigers lost……..but that interest didn’t last very long) so hopefully tigers opening day will come right around the time state wins a championship…